Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling, My Son John

DESCRIPTION: "Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John, Went to bed with his trousers on, One shoe off, and one shoe on, Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1805 (Songs for the Nursery, according to the Opies)
KEYWORDS: food clothes nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 275, "Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John" (1 text )
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #129, p. 106, "(Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John)"
Dolby-OrangesAndLemons, p. 65, "Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling, My Son John" (1 text)
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p. 31, "Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John" (1 text)
Roud #19709
NOTES [27 words]: The first words, "DIddle, diddle, dumpling," are reputed to be the cry of street-sellers offering dumplings. Where the rest of the poem came from is not clear. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: OO275

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