This Old Man

This Old Man is a traditional English nursery rhyme. It's easy to remember: the verses repeat, except for the increasing number and its rhyming word.

It's a lot of fun to sing, and growing up, kids love to invent new words rhyming with the numbers.

Sung softly, it works well as a lullaby exactly because of the repetition.

As with most traditional lullabies and nursery rhymes, the true origin is not well known. The oldest traces go back to Wales in the late 19th century.

Interesting note: in the US, paddy-whack is often replaced by patty-whack. The reason is that paddywhack used to refer to "an angry Irish man" and could be interpreted as racist.^[1]

This old man, he played one
    He played knick-knack on my thumb
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home.

    This old man, he played two
    He played knick-knack on my shoe
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

    This old man, he played three
    He played knick-knack on my knee
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

    This old man, he played four
    He played knick-knack on my door
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

    This old man, he played five
    He played knick-knack on my hive
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

    This old man, he played six
    He played knick-knack with some sticks
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

    This old man, he played seven
    He played knick-knack up in heaven
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

    This old man, he played eight
    He played knick-knack on my gate
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

    This old man, he played nine
    He played knick-knack on my spine
   With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

    This old man, he played ten
    He played knick-knack now and then
    With a knick-knack, paddy whack
    Give your dog a bone
    This old man came rolling home

[1] A History of Cant and Slang Dictionaries J. Coleman, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004

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