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Pop Goes the Weasel

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This article is about the nursery rhyme. For the hip hop song by 3rd Bass, see Pop Goes the Weasel (3rd Bass song)

"Pop Goes The Weasel" is a nursery rhyme which dates back to 17th-century England, and was spread across the Empire by colonists. The tune or melody is as follows, or a variation:

"Pop Goes the Weasel" melody

There are many different versions of the lyrics to this song. Most share the basic verse:

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

Or the alternate verses:

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
Mix it up and make it nice,
Pop! goes the weasel.

Or the alternate verses:

Up and down the city road, (also seen as 'Up and down the King's Highway')
In and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.
For you may try to sew and sew,
But you'll never make anything regal,
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.

In both England and the English colonies, extra verses have been added, some humorous and others serious:

All around the mulberry bush,
The monkey chased the weasel,
The dog, he thought 'twas all in fun.
Pop! goes the weasel.

or...

Ev'ry night, when I come home,
The monkey's on the table.
I take a stick and knock him off,
Pop! goes the weasel.

or...

Round and round the cobblers bench,
The monkey chased the weasel,
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun.
Pop! goes the weasel.
A penny for a spool of thread,
A penny for a needle.
That's the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.

[edit] In Fiction

The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry is not known for its songs, but the books' author chose to use the well-known rhyme format for a version that was probably a hidden lesson about boasting.

In Duck and the Diesel Engine (vol 13 of the series), the visiting engine Diesel hauls a rake of condemned vans from a siding by mistake, and lurches forward ('pops') when a rusty coupling breaks. While Diesel clears up the mess he hears the trucks making fun of him with this song:

Trucks are waiting in the Yard;
Tackling with ease'll,
"Show the world what I can do,"
Gaily boasts the Diesel.
In and out he creeps about,
Like a big black weasel.
When he pulls the wrong trucks out --
Pop goes the Diesel!

Some years later, the Rev. Awdry reprised the song with another version in Oliver the Western Engine (vol 24). This time, the steam engine Oliver ends up bunker-down in the well of a turntable (hence the reference at the end of the song) when his ballast train runs out of control. After Oliver returns from repair, more trucks, lead by S.C.Ruffey, tease him with this song:

Oliver's no use at all;
Thinks he's very clever.
Says that he can manage us;
That's the best joke ever!
When he orders us about,
With the greatest folly,
We just push him down the well --
Pop - goes old Ollie!'

When the stories were filmed for the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV series, re-using the songs was an obvious move, with the Troublesome Trucks leading the singing. (NB - for the re-dubbed American version, some of the wording was changed - eg 'trucks' replaced by 'cars').


In the animated television series Ox Tales, an elephant sings this version:

Round and round the mulberry bush,'
The elephant chased the weasel.
The elephant put his heavy foot down,
POP! Goes the weasel!'


The Lenore comics by Roman Dirge features a scene in which a weasel repeatedly explodes (for no apparent reason) and dies in the arms of its hysterical monkey lover. The nursery rhyme is included, causing both the monkey and the weasel to beg for mercy each time the end of a verse and the line "POP! Goes the weasel!" approaches.

"Pop Goes the Weasel" is also prominently featured in the 1960s television series The Prisoner. An instrumental version is part of the soundtrack of several episodes (most notably the premiere episode "Arrival"), and in "Once Upon a Time" the lead character Number Six, whose mind has been reverted to childhood, begins singing the song, but is goaded by his nemesis, Number Two, who turns the word "Pop" into an acronym for "Protect Other People", leading the two to yell "Why POP?" at each other.

[edit] Interpretations

Image:Eagle City Road London 2005.jpg Due to the obscure slang and cryptic reference 'pop goes the weasel' in the rhyme there is considerable controversy over its meaning.

The original theme of the rhyme seems to have been a darkly humorous portrait of the cycle of poverty of workers in the East End of London. The 'weasel' probably refer to a spinner's weasel, a mechanical yarn measuring device consisting of a spoked wheel with an internal ratcheting mechanism that clicks every two revolutions and makes a 'pop' sound after the desired length of yarn is measured. 'Pop goes the weasel', in this meaning, describes the repetitive sound of a machine governing the tedious work of textile workers toiling for subsistence wages. In the context of the rhyme then the first three lines of each verse describe various ways of spending one's meager wages, with 'pop goes the weasel' indicating a return to unpleasant labor.

Alternatively, if 'pop goes the weasel' is taken as cockney rhyming slang, the 'weasel' that goes 'pop' is an item of value that the worker pawns, probably after spending the week's wages (always given on a Saturday). Cockney rhyming slang uses 'pop' meaning to pawn or to redeem a pawned item, while the word 'weasel' means 'coat' (derived from weasel and stoat). If this meaning is taken, the rhyme describes the blowing of the week's wages on staples and drink, and the pawning of the worker's only valuable items - the 'Sunday best' clothing - on Sunday evening or Monday morning, to survive until next Saturday's wage packet.

The Eagle is a pub on the City Road in London.

Rice and treacle are cheap and filling subsistence foodstuffs. One piece of research suggests that the pricing of these staples corresponds better to the mid- to late-19th century, and that the version containing the line 'up and down the city road' is therefore probably the original.

'Monkey' is believed to be a nineteenth century term for a public house drinking vessel. A 'stick' is a shot of alcohol, while 'knock it off' is to drink it. Therefore, this is a description of drinking in the pub. The later reference in the song to the monkey chasing people around the workplace might well describe longing for a drink while working, or perhaps while penniless right before payday.

"Pop Goes The Weasel" is featured prominently in the soundtrack to the 1960s TV series, The Prisoner. In the context of the series, the word 'POP' is said to be an acronym for the phrase 'Protect Other People'.

[edit] External links

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