Old King Cole

"Old King Cole"
Roud Folk Song Index #1164
Old King Cole, by William Wallace Denslow
Song
Written	England
Published	1708-9
Form	Nursery rhyme
Writer	Traditional
Language	English

"Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme first attested in 1708. Though there is much speculation about the identity of King Cole, it is unlikely that he can be identified reliably as any historical figure. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 1164. The poem describes a merry king who called for his pipe, bowl, and musicians, with the details varying among versions.

Lyrics

The song is first attested in William King in his Useful Transactions in Philosophy in 1708–9.^[1]

The most common modern version of the rhyme is:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Every fiddler he had a fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he;
Oh there's none so rare, as can compare
With King Cole and his fiddlers three.^[1]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Opie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

King's version has the following lyrics:

Good King Cole,
And he call'd for his Bowle,
And he call'd for Fidler's three;
And there was Fiddle, Fiddle,
And twice Fiddle, Fiddle,
For 'twas my Lady's Birth-day,
Therefore we keep Holy-day
And come to be merry.^[1]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Opie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Identity of King Cole

It is unlikely that the King Cole of the nursery rhyme can be identified with any particular historical person.^[2]

William King mentions two possibilities: the "Prince that Build Colchester" and a 12th-century cloth merchant from Reading named Cole-brook. Sir Walter Scott thought that "Auld King Coul" was the father of the giant Fyn M'Coule (Finn McCool).

Coel Hen theory

It is often noted that the name of the legendary Welsh king Coel Hen can be translated 'Old Cole' or 'Old King Cole'.^[3][4] This sometimes leads to speculation that he, or some other Coel in Roman Britain, is the model for Old King Cole of the nursery rhyme.^[5] However, there is no documentation of a connection between the fourth-century figures and the eighteenth-century nursery rhyme.

Further speculation connects Old King Cole and thus Coel Hen to Colchester, but in fact Colchester was not named for Coel Hen.^[6] Connecting with the musical theme of the nursery rhyme, according to a much later source, Coel Hen supposedly had a daughter who was skilled in music, according to the highly unreliable Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in the 12th century.^[7]

Cole-brook theory

In the 19th century William Chappell, an expert on popular music, suggested the possibility that the "Old King Cole" of nursery rhyme fame was really "Old Cole", alias Thomas Cole-brook, a supposed 12th-century Reading cloth merchant whose story was recounted by Thomas Deloney in his Pleasant History of Thomas of Reading (c. 1598), and who was well known as a character in plays of the early 17th century. The name "Old Cole" had some special meaning in Elizabethan theatre, but it is unclear what it was.^[1]

Interpretations

"Pipe" may refer to a smoking pipe or a musical instrument.

Modern usage

King Cole is often referenced in popular culture.

In popular usage

• In Canada, King Cole is a brand of tea which has been manufactured by G.E. Barbour & Co. since 1910.

In literature

• In his 1897 anthology Mother Goose in Prose, L. Frank Baum included a story explaining the background to the nursery rhyme. In this version, Cole is a commoner who is selected at random to succeed the King of Whatland when the latter dies without heir.
• In James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (619.27f):

With pipe on bowl. Terce for a fiddler, sixt for makmerriers, none for a Cole.

Joyce is at the same time punning on the canonical hours Tierce, Sext, Nones (Terce ... sixt ... none) and on Fionn MacCool (fiddlers ... makmerriers ... Cole).

G. K. Chesterton wrote a poem ("Old King Cole: A Parody") which presented the nursery rhyme successively in the styles of several poets: Alfred Lord Tennyson, W. B. Yeats, Robert Browning, Walt Whitman, and Algernon Charles Swinburne.

• Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien states that Giles' story is set "after the time of king Cole, but before King Arthur".

Stage Version

• Paul Reakes wrote a pantomime called Old King Cole.^[8]

In popular music

• Pop singer Nat 'King' Cole (actual surname Coles) said his nickname was inspired by "Old King Cole". The "King" in Nat Cole's name was usually used in quotation marks during his lifetime, but today it is often seen as though it were part of his name.
• The progressive rock band Genesis included the rhyme on their song "The Musical Box", from their 1971 album Nursery Cryme.
• Queen paraphrased the rhyme in their song "Great King Rat" on their 1973 self-titled album:

Great King Rat was a dirty old man
And a dirty old man was he
Now what did I tell you
Would you like to see?

• Cole Alexander of Atlanta punk band Black Lips performs solo as Old King Cole Younger, a name also partially derived from Confederate guerilla Cole Younger.

In magazines

• Mad ran a feature postulating classical writers' treatments of fairy tales. The magazine had Edgar Allan Poe tackle "Old King Cole", resulting in a cadence similar to that of "The Bells":

Old King Cole was a merry old soul
Old King Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole, Cole.

