"Alexander Beetle" lyrics

I had a little beetle
So that beetle was his name
And I called him Alexander
And he answered just the same

And I put him in a matchbox
And I kept him all the day
But nanny let my beetle out
Nanny let my beetle out
She went and let my beetle out
And beetle ran away

She said she didn't mean it
And I never said she did
She said she wanted matches
And she just took off the lid

She said I mustn't worry
But it's difficult to catch
An excited Alexander
You've mistaken for a match

She said I mustn't worry
And I really mustn't mind
That there's lots and lots of beetles
That she's certain we could find

If we looked up all the garden
In the place where beetles hid
And we got another matchbox
And write beetle on the lid

And I heard a kind of something
And I gave a sort of shout
A beetle house
And Alexander beetle coming out

It was Alexander beetle
I'm as certain as can be
And he had that kind of look as though
He thought it might be me

And he had that kind of look as though
He thought he ought to say
"I'm really very sorry
That I tried to run away"

And nanny's very sorry too
For you know what she did
And she's writing Alexander
Very blackly on the lid

So nan and me are friends because
It's difficult to catch
An excited Alexander
You've mistaken for a match