The Mystery Song

Since her birthday in October, we've noticed how much Margie Grace likes to sing while she is playing around the house or riding in the car. "Happy Birthday" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" are staples in her repertoire. Yesterday on the way home from church we noticed that Margie Grace was singing but I didn't recognize the song. I asked her to sing it again and teach it to me. The words consist of "Mary riding donkey." For the life of me, I can't think of any sort of song with that phrase; it isn't part of any song we've listened to or sung to her. I assumed that maybe it was something she learned at Sunday School. She kept singing it all day, "Mary riding donkey, Mary riding donkey." Obviously it is some sort of song about the Christmas story, which she loves reading about every night at bedtime. (Since Thanksgiving we have switched our bedtime stories to all of our Christmas books and MG's favorite has been a children's version detailing Mary and Joseph's trip to Bethlehem and the birth of Baby Jesus.) Then it occurred to me that she might have just made up this little ditty inspired by her favorite book. So if any of you recognize this song, please let me know. I'd love to learn all the words and teach them to Margie Grace, although for the time being she seems quite happy singing "Mary riding donkey!"