Alphabe Thursday H is for Hey Diddle Diddle

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.

This is probably the best known nonsense verse in any language and a considerable amount of nonsense has been written about it.

So I will not waffle on about the speculations … that over the years have been discounted Sufficed to say it appear in print in 1775 referring back to a work called A lamentable tragedy mixed ful of pleasant mirth, conteyning the life of Cambises King of Percia, by Thomas Preston, printed in 1597, [sic]

They be at hand Sir with stick and fidle

They can play a new dance called hey-didle-didle. [sic]

Another is in the Cherry and the Slae by Alexander Montgomerie, 1597

But since ye think’t an easy thing

to mount above the moon

of your own fidle take a spring

And dance when you have done.
The stores then become convoluted and confused so the pictures are welcome. These are from R. Caldecott’s second collection of pictures and songs printed in 1956 which were originally published 1878-1884.