Oh hush thee my baby

Publication

This is the verse heading to “The White Seal” in The Jungle Book (1894). Kipling may have had in mind Sir Walter Scott’s “Lullaby for an Infant Chief”, which begins “Hush thee my babie, thy sire was a Knight…”

There is rendition here of a setting by Eric Whitacre, written for a film of ‘The White Seal’ which was never made, but, with over 2 million views (as of July 2022) this must be one of the most popular musical settings of a Kipling poem so far. [D.H.]

Another video of the same is featured here YouTube

[J.McG.]