"is: <poem> Old King Cole was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he; He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl, And he called for his fiddlers three. Every fiddler he had a fiddle, And a very fine fiddle had he; Oh there's none so rare, as can compare, With King Cole and his fiddlers three.</poem> The song is first attested in William King in his ""Useful Transactions in Philosophy"" in 1708–9. King's version has the following lyrics: <poem> Good King Cole, And he call'd for his Bowle, And he call'd for Fidler's"
"Old King Cole ""Old King Cole"" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 1164. The poem describes a merry king who called for his pipe, bowl, and musicians, with the details varying among versions. The ""bowl"" is a drinking vessel, while the ""pipe"" may refer either to a musical instrument or to a pipe for smoking tobacco. The most common modern version of the rhyme"
"1970s, American stand-up comedian George Carlin offered this alternative: <poem>Old King Cole was a merry old soul<br> And a merry old soul was he;<br>He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl -<br> I guess we all know about Old King Cole...</poem> Carlin's intonation of the final line suggested that the pipe and bowl should be interpreted as marijuana references. In political cartoons and similar material, especially in Great Britain, sometimes Old King ""Coal"" has been used to symbolize the coal industry. Old King Cole ""Old King Cole"" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though"
"without heir. James Joyce made reference to the rhyme in ""Finnegans Wake"" (619.27f): <poem>With pipe on bowl. Terce for a fiddler, sixt for makmerriers, none for a Cole.</poem> Joyce is also punning on the canonical hours ' (3), ' (6), and """" (9), in ""Terce ... sixt ... none"", and on Fionn MacCool and his Fianna, in ""fiddlers ... makmerriers ... Cole"". The Old King Cole theme appeared twice in 1933 cartoons: Walt Disney made a ""Silly Symphony"" cartoon called ""Old King Cole"", in which the character holds a huge party where various nursery rhyme characters are invited. Walter Lantz"
"queen from among his household staff, intended for school plays. G. K. Chesterton wrote a poem (""Old King Cole: A Parody"") which presented the nursery rhyme successively in the styles of several poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson, W. B. Yeats, Robert Browning, Walt Whitman, and Algernon Charles Swinburne. Much later, ""Mad"" ran a feature similarly postulating classical writers' treatments of fairy tales. The magazine had Edgar Allan Poe tackle ""Old King Cole"", resulting in a cadence similar to that of ""The Bells"": <poem>Old King Cole was a merry old soul Old King Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole.</poem> In the"
"collector James William Elliott in his ""National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs"". The following additional verses are often added to the rhyme: The earliest record of this rhyme is in a manuscript of around 1805, which contains only the first verse. There are references to a children's game called ""bo-peep"", from the 16th century, including one in Shakespeare's ""King Lear"" (Act I Scene iv), for which ""bo-peep"" is thought to refer to the children's game of peek-a-boo, but there's no evidence that the rhyme existed earlier than the 18th century. The additional verses are first recorded in the earliest printed"
"the present. A modern example begins: <poem>Old King Cole was a merry old soul and a merry ol' soul was he, uh huh. He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl and he called for his privates three, uh huh. Beer! Beer! Beer! cried the private. Brave men are we There's none so fair as they can compare to the airborne infantry, uh huh.</poem> The cadence includes verses for ranks from private to general, in the form of a cumulative song; each verse included a satire at the expense of each rank: ""Beer beer beer"" said the"
"Old King Cole in the 1933 Disney cartoon of the same name. They perform a catchy dance which inspires the other nursery rhyme characters to join in. In the 1933 Sherlock Holmes film ""A Study in Scarlet"", successive lines of the poem (which replaces ""Indians"" with ""black boys"") are found left by the murderer with each new murder victim. The rock musical ""Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson"" includes a much darker song called ""Ten Little Indians"" that is modeled after this nursery rhyme. The opening sequence of ""Blackstone"" on APTN features a version of the song. The novel by Agatha Christie"
"printed in Paisley, Scotland in 1985. There are only 85 known copies. In 1927, Moshe Nadir (1885–1943) published a Yiddish adaptation of ""Old King Cole"", """""""". It has since become a popular Yiddish folksong. The progressive rock band Genesis included a version of the traditional rhyme on their song ""The Musical Box"", from their 1971 album ""Nursery Cryme"". Queen paraphrased the rhyme in their song ""Great King Rat"" on their 1973 self-titled album: <poem>Great King Rat was a dirty old man And a dirty old man was he Now what did I tell you Would you like to see?</poem> The"
"Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man ""Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man"", ""Pat-a-cake"", ""patty-cake"" or ""pattycake"" is one of the oldest and most widely known surviving English nursery rhymes. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6486. The earliest recorded version of the rhyme appears in Thomas D'Urfey's play ""The Campaigners"" from 1698, where a nurse says to her charges: ...and pat a cake Bakers man, so I will master as I can, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and throw't into the Oven. The next appearance is in ""Mother Goose's Melody"", (c."
"Fathom the Bowl ""Fathom the Bowl"" (Roud 880) is an English drinking song, probably dating from the nineteenth century. With a ""Come all ye"" opening, the singer invites heroes to join him in praise of punch. There is a catalogue of the ingredients that come from various countries. One verse laments the fact that the singer's father lies at the bottom of the sea. Finally the singer complains that his wife is a scold. During the chorus, the singing slows down in order to relish a rising musical scale on ""Fathom-the bowl"". The ingredients of punch include expensive spirits, too"
"streets of England, offering to sing good cheer and to tell good fortune if the householder would give them a drink from his wassail bowl or a penny or a pork pie or, let them stand for a few minutes beside the warmth of his hearth. The wassail bowl itself was a hearty combination of hot ale or beer, apples, spices and mead, just alcoholic enough to warm tingling toes and fingers of the singers."" As with most carols, there are several related versions of the words. One version is presented below, based on the text given in the ""New"
"the classic British music hall song of that period My Old Man, and as a character in Oscar Wilde's children's story ""The Devoted Friend""; Wilde also mentions how the call of the linnet awakens ""The Selfish Giant"" to the one tree where it is springtime in his garden. William Butler Yeats evokes the image of the common linnet in ""The Lake Isle of Innisfree"" (1890) in line 8: ""And evening full of the linnet's wings."" In the novel ""The Old Curiosity Shop"" by Charles Dickens, the heroine Nell keeps ""only a poor linnet"" in a cage, which she leaves for"
"Jack Be Nimble ""Jack Be Nimble"" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902. The most common version of the rhyme is: The rhyme is first recorded in a manuscript of around 1815 and was collected by James Orchard Halliwell in the mid-nineteenth century. Jumping candlesticks was a form of fortune telling and a sport. Good luck was said to be signalled by clearing a candle without extinguishing the flame. A variation of this rhyme is featured in the song ""American Pie"", by Don McLean in 1971, with a play on the"
"music, suggested the possibility that the ""Old King Cole"" was really ""Old Cole"", alias Thomas Cole-brook, a supposed 12th-century Reading cloth merchant whose story was recounted by Thomas Deloney in his ""Pleasant History of Thomas of Reading"" (c. 1598), and who was well known as a character in plays of the early 17th century. The name ""Old Cole"" had some special meaning in Elizabethan theatre, but it is unclear what it was. King Cole is often referenced in popular culture. One of the world's smallest books is about Old King Cole. It measures a minute 1mm x 1mm and was"
"go Old King Cole's party. There, all characters have a small sing-and-dance act. When the Ten Little Indians get on the stage, their dance is so catchy that Old King Cole and all the other characters join in as well. After Old Mother Hubbard accidentally pushes King Cole into a fountain, the mice from ""Hickory Dickory Dock"" tell everyone that it's midnight and that everyone should go home. All the characters return to their books, and King Cole sings a farewell song to everybody and puts out a bottle of milk for the milkman before he runs back inside and"
"considered pejorative. Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man ""Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man"", ""Pat-a-cake"", ""patty-cake"" or ""pattycake"" is one of the oldest and most widely known surviving English nursery rhymes. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6486. The earliest recorded version of the rhyme appears in Thomas D'Urfey's play ""The Campaigners"" from 1698, where a nurse says to her charges: ...and pat a cake Bakers man, so I will master as I can, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and throw't into the Oven. The next appearance is in ""Mother Goose's"
