pop goes the weasel is an English
nursery rhyme and singing game it has a
roud folk song index number of 52-49 the
jack-in-the-box a children's toy often
plays the melody lyrics there are many
different versions of the lyrics to the
song in England most share the basic
verse half a pound of two paneer ice
half a pound of treacle feta euro
unregistered trademark s the way the
money goes pop goes the weasel often a
second verse is added every night when I
get home the monkeys on the table take a
stick and knock it off pop goes the
weasel and up and down the city Road in
and out the eagle that's the way the
money goes pop goes the weasel origins
the tune appears to have begun as dance
music to which words were later added a
music sheet acquired by the British
Library in 1853 describes a dance pop
goes the weasel which was according to
the music sheet an old English dance as
performed at Her Majesty's and the
nobilities balls with the original music
it had a tune very similar to that used
today but only the words pop goes the
weasel the dance became extremely
popular and featured on stage as well as
in dance halls by September of the same
year the title was being used as a
scornful repost and soon words were
added to an already well-known tune the
song is mentioned in November 1855 in a
church of england pamphlet where it is
described as a universally popular song
played in the streets on barrel organs
but with senseless lyrics the use of
alternative more wholesome words is
suggested the following verse had been
written by 1856 when it was quoted in a
performance at the Theatre Royal up and
down the city Road in and out the Eagle
that's the way the money goes pop goes
the weasel
erican versions the song seems to have
crossed the Atlantic in the 1850s where
US newspapers soon afterwards call it
the latest English dance and the phrase
pop goes the weasel soon took hold the
remaining words were still unstable in
Britain and as a result some of the u.s.
lyrics are significantly different and
may have an entirely different source
but use the same tune the following
lyric was printed in Boston in 1858 all
around the Cobblers house the monkey
chased the people and after them in
double haste pop goes the weasel in 1901
in New York the opening lines were all
around the chicken coop the possum
chased the weasel the most common recent
version was not recorded until nineteen
fourteen in addition to the three verses
above American versions often include
some of the following all around the
mulberry bush the monkey chased the
weasel the monkey stopped to pull up his
sock pop goes the weasel half a pound of
tuppenny rice half a pound of treacle
mix it up and make it nice pop goes the
weasel contemporary verses in the United
States include these all around the
mulberry bush the monkey chased the
weasel the monkey thought was all in
good fun pop goes the weasel a penny for
a spool of thread a penny for a needler
euro that's the way the money goes pop
goes the weasel Jimmy's got the whooping
cough and Timmy's got the measles that's
the way the story goes pop goes the
weasel there are numerous American
versions is printed in Vance Randolph
Ozark folk songs vol 3 PP a 368 a euro
369 Randolph's number 556 the eighth
text collected 1926 from mrs. Marie
Wilbur of Pineville Missouri me
and interpretations perhaps because of
the obscure nature of the various lyrics
there have been many suggestions for
what they mean particularly the phrase
pop goes the weasel including that it is
a tailor's Flatiron a dead weasel a
Hatter's tool a clock real used for
measuring in spinning a piece of silver
plate or that weasel and stowed is
cockney rhyming slang for throat as in
get that down your weasel meaning to eat
or drink something an alternative
meaning involves pawning one's coat in
order to buy food and drink weasel is
rhyming slang for coat pop is a slang
word for pawn a clock real is commonly
called a spinners weasel and consists of
a wheel which is revolved by the spinner
in order to measure off thread or yarn
after it has been produced on the
spinning wheel the weasel is usually
built so that the circumference is six
feet so that 40 revolutions produces 80
yards of yarn which is a skein it has
wooden gears inside and a cam designed
to cause a popping sound after the 40th
revolution telling the spinner that she
has completed the skein other than
correspondences none of these theories
has any additional evidence to support
it and some can be discounted because of
the known history of the song iona and
Peter Opie observed that even at the
height of the dance craze in the 1850s
no one seemed to know what the phrase
meant an interpretation could be that
pop is the sound when opening a purse
made of weasel skin the eagle in the
songs third verse probably refers to the
eagle freehold pub at the corner of
chepa des walk and city road mentioned
in the same verse the eagle was an old
pub in city road london which was
rebuilt as a music hall in 1825
demolished in 1901 and then rebuilt as a
public house this public house bears a
plaque with this interpretation of the
nursery rhyme and the pubs history as a
singing game in Britain the rhyme has
been played as a children's game since
at least the late 19th century the first
verse quoted above a sung while several
rings are formed and they dance around
one player more than the number of rings
are designated as weasels all but one
standing in the Rings when the pop goes
the weasel line is reached they have to
rush to a new ring before anyone else
can the one that fails is eliminated and
the number of circles is reduced by one
until there is only one weasel left pop
recording a pop version of the song was
recorded in 1961 by british singer
anthony newley on the Decca label and
reached number 12 in the UK Singles
Chart see also I am weasel an animated
series based loosely on the rhyme the
monkeys thought was all in fun a short
story by orson scott card in one episode
of Thomas and Friends and in one of the
books in the the railway series the
Troublesome Trucks sing pop goes the
diesel rudely to diesel references notes
external links public domain version
from 1853 arranged by charlie twigs on
imslp org