Nursery Rhyme Query

[Benjamin Zimmer]

Fred Shapiro wrote:
>
>Nigel Rees has the following query on his "Quote ... Unquote" website:
>
>Has anyone discussed the origins and date of this nursery rhyme (oddly
>the Opies ignore it): This old man, he played one / He played on
>knick-knack my thumb / Knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone / This
>old man came rolling home ... ?
>
>Can Barry or anyone else supply any information on this one?

Sam Clements wrote:
>
>>From the archives:
>
>Date:         Mon, 14 Mar 2005 14:51:22 -0800
>From:         Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>Subject:      Re: Swats was RE: adjective "Christian"
>[...]
>OED also instances the song "This Old Man" from the 1920s.  Neither
>grandparent was familiar with this when I brought it home from school
>about 1958.

-----
"Children and Poetry" by Madeline Alston
_The Living Age_, Nov 23, 1918. Vol. 12, Iss. 3881; p. 488, col. 1

The number folk songs also make a special appeal, such as:
    This old man he played one,
    He played nick nack on my drum,
each verse ending with this delightful nonsense:
    Nick, nack, paddy whack, give a dog a bone,
    This old man came rolling home.
-----


--Ben Zimmer