"M'Coule (Finn McCool). Other modern sources suggest (without much justification) that he was Richard Cole (1568-1614) of Bucks in the parish of Woolfardisworthy on the north coast of Devon, whose monument and effigy survive in All Hallows Church, Woolfardisworthy. It is often noted that the name of the legendary Welsh king Coel Hen can be translated 'Old Cole' or 'Old King Cole'. This sometimes leads to speculation that he, or some other Coel in Roman Britain, is the model for Old King Cole of the nursery rhyme. However, there is no documentation of a connection between the fourth-century figures and"
"Oranges and Lemons ""Oranges and Lemons"" is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folksong, and singing game which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No 13190. <poem>Oranges and lemons, Say the bells of St. Clement's. You owe me five farthings, Say the bells of St. Martin's. When will you pay me? Say the bells at Old Bailey. When I grow rich, Say the bells at Shoreditch. When will that be? Say the bells of Stepney. I do not know, Says the"
"verse and the verse mentioning the stockman's death omitted. It is still popular today as a children's song. The distinctive sound of Harris's original recording was achieved by the use of an instrument of his own design called the ""wobble board""—a two-by-three-foot piece of hardboard. The opening recitation by Harris: is similar to the first verse of a song, ""The Dying Stockman"", collected in Australia by Banjo Paterson and published in 1905: In Harris's version, a dying Australian stockman instructs his friends to take care of his affairs when he is gone. The first of these is to watch his"
"in the Tudor period. The song’s most common lyrics are: <poem style=""margin-left:24px> Little Jack Horner Sat in the corner, Eating his Christmas pie; He put in his thumb, And pulled out a plum, And said, ""What a good boy am I!""</poem> It was first documented in full in the nursery rhyme collection ""Mother Goose's melody, or, Sonnets for the cradle"", which may date from 1765, although the earliest surviving English edition is from 1791. The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by the composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott in his ""National Nursery Rhymes and"
"Ding Dong Bell ""Ding Dong Bell"" or ""Ding Dong Dell"" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12853. The most common modern version is: The earliest recorded reference to the rhyme is from John Lant, the organist of Winchester Cathedral in 1580, who recorded the following rhyme: It was printed in Thomas Ravenscroft's ""Pammelia, Musicks Miscellanie"" in 1609, as a canon for four voices. The phrase 'Ding, dong, bell' also appears in these passages of Shakespeare's plays: The Tempest"", Act I, Scene II: The Merchant of Venice"", Act III, Scene II:"
"Little Tommy Tucker ""Little Tommy Tucker"" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19618. Common modern versions include: The earliest recorded version of this rhyme is from ""Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book"" (c. 1744), which has only four lines. The full version was produced in ""Mother Goose's Melody"" (c. 1765). There are references to various parts of the rhyme in earlier works. To 'sing for one's supper' was a proverbial phrase by the seventeenth century. ""An excellent new Medley"" (c. 1620) included the line 'Tom would eat meat but wants a knife'."
