Perry-the-Winkle: A Nursery Rhyme in the House of Master Samwise

Perry-the-Winkle: A Nursery Rhyme in the House of Master SamwiseThe Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, Volume Two, no. 105: "The Bumpus · William and the Bumpus · Perry-the-Winkle (?1928–61)" is a humorous poem written by J.R.R. Tolkien included in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book.The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, No. 8: "Perry-the-Winkle", pgs. 41-4 The poem is "a children's song in the Shire"The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, commentary, No. 8: "Perry-the-Winkle" that was to be attributed to Samwise Gamgee.The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, "Preface"
==First stanza==
:The Lonely Troll he sat on a stone
::and sang a mournful lay:
:'O why, O why must I live on my own
::in the hills of Faraway?
:My folk are gone beyond recall
::and take no thought of me;
:alone I'm left, the last of all
::from Weathertop to the Sea.'
==In other versions==
===The Bumpus===
After Tolkien wrote the first version of the poem in early 1928, which he entitled The Bumpus, he drew an unintentionally sinister sketch of the Bumpus on the first manuscript. On March 29, Tolkien made a second manuscript in which he revised the poem as part of his Tales and Songs of Bimble Bay series. This version may have been the version that Tolkien sent to his publishers September 30 of 1946 to be possibly published alongside Farmer Giles of Ham. The second manuscript was what was later published posthumously in the 2014 edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book.
===William and the Bumpus===
The third version of the poem was a typescript in which Tolkien had added 111 lines, entitling it William and the Bumpus. It contains some additions that are more in line with the final version of the poem.
===Further revisions===
In early 1961, Tolkien revised the poem for inclusion within The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book. He made numerous changes such as changing the Bumpus to the Lonely Troll and including references to The Shire and Eriador in place of references to Bimble Bay. In a later typescript, Tolkien gave the poem the name Perry-the-Winkle: A Nursery Rhyme in the House of Master Samwise. In a final preserved typescript at the Bodleian, the phrase a children's song in the Shire (attributed to Master Samwise) or A Children's Song in the Shire (Attributed to Master Samwise) appears as a heading.
On November 15 of 1961, Tolkien sent the poem to his publishers for inclusion in the poetry collection. Many years later, in 1967, Tolkien recorded a version of the poem for Poems and Songs of Middle Earth, which was later reissued.
==Inspiration==
While the origins of the name Perry-the-Winkle is untold, it may be possible that it could be related to the word Periwinckle, that is the name of a marine mollusc and of a creeping plant.Jim Allan, "Giving of Names" in An Introduction to Elvish (1978) The name Winkle may be a short form of the word. The word Brolly is a nickname for "umbrella" and Bong is just a word with a convenient rhyme with "long". The word "cramsome" must be referring to Cram.
==References==
Category:Poems in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil