Pop Goes the weasel - wikipedia Pop Goes the weasel For the 1991 song, see Pop Goes the Weasel ( 3rd Bass song ). `` Pop ! Goes the Weasel '' Sheet music Nursery rhyme Published 1853 `` Pop ! Goes the Weasel '' is an English nursery rhyme and singing game. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 5249. The jack - in - the - box children 's toy often plays the melody. Contents 1 Lyrics 2 Origins 3 American versions 4 Meaning and interpretations 5 As a singing game 6 Pop recording 7 Other uses 8 References 9 External links Lyrics There are many different versions of the lyrics to the song. In England, most share the basic verse : The music and British lyrics to the nursery rhyme Pop Goes the Weasel. Pop Goes the Weasel Tune for Pop Goes the Weasel Problems playing this file ? See media help. Half a pound of tuppenny rice, Half a pound of treacle. That 's the way the money goes, Pop ! goes the weasel. Often a second verse is added : Every night when I go out, The monkey 's on the table, Take a stick and knock it off, Pop ! goes the weasel. And : Up and down the city road In and out the Eagle. That 's the way the money goes, Pop ! goes the weasel. ' Round and ' round the cobbler 's bench The monkey chased the weasel, The monkey thought ' twas all in fun Pop ! Goes the weasel. A penny for a spool of thread A penny for a needle, That 's the way the money goes, Pop ! Goes the weasel Origins The tune appears to have begun as dance music, to which words were later added. A music sheet acquired by the British Library in 1853 describes a dance, `` Pop ! Goes the Weasel '', as `` An Old English Dance, as performed at Her Majesty 's & The Nobilities Balls, with the Original Music ''. It had a tune very similar to that used today but only the words `` Pop ! Goes the Weasel ''. The dance became extremely popular, and featured on stage as well as in dance - halls. By September of the same year the title was being used as a scornful riposte and soon words were added to an already well - known tune. The song is mentioned in November, 1855 in a Church of England pamphlet where it is described as a universally popular song played in the streets on barrel organs, but with `` senseless lyrics '' : the use of alternative, more wholesome words is suggested. The following verse had been written by 1856 when it was quoted in a performance at the Theatre Royal : Additional verses related to both traditions are : My mother taught me how to sew, And how to thread the needle, Every time my finger slips, Pop ! goes the weasel. You may try to sew and sew, And never make something regal, So roll it up and let it go, Pop ! goes the weasel. I went a-hunting in the woods, It was n't very legal, The dog and I were caught with the goods, Pop ! goes the weasel. I said I did n't hunt or sport, The warden looked at my beagle, He said to tell it to the court, Pop ! goes the weasel. American versions Pop Goes the Weasel Tune for Pop Goes the Weasel by Nicolas Gasparini ( myuu ) Problems playing this file ? See media help. The song seems to have crossed the Atlantic in the 1850s where U.S. newspapers soon afterwards call it `` the latest English dance '', and the phrase `` Pop ! goes the weasel '' soon took hold. The remaining words were still unstable in Britain, and as a result some of the U.S. lyrics are significantly different and may have an entirely different source, but use the same tune. The following lyric was printed in Boston in 1858 : All around the cobbler 's house, The monkey chased the people. And after them in double haste, Pop ! goes the weasel. In 1901 in New York the opening lines were : All around the chicken coop, The possum chased the weasel. The most common recent version was not recorded until 1914. In addition to the three verses above, American versions often include some of the following : All around the mulberry bush, The monkey chased the weasel. The monkey stopped to pull up his sock, ( or The monkey stopped to scratch his nose ) ( or The monkey fell down and oh what a sound ) Pop ! goes the weasel. Half a pound of tuppenny rice, Half a pound of treacle. Mix it up and make it nice, Pop ! goes the weasel. Contemporary verses in the United States include these, the first three being sung one after the other with the third getting the ' closing ' version of the tune. All around the mulberry bush, ( or cobbler 's bench ) ( or carpenter 's bench ) The monkey chased the weasel. The monkey thought ' twas all in good fun, ( or ' twas all in good sport ) ( or that it was a joke ) ( or it was a big joke ) ( or ' twas all in fun ) Pop ! goes the weasel. Up and down the King 's Road, In and out the Eagle, That 's the way the money goes - Pop ! goes the weasel. A penny for a spool of thread, A penny for a needle -- That 's the way the money goes, Pop ! goes the weasel. Jimmy 's got the whooping cough And Timmy 's got the measles. That 's