# Hey Diddle Diddle > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hey_Diddle_Diddle > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hey_Diddle_Diddle.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Diddle_Diddle > Source revision: 1353581708 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) English nursery rhyme For other uses, see [Hey Diddle Diddle (disambiguation)](/source/Hey_Diddle_Diddle_(disambiguation)). "Hey Diddle Diddle" Illustration from W. W. Denslow's Mother Goose (1901) Nursery rhyme Published c. 1765 Songwriter Traditional "**Hey Diddle Diddle**" (also "**Hi Diddle Diddle**", "**The Cat and the Fiddle**", or "**The Cow Jumped over the Moon**") is an English [nursery rhyme](/source/Nursery_rhyme). It has a [Roud Folk Song Index](/source/Roud_Folk_Song_Index) number of 19478.[1] ## Lyrics and music From Denslow's *Mother Goose* (1901) A 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](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/over_the_moon)", meaning "delighted, thrilled, extremely happy".[3] Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can [download the audio file](https://upload.wikimedia.org/score/e/8/e8sxkptkhrhv1e7psq79p69eubw5dn1/e8sxkptk.mp3). The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by the composer and nursery rhyme collector [James William Elliott](/source/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 In this [Randolph Caldecott](/source/Randolph_Caldecott) rendition, a dish, spoon, and other utensils are [anthropomorphized](/source/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](/source/Thomas_Preston_(writer))'s play *A lamentable tragedy mixed ful of pleasant mirth, conteyning the life of [Cambises](/source/Cambyses_II) 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] "High Diddle Diddle" illustrated by Frederick Richardson for the Holland edition of Mother Goose (1915) Another possible reference is in [Alexander Montgomerie](/source/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](/source/Pub_names), including one known to have been at [Old Chaunge](/source/Old_Change), 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: Amateur illustration High 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 dish ran away with the spoon.[7] This is accompanied with the following commentary: It must be a little dog that laugh'd, for a great dog would be ashamed to laugh at such nonsense.[7] ## In fiction In [L. Frank Baum](/source/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](/source/P._L._Travers)'s first *[Mary Poppins](/source/Mary_Poppins_(book_series))* 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](/source/J._R._R._Tolkien)’s *[The Fellowship of the Ring](/source/The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring)*, the rhyme is said to be a remnant of "[The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late](/source/The_Man_in_the_Moon_Stayed_Up_Too_Late)", a much longer narrative poem written by the character [Bilbo Baggins](/source/Bilbo_Baggins). ## Meaning The numerous theories seeking to explain the rhyme have been largely discredited. [James Orchard Halliwell](/source/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](/source/George_Burges).[2][8] Another theory is that it comes from a low Dutch [anti-clerical](/source/Anti-clerical) rhyme about priests demanding hard work.[2][9][10] Other alleged bases for the rhyme include the Egyptian goddess [Hathor](/source/Hathor), the Hebrew [Flight from Egypt](/source/The_Exodus), or even the relationships of Elizabeth, [Lady Katherine Grey](/source/Lady_Katherine_Grey), with the Earls of [Hertford](/source/Edward_Seymour%2C_1st_Earl_of_Hertford) and [Leicester](/source/Robert_Dudley%2C_1st_Earl_of_Leicester).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] The "cat and the fiddle" has also been tied to [Catherine of Aragon](/source/Catherine_of_Aragon), [Catherine I of Russia](/source/Catherine_I_of_Russia), Canton de Fidèle, an alleged governor of [Calais](/source/Calais), and the game of cat ([trap-ball](/source/Trap-ball)).[2] An apparently modern theory is that it may refer to the [constellations](/source/Constellation) of [Leo](/source/Leo_(constellation)) the cat, [Lyra](/source/Lyra) the fiddle, [Taurus](/source/Taurus_(constellation)) the cow, [Canis Minor](/source/Canis_Minor) the little dog, and [Ursa Major](/source/Ursa_Major) and [Ursa Minor](/source/Ursa_Minor) the Big and Little Dippers, which align with the Moon around the [winter solstice](/source/Winter_solstice).[11] The profusion of unsupported explanations was satirised by [J. R. R. Tolkien](/source/J._R._R._Tolkien) in his fictional explanations of the poem "[The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late](/source/The_Man_in_the_Moon_Stayed_Up_Too_Late)" referenced above.