Hey diddle diddle....

Copyright Bill Reed 2007

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such a sight,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

The origin of the poem is unknown however I found two theories regarding it.

One theory is that it is a parody about Queen Elizabeth I, 1533 - 1603 ( the only surviving child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn). The cat is supposed to be Queen Elizabeth and the dog Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. She refered to him as her lap dog. The dish being a server at the royal court and the spoon a taste-tester. Seems they ran away together and when they were caught were confined in the Tower of London. Don't mess with the Queen Mum.

Another theory is, during the early times in England when no one could read or write, the poem refered to constellations only visible in the April night sky.

Hey diddle diddle, the cat (Leo) and the fiddle, (Lyre) the cow (Taurus) jumped over the moon (the moon); The little dog (Canis Minor) laughed to see such a sight, and the dish (Crater- a dish shaped constellation) ran away with the spoon (Ursa Major, the Big Dipper).

April is the only month when these constellations can be seen in the night sky, thus signaling planting time to the farmers. http://www.mysurfbaby.com/

Old King Cole

Copyright Bill Reed 2007

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 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.


According to British legend, some think the rhyme was written about King Cole who lived in the town of Colcester in Essex England in the third century AD. It was claimed he was the father of St. Helena who later gave birth to the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor.
Then again, others think the rhyme was written after Sir Walter Raleigh brought tobacco from the New World in 1585. Yet others think the "pipe" was not refering to a smoking pipe but rather a flute because of the last lyrics of the rhyme "Oh there's none so rare, as can compare with King Cole and his fiddlers three. That suggests he played the flute along with the fiddlers. .

Then there's King Coel of Northern England, but that's another story.

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