the way the story goes, Pop ! goes the weasel. I 've no time to wait and sigh No patience to wait ' til by and by Kiss me quick, I 'm off, goodbye ! Pop ! Goes the weasel There are numerous American versions as printed in Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, Volume III, pp. 368 -- 369. Randolph 's # 556, the A text. Collected 1926 from Mrs. Marie Wilbur of Pineville, Missouri. Meaning and interpretations The Eagle pub in City Road, London, with the rhyme on the wall Perhaps because of the obscure nature of the various lyrics there have been many suggestions for what they mean, particularly the phrase `` Pop ! goes the weasel '', including : that it is a tailor 's flat iron, a dead weasel, a hatter 's tool, a spinner 's weasel used for measuring in spinning, a piece of silver plate, or that ' weasel and stoat ' is Cockney rhyming slang for `` throat '', as in `` Get that down yer Weasel '' meaning to eat or drink something. An alternative meaning involves pawning one 's coat in order to buy food and drink, as `` weasel '' is rhyming slang for `` coat '' and `` pop '' is a slang word for `` pawn ''. Spinner Charlene Parker with weasel ( on left ) and spinning wheel ( on right ) at Knott 's Berry Farm The Weasel was the dole in Britain. A spinner 's weasel consists of a wheel which is revolved by the spinner in order to measure off thread or yarn after it has been produced on the spinning wheel. The weasel is usually built so that the circumference is six feet, so that 40 revolutions produces 80 yards of yarn, which is a skein. It has wooden gears inside and a cam, designed to cause a popping sound after the 40th revolution, telling the spinner that she has completed the skein. Other than correspondences, none of these theories has any additional evidence to support it, and some can be discounted because of the known history of the song. Iona and Peter Opie observed that, even at the height of the dance craze in the 1850s, no - one seemed to know what the phrase meant. The `` Eagle '' in the song 's third verse probably refers to The Eagle freehold pub at the corner of Shepherdess Walk and City Road mentioned in the same verse. The Eagle was an old pub in City Road, London, which was rebuilt as a music hall in 1825, demolished in 1901, and then rebuilt as a public house. This public house bears a plaque with this interpretation of the nursery rhyme and the pub 's history. As a singing game In Britain the rhyme has been played as a children 's game since at least the late 19th century. The first verse quoted above is sung, while several rings are formed and they dance around. One player more than the number of rings are designated as `` weasels '', all but one standing in the rings. When the `` Pop ! goes the weasel '' line is reached they have to rush to a new ring before anyone else can. The one that fails is eliminated and the number of circles is reduced by one until there is only one weasel left. This is basically the American game of musical chairs : music is played as players circle a row of chairs, one fewer chairs than players, while music plays. When the music stops, the players vie for the available chairs, and the player left standing is `` out ''. Pop recording A pop version of the song was recorded in 1938 by The Merry Macs on Decca Records ( Decca 64413 - A ) and again in 1961 by British singer Anthony Newley, also on the Decca label ( Decca F11362 ), and reached number 12 in the UK singles chart. The tune is prominently used in numerous Three Stooges episodes. Other uses The melody of `` Pop Goes the Weasel '' was used as a leitmotif in several episodes of the 1960s science fiction series The Prisoner, particularly in the series ' penultimate episode `` Once Upon a Time '' in which the lead character, under an intense form of interrogation, obsessively sings the song, with `` POP '' identified as a meme representing the directive `` protect other people. '' A few verses of Les bibittes by Karo are sung to the tune of Pop Goes The Weasel. An episode of Thomas the Tank Engine uses the tune in a taunting song aimed at Diesel : Pop Goes the Diesel. In 1973, Sesame Street had an animated cartoon short based on the song that has the monkey and the weasel in the song, as the monkey is shown chasing the weasel, but it had them switch their body parts as part of a series of `` What if... '' cartoons directed, produced, designed, and animated by Cliff Roberts. References Notes ^ Jump up to : I. Opie and P. Opie, The Singing Game ( Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1985 ), pp. 216 - 18. Jump up ^ A newspaper advertisement for March 1853 offers ' La Napolienne, Pop goes the Weasel, and La Tempête... the original music of the above three celebrated dances, with full descriptions of the figures. Boosey and Sons, 28 Holles - street ' : The Times, ( London, England ), 15 March 1853, p. 11 Jump up ^ At the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. The Times, ( London, England ), 19 April 1853, p. 6 Jump up ^ 1853 newspaper ad : ' CALDWELL 's SOIREES DANSANTES... where... all the newest dances are danced, including `` Pop goes the Weasel '' by 200 couples every evening... ' The Times ( London, England ), 20 June 1853, p. 13 Jump up ^ '... Sergeant Smith apprehended Huxtable at Williams 's house, and told him what he was charged with, namely, stealing the plate... to which he only replied, `` Pop goes the weasel. '' ' The Times ( London, England ), 5 July 1853, p. 7 : ' Middlesex Sessions, July 4 ' Jump up ^ ' When some bad boys endeavoured to teach him the words of the popular air known as `` Pop goes the Weasel '', it is a fact that Master JONES could n't be brought to do it to any other tune than that of `` Evening Hymn ''... ' The Times ( London, England ), 12 September 1854, p. 6 Jump up ^ Thirtieth Annual Report Of The... - Google Boeken. Books.google.com. Retrieved 17 December 2011. ^ Jump up to : Pop goes the weasel The Phrase Finder. 2004. ^ Jump up to : W.E. Studwell, The Americana Song Reader ( Haworth Press, 1997 ), pp. 135 - 6. Jump up ^ `` Pop Goes The Weasel - Version 1 ''. Bluegrass Messengers. Retrieved 17 December 2011. ^ Jump up to : D.D. Volo, Family Life in Seventeenth - and Eighteenth - century America ( Greenwood, 2006 ), p. 264. Jump up ^ web : cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk Jump up ^ The Free Dictionary Jump up ^ Pop Goes the Weasel, The Phrase Finder, http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pop-goes-the-weasel.html Jump up ^ Brown, Rachel, The Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing Book, p. 240, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 1978. Jump up ^ `` Another Clock Reel, '' Full Chisel Blog Web site ( http://www.fullchisel.com/blog/?p=298 ), Retrieved 8 - 3 - 2011. Jump up ^ P. Zwart, Islington ; a History and Guide ( London : Taylor & Francis, 1973 ), p. 42. Jump up ^ David Kemp ( 1992 ) The pleasures and treasures of Britain : a discerning traveller 's companion p. 158. Dundurn Press Ltd., 1992 Jump up ^ `` Eagle Tavern / Grecian Theatre, City Road : Playbills and illustrations ''. Bishopsgate. Retrieved 17 December 2011. Jump up ^ `` Once Upon a Time ''. The Prisoner. Season 1. Episode 16. 25 January 1968. External links Public domain version from 1853 arranged by Charley Twiggs on IMSLP.org Nursery rhymes ( list ) `` A-Tisket, A-Tasket '' `` Baa, Baa, Black Sheep '' `` Did You Ever See a Lassie ? '' `` Hey Diddle Diddle '' `` Hickory Dickory Dock '' `` Hot Cross Buns '' `` Humpty Dumpty '' `` I 'm a Little Teapot '' `` It 's Raining, It 's Pouring '' `` Jack and Jill '' `` Little Bo Peep '' `` Little Boy Blue '' `` Little Miss Muffet '' `` Mary Had a Little Lamb '' `` Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary '' `` Old King Cole '' `` Old MacDonald Had a Farm '' `` Old Mother Hubbard '' `` Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe '' `` Peter Piper '' `` Polly Put the Kettle On '' `` Poor Mary '' `` Pop Goes the Weasel '' `` Pussy Cat Pussy Cat '' `` Rain Rain Go Away '' `` Roses Are Red '' `` Rub - a-dub - dub '' `` Simple Simon '' `` Sticks and Stones '' `` The Grand Old Duke of York '' `` The Queen of Hearts '' `` Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star '' `` Two Little Dickie Birds '' Clapping `` A Sailor Went to Sea '' `` Down Down Baby '' `` Mary Mack '' `` Miss Susie '' `` Miss Lucy '' `` Pat - a-cake '' `` Pretty Little Dutch Girl '' `` Pease Porridge Hot '' Counting `` Duck, duck, goose '' `` Eeny, meeny, miny, moe '' `` One, Two, Buckle My Shoe '' `` One, Two, Three, Four, Five '' `` This Old Man '' `` Tinker, Tailor '' Finger - plays `` Five Little Monkeys '' `` Itsy Bitsy Spider '' `` Little Robin Redbreast '' `` Round and round the garden '' `` This Little Piggy '' Games `` London Bridge '' `` The Muffin Man '' `` Mulberry Bush '' `` Oranges and Lemons '' `` Ring a Ring o ' Roses '' `` The Farmer in the Dell '' Riddle `` As I was going to St Ives '' Lullabies `` Hush, Little Baby '' `` Rock - a-bye Baby '' Rounds `` Ding Dong Bell '' `` Frère Jacques '' `` Kookaburra '' `` Row, Row, Row Your Boat '' `` Scotland 's Burning '' `` Three Blind Mice '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pop_Goes_the_Weasel&oldid=805298966 '' Categories : Fictional monkeys Fictional weasels Singing games Songs about London Roud Folk Song Index songs English nursery rhymes Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from December 2011 Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch 日本 語 Português Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 14 October 2017, at 12 : 35. 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Question: origins of nursery rhymes pop goes the weasel
Answer: dance music, to which words were later added