Simple Simon
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Simple Simon nursery rhyme
First appearance in print: 1764
Interesting: May date from a ballad that dates back to 1685.
Vocabulary
- simple, not so smart
- ware, goods, in this case pie
- thistle, a prickly plant
- dicky bird, a small bird
Humor: It used to be thought that if you put salt on a bird's tail, it wouldn't be able to fly. Of course, this requires catching the bird first!
Was Simple Simon meant to be humor at the expense of the mentally disabled? Probably. That's why I prefer depictions of Simple Simon as "simply" a young child.
Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
"Let me taste your ware."
Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
"Show me first your penny,"
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
"Indeed, I have not any."
Simple Simon went a-fishing
For to catch a whale;
All the water he could find
Was in his mother's pail!
Simple Simon went to look
If plums grew on a thistle;
He pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle.
He went to catch a dicky bird,
And thought he could not fail,
Because he had a little salt,
To put upon its tail.
He went for water with a sieve,
But soon it ran all through;
And now poor Simple Simon
Bids you all adieu.
The Simple Simon nursery rhyme appears in Blanche Fisher Wright's classic The Real Mother Goose
More Mother Goose nursery rhymes.
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