"Hey Diddle Diddle" (also "Hi Diddle Diddle", "The Cat and the Fiddle", or "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon") is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19478.[1]
Hey diddle diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.[2]
The rhyme is the source of the English expression "over the moon", meaning "delighted, thrilled, extremely happy".[3]
The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by the composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott in his National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs (1870). The word "sport" in the rhyme is sometimes replaced with "fun", "a sight", or "craft".[4]
Originsedit
In this Randolph Caldecott rendition, a dish, spoon, and other utensils are anthropomorphized while a cat in a red jacket holds a fiddle in the manner of a string bass.
The rhyme may date back to at least the sixteenth century. Some references suggest it dates back in some form a thousand or more years: in early medieval illuminated manuscripts a cat playing a fiddle was a popular image.[5] There is a reference in Thomas Preston's play A lamentable tragedy mixed ful of pleasant mirth, conteyning the life of Cambises King of Percia, printed in 1569 that may refer to the rhyme:
They be at hand Sir with stick and fiddle; They can play a new dance called hey-diddle-diddle.[2]
Another possible reference is in Alexander Montgomerie's The Cherry and the Slae from 1597:
But since you think't an easy thing To mount above the moon, Of your own fiddle take a spring And dance when you have done.[6]
The name "Cat and the Fiddle" was a common name for inns, including one known to have been at Old Chaunge, London by 1587.[6]
The earliest recorded version of the poem resembling the modern form was printed around 1765 in London in Mother Goose's Melody with the lyrics:
Hey diddle diddle, The Cat and the Fiddle, The Cow jump'd over the Moon, The little dog laugh'd to see such Craft, And the Fork ran away with the Spoon.[2]
In fictionedit
In L. Frank Baum's "Mother Goose in Prose", the rhyme was written by a farm boy named Bobby who had just seen the cat running around with his fiddle clung to her tail, the cow jumping over the moon's reflection in the waters of a brook, the dog running around and barking with excitement, and the dish and the spoon from his supper sliding into the brook.
In P. L. Travers's first Mary Poppins book, the titular character tells the children more about a cow they notice in the street, namely that she once jumped over the Moon to cure her dancing affliction, as advised by a king, who references an already-existing story of "the Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon".
^S. H. Gale, Encyclopedia of British Humorists: Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese (London: Taylor & Francis, 1996), p. 1127.
External linksedit
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January 19, 2024
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For other uses see Hey Diddle Diddle disambiguation Hey Diddle Diddle also Hi Diddle Diddle The Cat and the Fiddle or The Cow Jumped Over the Moon is an English nursery rhyme It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19478 1 Hey Diddle Diddle Illustration by William Wallace DenslowNursery rhymePublishedc 1765Songwriter s Traditional Contents 1 Lyrics and music 2 Origins 3 In fiction 4 Meaning 5 See also 6 Notes 7 External linksLyrics and music editA version of the rhyme is Hey diddle diddle The cat and the fiddle The cow jumped over the moon The little dog laughed To see such sport And the dish ran away with the spoon 2 The rhyme is the source of the English expression over the moon meaning delighted thrilled extremely happy 3 nbsp source Audio playback is not supported in your browser You can download the audio file The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by the composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott in his National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs 1870 The word sport in the rhyme is sometimes replaced with fun a sight or craft 4 Origins edit nbsp In this Randolph Caldecott rendition a dish spoon and other utensils are anthropomorphized while a cat in a red jacket holds a fiddle in the manner of a string bass The rhyme may date back to at least the sixteenth century Some references suggest it dates back in some form a thousand or more years in early medieval illuminated manuscripts a cat playing a fiddle was a popular image 5 There is a reference in Thomas Preston s play A lamentable tragedy mixed ful of pleasant mirth conteyning the life of Cambises King of Percia printed in 1569 that may refer to the rhyme They be at hand Sir with stick and fiddle They can play a new dance called hey diddle diddle 2 Another possible reference is in Alexander Montgomerie s The Cherry and the Slae from 1597 But since you think t an easy thing To mount above the moon Of your own fiddle take a spring And dance when you have done 6 The name Cat and the Fiddle was a common name for inns including one known to have been at Old Chaunge London by 1587 6 The earliest recorded version of the poem resembling the modern form was printed around 1765 in London in Mother Goose s Melody with the lyrics Hey diddle diddle The Cat and the Fiddle The Cow jump d over the Moon The little dog laugh d to see such Craft And the Fork ran away with the Spoon 2 In fiction editIn L Frank Baum s Mother Goose in Prose the rhyme was written by a farm boy named Bobby who had just seen the cat running around with his fiddle clung to her tail the cow jumping over the moon s reflection in the waters of a brook the dog running around and barking with excitement and the dish and the spoon from his supper sliding into the brook In P L Travers s first Mary Poppins book the titular character tells the children more about a cow they notice in the street namely that she once jumped over the Moon to cure her dancing affliction as advised by a king who references an already existing story of the Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon In J R R Tolkien s The Fellowship of the Ring the rhyme is said to be a remnant of a much longer narrative poem written by the character Bilbo Baggins Meaning editThe numerous theories seeking to explain the rhyme have been largely discredited James Orchard Halliwell s suggestion that it was a corruption of an ancient Greek chorus was probably passed to him as a hoax by George Burges 2 7 Another theory is that it comes from a low Dutch anti clerical rhyme about priests demanding hard work 2 8 9 Still other theories refer to Hathor worship various constellations such as Leo the cat Lyra the fiddle Taurus the cow Canis Minor the little dog and Great Bear and Little Bear the Big and Little Dippers Ursa Major and Ursa Minor which align with the Moon around the winter solstice 10 Elizabeth Lady Katherine Grey and her relationships with the Earls of Hertford and Leicester and the Flight from Egypt The cat and the fiddle has been tied to Catherine of Aragon Katherine la Fidele Catherine I of Russia the wife of Peter the Great Canton de Fidele an alleged governor of Calais and the game of cat trap ball 2 The profusion of unsupported explanations was satirised by J R R Tolkien in his fictional explanations of the poem The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late referenced above 11 Although there is some support for the trap ball theory scholarly commentators mostly conclude that the verse is simply meant to be nonsense 2 9 Thusly Hey Diddle Diddle can be considered a type of literary nonsense See also editList of nursery rhymesNotes edit Roud Folksong Index S298441 Sing hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle Vaughan Williams Memorial Library English Folk Dance and Song Society Retrieved 20 May 2016 a b c d e f g I Opie and P Opie 1977 The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes Oxford University Press p 202 ISBN 978 0 19 869111 2 Cresswell Julia 2010 moon Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins p 279 ISBN 978 0199547937 J J Fuld The Book of World Famous Music Classical Popular and Folk Courier Dover Publications 5th ed 2000 ISBN 0486414752 p 502 Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts Penguin Random House 2016 1st ed Christopher de Hamel p 323 a b C R Wilson and M Calore Music in Shakespeare a Dictionary London Continuum 2005 ISBN 0826478468 p 171 James Orchard Halliwell 1849 Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales A Sequel to the Nursery Rhymes of England p 270 ISBN 9780598936196 Bellenden Ker 1837 Archaeology of Popular Phrases and Nursery Rhymes vol I second edition p 252 a b Thomas Crofton Croker 1850 Recollections of Old Christmas a Masque pp ii Hey Diddle Riddle S H Gale Encyclopedia of British Humorists Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese London Taylor amp Francis 1996 p 1127 External links editListen to this article 5 minutes source source nbsp This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 20 August 2022 2022 08 20 and does not reflect subsequent edits Audio help More spoken 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