[12] Although there is some support for the trap-ball theory, scholarly commentators mostly conclude the rhyme is simply meant to be [nonsense verse](/source/Nonsense_verse), a type of [literary nonsense](/source/Literary_nonsense).[2][10] ## See also - [List of nursery rhymes](/source/List_of_nursery_rhymes) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Roud Folksong Index S298441 Sing hey, diddle 'diddle, the cat and the fiddle"](http://www.vwml.org/record/RoudFS/S298441). *[Vaughan Williams Memorial Library](/source/Vaughan_Williams_Memorial_Library)*. [English Folk Dance and Song Society](/source/English_Folk_Dance_and_Song_Society). Retrieved 20 May 2016. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Opie1997_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Opie1997_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Opie1997_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Opie1997_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Opie1997_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Opie1997_2-5) [I. Opie and P. Opie](/source/Iona_and_Peter_Opie) (1977). [*The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes*](https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000opie/page/202/mode/2up). [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). p. 202. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-869111-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-869111-2) – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Cresswell, Julia (2010). "moon". *Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins*. p. 279. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0199547937](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0199547937). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** J. J. Fuld, *The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk* (Courier Dover Publications, 5th ed., 2000), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0486414752](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0486414752), p. 502. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** *[Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts](/source/Meetings_with_Remarkable_Manuscripts)* (Penguin Random House, 2016, 1st ed), [Christopher de Hamel](/source/Christopher_de_Hamel), p. 323 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Wilson&Calore2005p171_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Wilson&Calore2005p171_6-1) C. R. Wilson and M. Calore, *Music in Shakespeare: a Dictionary* (London: Continuum, 2005), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0826478468](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0826478468), p. 171. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-MG1904_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-MG1904_7-1) *Mother Goose's Melody* (facsimile reproduction). London: [A. H. Bullen](/source/A._H._Bullen). 1904 [1791]. p. [32](https://archive.org/details/mothergoosesmelo00pridiala/page/32/mode/2up) – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Halliwell1849_8-0)** [James Orchard Halliwell](/source/James_Halliwell-Phillipps) (1849). [*Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales: A Sequel to the Nursery Rhymes of England*](https://archive.org/details/popularrhymesnur00hallrich/page/n287/mode/2up) (4th ed.). John Russell Smith. p. 270 – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ker1837_9-0)** [Bellenden Ker](/source/John_Bellenden_Ker) (1837). [*Archaeology of Popular Phrases and Nursery Rhymes*](https://archive.org/details/essayonarchaeolo00kerjuoft/page/n269/mode/2up). Vol. I (2nd ed.). p. 252 – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Croker1850_10-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Croker1850_10-1) [Thomas Crofton Croker](/source/Thomas_Crofton_Croker) (1850). [*Recollections of Old Christmas: a Masque*](https://books.google.com/books?id=VbJUrJKWNOYC&q=low+dutch). p. ii. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Hey Diddle Riddle"](https://dcwalley.com/hey-diddle-riddle), *dcwalley.com* 1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Steven H. Gale, *Encyclopedia of British Humorists: Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese* (London: Taylor & Francis, 1996), p. 1127. ## External links Listen to this article (5 minutes) [This audio file](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:En-Hey_Diddle_Diddle-article.ogg) was created from a revision of this article dated 20 August 2022 (2022-08-20), and does not reflect subsequent edits. ([Audio help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Media_help) · [More spoken articles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Spoken_articles)) Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Hey Diddle Diddle](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hey_Diddle_Diddle). 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