There Was a Crooked Man . . . Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sixpence

"He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house."

This poem is said to date back to the time of the English Civil war. The "crooked man" is alleged to be Scottish General Sir Alexander Leslie, who secured the independence of the Scottish church. The "crooked stile" is supposed to be the border between England and Scotland.

Another theory says the rhyme refers to the town of Lavenham in Suffolk. The town grew rich during the 15th and 16th centuries due to the trade in woolen cloth produced there. The "nouveau riche" of Lavenham erected houses made from green timber which warped when it dried; today many of these houses are twisted and crooked.

The coin shown is a sixpence of George III. There is no denomination shown; people had to distinguish coins by their size.

Answer: Mouse

Most sources say this rhyme dates back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. One of her ladies in waiting owned a cat that crawled under the throne, and frightened the Queen when its tail brushed her leg. The poem did not appear in print until 1805, however, making this story unlikely. A few sources say it refers to Caroline of Ansbach, wife of George II.

Answer: Pussy

"What a naughty boy was that,
To try to drown poor pussycat,
Who never did him any harm,
But killed all the mice in the farmer's barn."

Unlike many nursery rhymes, this one does appear to be very old. Versions of the rhyme can be traced as far back as the 16th century. In order not to traumatize today's sensitive children, the last line is sometimes changed to "But played with the mice in the farmer's barn."

Answer: Crown

"Up Jack got, and home did trot
As fast as he could caper;
To old Dame Dob, who patched his nob
With vinegar and brown paper."

This is another very old nursery rhyme. It first appeared in print in 1765, but is believed to be much older than that. "Crown" was a slang term for one's head. There are many, many theories that about the origins of these verses. The village of Kilmersdon in Somerset claims that the nursery rhyme pertains to a local couple whose names were actually Jack and Jill. They would go up to the top of a local hill for some "alone time" with each other. In 1697, Jill discovered she was pregnant; before the couple could marry, Jack was killed when a boulder in a local quarry where he worked fell and hit him on the head. Jill later died in childbirth. If this story is true, it makes for a rather depressing nursery rhyme!

Answer: Cockle

This is another nursery rhyme with an uncertain history. It was first written down in 1744, but is probably much older than that. Some say the poem is about Mary, Queen of Scots. But it is more likely about her cousin, Mary I of England, who was despised by English Protestants for her attempts to reinstate Roman Catholicism as the state religion.

The line "how does your garden grow" is supposed to be mocking her for her inability to bear children, the "cockle shells" were the badges worn by Catholic pilgrims to various holy shrines, and "the pretty maids all in a row" were nuns. An alternative interpretation is that the objects mentioned were torture devices. Like most nursery rhymes, the true origin is probably lost to time.

Answer: Plum

This nursery rhyme has a little firmer in grounding in actual history. In 1536, when Henry VIII confiscated Church properties in England, the Abbott of Glastonbury is said to have sent his steward, Thomas Horner, to the King, with the deeds to a dozen manors in an attempt to save his abbey from destruction. Horner was said to have stolen the deed to the Mells Manor in Somerset, and kept it for himself.

The Horner family did live at Mells Manor for many centuries, but it is more likely that Horner purchased the property from the Crown than that he stole it.

Answer: Candlestick

Like most nursery rhymes, the origins of "Jack Be Nimble" are obscure and debatable. The most likely explanation is that it refers to the English custom of jumping over a bonfire on St. Catherine's Day (November 25). Because many injuries resulted, the bonfire was eventually replaced by a candlestick. If a girl could jump over a candle without putting it out, she was supposed to enjoy good luck during the coming year.

Although the custom was usually followed by girls and women, the nursery rhyme changed the name to Jack.

The nursery rhyme first appeared in print during the 18th century.

Answer: Roast beef

"And this little piggy cried, "Wee! Wee! Wee!"
All the way home."

"This Little Piggy" seems to be the rarest of all nursery rhymes - a simple nonsense rhyme with no story behind it. It is usually recited while gently squeezing a child's toes. My niece used to enjoy playing "This Little Piggy" when she was a toddler. The rhyme is quite old, having first been seen in print in 1728.

Answer: Mulberry

"Half a pound of tuppenny rice, half a pound of treacle,
That's the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel."

This is not a very old nursery rhyme, dating only from the middle of the 19th century. Although interpretations vary, most sources believe that it refers to tradesmen pawning their clothes or tools to get money to buy food or drink. "Pop" was a slang term meaning to pawn something. Exactly what the "weasel" was is open to debate. Some say it was a tailor's tool, others that it was a slang term for an overcoat. One odd thing about this rhyme, as well as "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush," is that mulberries do not grow on bushes, but on trees, and rather large trees at that.

Answer: Dumpling

Like "This Little Piggy," this nursery rhyme does not seem to have any sinister meaning behind it. It is simply a nonsense rhyme. "Dumpling" was a term applied to a chubby child, and one meaning of "diddle" was to bounce up and down. So parents would recite this while bouncing their child on their knee. This rhyme first appeared in print in 1795.