Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be?

(Also known as "Johnny's So Long at the Fair")

Oh dear! What can the matter be?
Dear, dear! What can the matter be?
Oh dear! What can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.

He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
To tie up my bonny brown hair.

Oh dear! What can the matter be?
Dear, dear! What can the matter be?
Oh dear! What can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.

Variations exist, sometimes adding verses about other promised gifts like a basket of posies or a straw hat.