Hickory Dickory Dock
| "Hickory Dickory Dock" | |
|---|---|
 Illustration by William Wallace Denslow, from a 1901 Mother Goose collection | |
| Nursery rhyme | |
| Published | 1744 |
| Songwriter(s) | Traditional |
"Hickory Dickory Dock" or "Hickety Dickety Dock" is a popular English-language nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index number is "6489".[citation needed]
Lyrics and music
[edit]The most common modern version is:
Hickory dickory dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory dickory dock.
[1]
Other variants include "down the mouse ran"[2] or "down the mouse run"[3] or "and down he ran" or "and down he run" in place of "the mouse ran down". Other variants have non-sequential numbers, for example starting with "The clock struck ten, The mouse ran down" instead of the traditional "one".[citation needed]
Score
[edit]
Origins and meaning
[edit]
The earliest recorded version of the rhyme is in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, published in London in May 1744, which uses the opening line: 'Hickere, Dickere Dock'.[1] The next recorded version in Mother Goose's Melody (c. 1765), uses 'Dickery, Dickery Dock'.[1]
The rhyme is thought by some commentators to have originated as a counting-out rhyme.[1] Westmorland shepherds in the nineteenth century used the numbers Hevera (8), Devera (9) and Dick (10) which are from the language Cumbric.[1]
The rhyme is thought to have been based on the astronomical clock at Exeter Cathedral. The clock has a small hole in the door below the face for the resident cat to hunt mice.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Iona and Peter Opie (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 185–186.
- ^ The American Mercury, Volume 77, p. 105
- ^ "Mother Goose's chimes, rhymes & melodies". H.B. Ashmead. c. 1861. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
- ^ Cathedral Cats. Richard Surman. HarperCollins. 2004
External links
[edit]- "Hickory Dickory Dock Nursery Rhyme". Dltk-teach.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
- Hickory Dickory Dock Origin