"The Crabfish ""The Crabfish"" is a ribald humorous folk song of the English oral tradition. It dates back to the seventeenth century, appearing in Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript as a song named ""The Sea Crabb"" based on an earlier tale. The moral of the story is that one should look in the chamber pot before using it. Owing to the indelicate nature of its theme this ballad was intentionally excluded from Francis James Child's renowned compilation of folk songs ""The English and Scottish Popular Ballads"". The song has a Roud Folk Song Index of 149. A man brings a crabfish"
"a pole used to prevent washing on a line from blowing about too much). The moral of the song is: Now the old woman is dead and gone<br> And the Devil's got her soul<br> Wasn't she a gosh-darn fool<br> That she didn't grab that pole?<br> <br> Eating eggs and marrowbone<br> Won't make your old man blind<br> So if you want to do him in<br> You must sneak up from behind Many of these are available to listen online. Eggs and Marrowbone ""Eggs and Marrowbone"" (Laws Q2, Roud 183), also known as ""There Was An Old Woman"", is a traditional folk"
"""In Good Old Colony Days"" or ""In Good Old Colony Times."" Three Jolly Rogues Three Jolly Rogues is an English folk song. A miller, a weaver and a tailor lived in King Arthur's time (or in ""Good Old Colonial times""). They were thrown out because they could not sing. All three were thieves. They are suitably punished. The earliest complete text is a broadside in the Bodleian Library, dated 1804, ""The Miller Weaver and Little Tailor"". It is also known as ""In Good King Arthur's Days"". The song is quoted by Thomas Hardy in ""Under the Greenwood Tree"". It is"
"Song"". The Beggars Chorus The Beggars Chorus OR The Jovial Crew is an English broadside ballad from the mid-18th century. It celebrates the life of a beggar, and treats begging as a legitimate English trade. Sung to the tune of ""A Begging We Will Go"". Copies of the broadside can be found in the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the Huntington Library. This ballad tells the story of a beggar who was born lame and has a wooden leg. The beggar sings of his food, his drinks, and his dog. He sings of going to Pimlico with"
"produced an Oswald cartoon the same year, entitled ""The Merry Old Soul"", which is in reference to the nursery rhyme. ""Farmer Giles of Ham"" (1937) by J.R.R. Tolkien is stated (despite anachronisms like blunderbusses) by the author to take place ""after the time of King Cole, but before king Arthur"". The Three Stooges' 1948 short film ""Fiddlers Three"" features Larry, Moe and Shemp as musicians in King Cole's court who must stop an evil wizard from stealing the king's daughter. In the ""Fables"" comic book, King Cole was the long-time mayor of Fabletown, a secret community of ""Fables"" or fairytale"
"work on the Great Exhibition and was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1875. Often referred to in the press as ""Old King"" Cole, he was known to have the closest personal backing of the Queen and especially of the Prince Consort, who when he needed a facilitator for one of his pet projects, was heard to remark: ""We must have steam, get Cole"". An English heritage blue plaque commemorates where Cole lived and worked at 33 Thurloe Square, South Kensington, London, opposite the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 2001, one of Cole's first Christmas cards, which was sent to his"
"Old King Cole (film) Old King Cole is a 1933 Disney cartoon in the Silly Symphonies series, based on several nursery rhymes and fairy tales, including ""Old King Cole"". It was directed by David Hand and released on July 29, 1933. It's a semi remake of the 1931 Silly Symphony short ""Mother Goose Melodies"", but in color, with more details and technically advanced animation. One evening in Storyland, the story book """"Old King Cole"""" opens itself and the king's castle folds open. Other story and nursery rhyme books do the same thing and several famous characters leave their homes to"
"is almost no variation in the text. It is also known as ""The Punch Ladle"" or ""Bowl Bowl"". It is a so-called ""catalogue song"", similar to ""Good Luck to The Barley Mow"" and ""All For Me Grog"". The same tune is used in all cases. Fathom the Bowl ""Fathom the Bowl"" (Roud 880) is an English drinking song, probably dating from the nineteenth century. With a ""Come all ye"" opening, the singer invites heroes to join him in praise of punch. There is a catalogue of the ingredients that come from various countries. One verse laments the fact that the"
"Old MacDonald Had a Farm ""Old MacDonald Had a Farm"" is a children's song and nursery rhyme about a farmer named MacDonald (sometimes known as ""McDonald"" or ""Macdonald"") and the various animals he keeps on his farm. Each verse of the song changes the name of the animal and its respective noise. In many versions, the song is cumulative, with the animal sounds from all the earlier verses added to each subsequent verse. For example, the verse uses a cow as an animal and ""moo"" as the animal's sound. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 745. In"
"Calypso Carol The Calypso Carol is a popular modern Christmas carol, with the opening line ""See him lying on a bed of straw"". It has often been introduced by BBC announcers and others as a traditional folk carol from the West Indies. The calypso of the title refers to its West Indian flavour, and the words have featured on a set of Caribbean postage stamps. However, both words and music were written by an Englishman, Michael Perry, while he was a student at Oak Hill Theological College in 1964. Perry became one of the UK's leading contemporary hymn writers, but"