Old Sir Simon the King

DESCRIPTION: "Old Sir Simon the king, And young Sir Simon the squire, And old Mrs. Hickabout Kicked Mrs. Kickabout Round about our coal fire."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1875 (Halliwell)
KEYWORDS: royalty injury
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 475, "Old Sir Simon the King"" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #327, p. 177, "(Old Sir Simon the King)"
Roud #19776
NOTES [107 words]: The Baring-Goulds claim that "Old Sir Simon" was a "Falstaffian gentleman who kept the Devil Tavern in Fleet Street and died in 1627." I can't prove it wrong, but that's an awfully long time for a name to be preserved when people didn't know the person to whom it referred.
It should probably be added that neither England nor Scotland ever had a King Simon. Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 262-267, has a piece, "Old Sir Simon the King," which is clearly not this but which might be the source of the name. The tune seems to have been used for all sorts of things; Chappell points out a probably use in "The Beggar's Opera." . - RBW
Last updated in version 6.2
File: OpO0475

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography