Some Folks Don't Go Crazy Enough Quiz

Answer: Jumped over the moon

"Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun
And the dish ran away with the spoon!"

This particular rhyme has had people coming up with many different hidden meanings to explain what at first glance appears to be a meaningless poem. These explanations range from astronomy through royalty and Biblical stories to pagan worship.

Answer: No

The old woman who lived in a shoe is not named. As with many of the rhymes, there are multiple versions with slight variations. The full text of one of them is as follows:

"There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children,
She didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth,
Without any bread,
She whipped them all around,
And sent them to bed."

An alternate version changes the last three lines to:
"And a big slice of bread,
Kissed them all soundly
And sent them to bed."

Old Mother Hubbard features in a completely different rhyme involving a dog.

Answer: Peter

"Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well."

While most other nursery rhymes have their origins in different parts of Europe, this particular rhyme is believed to have originated in America. Pumpkins are not indigenous to Britain so though a similar rhyme in a different form may have been written earlier, the references to pumpkins may be an American adaptation.

Answer: He was thrown down the stairs.

"Goosey goosey gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs."

Like some of the other rhymes, the origins of this one are not very pleasant. It is thought that this rhyme was about the difficulties faced by Roman Catholic priests in a Protestant-dominated England.

Answer: Jump over the candlestick

"Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
The candlestick."

In earlier days, there was a tradition of jumping over candle flames. If the person managed to leap over the flame without extinguishing it, it was taken as a sign of good luck.

Answer: Tub

"Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they were?
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick-maker,
They all sailed out to sea,
'Twas enough to make a man stare."

While this is the more familiar version today, the earlier variations didn't have any reference to the sea and instead spoke about the three tradespeople going to a village fair.

Answer: Farmer's wife

"Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice?"

This is the reverse of the "Goosey Goosey Gander" rhyme. The origins of this one are believed to be in the persecution of the Protestants by Queen Mary I of England.

Answer: Mittens

"Three little kittens they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost.
What! lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
No, you shall have no pie."

This is just the first verse with three more that follow. This was probably used to help teach children to be careful with their things.

Answer: Nightgown

The poem was originally written in Scottish by William Miller and published in 1841. The original lines were altered slightly with English words to create the rhyme that is now popular. The first verse of the English text is as follows:

"Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Up stairs and down stairs in his night-gown,
Tapping at the window, crying at the lock,
Are the children in their bed, for it's past ten o'clock?"

Answer: In a well

"Ding, dong, bell,
Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in?
Little Johnny Flynn.
Who pulled her out?
Little Tommy Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To try to drown poor pussy cat,
Who ne'er did him any harm,
But killed all the mice in the farmer's barn."

While there are multiple theories surrounding this rhyme, one of the explanations suggests that the original rhyme did not have anyone saving the little cat. That part was added later to help teach children to be kind to animals.