In humour

• In the 1970s, American comedian George Carlin offered this alternative:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul
     And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl -
     I guess we all know about Old King Cole...

Carlin's intonation of the final line suggested that the pipe and bowl should be interpreted as marijuana references.

° A parody is often sung to the tune of "The Old Chisolm Trail," and appears in "All the Pretty Horses" by Cormac MacCarthy:

"Old King Cole (Grady Cole) was a merry old soul With a buckskin belly and a rubber asshole."

In military cadence

• The United States military also has a version in the form of a marching cadence, used from the 1980s into the present:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul
and a merry ol' soul was he, uh huh.
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl
and he called for his privates three, uh huh.
Beer! Beer! Beer! cried the private.
Brave men are we
There's none so fair as they can compare
to the airborne infantry, uh huh.

The cadence included a verse for ranks from private to general, in the form of a cumulative song; each verse included a satire at the expense of each rank: "Beer beer beer" said the privates, "Where's my three-day pass" said the corporals, "Drill drill drill" said the sergeant, "Who's gonna read my map" said the looie, "Who's gonna shine my boots" said the captain, "Who's gonna drive my jeep" said the major, "Who's gonna mow my lawn" said the colonel, "Who's gonna walk my dog" said the general.

A version can be heard on the 1960 album Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall by Harry Belafonte. It can also be found in a 1929 music book "Sound Off!" Soldier songs from Yankee Doodle to Parley Voo"^[9] by Edward Arthur Dolph.

In comics and graphic novels

• In the Fables comic book, King Cole was the long-time mayor of 'Fabletown', a secret community of 'Fables', who were forced into exile in our world by a conqueror at home. He was defeated in an election by Prince Charming and was no longer mayor. He then became ambassador of 'Fabletown' to the Arabian fables. After deciding to plan war to win back their homelands, he has since returned to Fabletown, assuming first the post of deputy mayor and then mayor respectively, after the resignation of Prince Charming.

In video games

• In the video game Banjo-Tooie, there is a boss named Old King Coal. After King Coal says that he wishes to battle Banjo and Kazooie, Kazooie reples with "I thought you were a merry old soul?", further referencing the rhyme.
• In the 2013 video game The Wolf Among Us, an adaptation of the Fables comic books, King Cole is the mayor of Fabletown.
• In the online game AdventureQuest Worlds there is an NPC called Old King Coal.

In T.V. shows

• The song was sung on the T.V. show Barney & Friends, but with the last few lyrics changed (which were also adjusted for the drummer and trumpeter verses).

Dance with the fiddlers
Dance with the fiddlers
Dance with the fiddlers three.

• The nursery rhyme has also been used in Sesame Street, using the fiddlers as a way to show math (addition), with Ernie taking the role of Old King Cole.
• William Wegman's dogs also did the rhyme on Sesame Street, with Chundo as Old King Cole.

In film

• Walt Disney made a Silly Symphony cartoon in 1933 called "Old King Cole", in which Old King Cole holds a huge party where various nursery rhyme characters are invited.
• Walter Lantz produced an Oswald cartoon in 1933 entitled The Merry Old Soul which is reference to the nursery rhyme.
• The Three Stooges' short "Fiddlers Three" features Larry, Moe and Shemp as musicians in King Cole's court who must stop an evil wizard from stealing the king's daughter.
• In Happily N'Ever After 2: Snow White Another Bite @ the Apple, Old King Cole (voiced by Cam Clarke) is shown to be amalgamated with the King that is Snow White's father.

In political cartoons

• In political cartoons and similar in Britain, sometimes Old King Cole has been used to symbolize the coal industry.

In Yiddish

• In 1927, Moshe Nadir (1885–1943) published his Yiddish version, Der Rebbe Elimelech. It has since become a popular Yiddish folksong.

Notes

1. I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 134–5.
2. Opie, p. 25
3. Alistair Moffat, The Borders: A History of the Borders from Earliest Times, ISBN 1841584665 (unpaginated)
4. Anthony Richard Birley, The People of Roman Britain, ISBN 0520041194, p. 160
5. Albert Jack, Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes, ISBN 0399535551, s.v. 'Old King Cole'
6. see Opie and Opie, and discussion at Colchester#Name
7. Opie and Opie
8. Book of pantomime Old King Cole

References

• Huntingdon, Henry of (c.1129), Historia Anglorum.
• Kightley, C (1986), Folk Heroes of Britain. Thames & Hudson.
• Monmouth, Geoffrey of (1136). History of the Kings of Britain.
• Morris, John. The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973. ISBN 978-0-684-13313-3.
• Opie, I & P (1951), The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. Oxford University Press.
• Skene, WF (1868), The Four Ancient Books of Wales. Edmonston & Douglas.