Over the Moon Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Sources do not even agree on the origin of the "Hey Diddle Diddle" rhyme; while some say it may date to the 1500s, others say that it is quite a bit older. "Mother Goose's Melody" (c. 1765), an anthology of nursery rhymes, appears to contain the earliest known printed version of a form of the rhyme.

First of all, what is a diddle? A reference printed in 1569 about "Cambises King of Percia" (Cambyses II King of Persia from 530-522 BC) mentioned a "new dance" called hey-diddle-diddle". According to the "Online Etymology Dictionary", in the 1630s diddle was used as a verb, meaning to totter, shake, or sway - as in the way a person walks. By the early 1800s, it was used as a verb meaning to cheat, and by 1825 it was used as a verb meaning to waste time. So, the meaning of the first line could be connected in its context to the time the rhyme may have been written - if that can be identified with certainty.

Medieval monks - the manuscript illuminators - had quite a sense of humor. Unable to vent their views anywhere else, they typically drew seemingly nonsensical pictures in the margins of their creations that really had hidden meanings. Animals that played musical instruments were quite common. Looking at illustrations in books of hours from countries such as England, France, and Belgium, one can find pictures of cats seemingly playing fiddles. Stringed instruments called fiddles have been around for quite a long time - dating all the way back to the 11th and 12th centuries in Europe. Did you know that medieval people viewed cats, especially black ones, as being connected with the devil? Were the drawings trying to imply that playing music - like playing cards - was the devil's work?

But wait! "The Cat and Fiddle" was evidently a common pub or inn name in England; in fact, there was one in London in 1587. And, there was a common pub game called kurr and spell, or trapball, that was played. In some descriptions it sounds a lot like cricket or even baseball, where the kurr, or ball, was hit with a spell, or stick. Other descriptions, however, say that the ball, often called a "cat", could be suspended on a string, and that people tried to hit the cat as far as they could with a stick. In the background of all that, of course, fiddle music would play.

If one wants to take the line quite literally, it can always be said that cats were highly valued for centuries for their work as mousers, so it can be assumed there were some who lived around an inn or pub. Maybe they enjoyed the fiddle music?

Now, what about the little dog? The information about his role in inn or pub life is a bit more gruesome. Certainly, dog fights were a popular "sport" in England in the 1500s and beyond. It makes sense to think that animal fights could have been a form of entertainment at an inn or pub. In addition, dogs called turnspits were bred with shorter legs in order to turn the spits of food cooking so that humans didn't have to do it. They ran inside a huge wheel, which looked a bit like a hamster wheel, that was attached to a chain which caused the spit to turn. My vision is that the little dog was laughing while watching the sport of trapball because it didn't have anything to do with him and he was enjoying some time off!

So, the dish and spoon ran away together?! If the rhyme was written later, one could make the argument that the dish was an attractive women (term that originated in the 1920s) and the spoon was a flirt (first used in the 1830s). Otherwise, what can it represent? The only other plausible explanation that can be found relates back to the game of trapball. Perhaps pub or inn guests became so involved in the game that they forgot to attend to their order of food; the plate and utensil that had been set out were eventually cleared away to make room for another customer.

There is a rather intriguing theory that has to do with the rhyme possibly being a study in astronomy. One site said that the rhyme could be used to study constellations seen closer to the moon during the early summer. These include Lyra ( fiddle), Leo (cat), Taurus (cow), Ursa Major (spoon), and Canis Minor (the little dog). Another site theorized that the constellations aligned with the moon during the winter solstice.

But don't forget! The cow jumped over the moon! Is that some sort of reference to Hathor, the love goddess of the moon in ancient Egypt, who was sometimes depicted as a cow? Or a post-1690s reference to an ugly woman as being a cow? There is a reason why this line was saved for last. Just look at the title of the quiz!

Some sources say that the rhyme itself is the origin for the phrase "over the moon". During the 1840s, "jumping over the moon" came to mean that a person was deliriously happy, according to the "Cambridge Dictionary" - which the cow in the rhyme must have been in order to accomplish such a feat! Other sources cite the origin of the phrase as being in Charles Molloy's work, "The Coquet Or The English Chevalier: A Comedy" (1718), which includes the line, "I shall jump over the Moon for Joy!" Whatever the case, the phrase has the same meaning in both.

What does all of this mean? Anything and everything! Nothing! It's up to you. As for me - I'm just over the moon that you have continued to read this far about my findings on this topic!