"Eeper Weeper" or "Heeper Peeper" is a popular

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

nursery rhyme and skipping song that tells the story of a

chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combustion. Chimneys ...

who kills his second wife and hides her body up a chimney. The rhyme has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13497.

Lyrics

:Eeper Weeper, chimney sweeper, :Had a wife but couldn't keep her. :Had another, didn't love her, :Up the chimney he did shove her. I. Opie and P. Opie, ''Children's games with things: marbles, fivestones, throwing and catching, gambling, hopscotch, chucking and pitching, ball-bouncing, skipping, tops and tipcat'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 180.

Origins

Iona and Peter Opie Iona Margaret Balfour Opie, (13 October 1923 – 23 October 2017) and Peter Mason Opie (25 November 1918 – 5 February 1982) were an English married team of folklorists who applied modern techniques to understanding children's literature and ...

noted that the rhyme had been used in this form from at least the first decade of the 20th century. A verse collected from Aberdeen, Scotland and published in 1868 had the words: :Peter, my neeper, :Had a wife, :And he couidna' keep her, :He pat her i' the wa', :And lat a' the mice eat her. This may be an older version of "Eeper Neeper" and of "

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13497. Lyrics Common modern versions include: Peter, Peter pumpkin eater, Had a wife but couldn't keep her; He put her in a pumpkin shell ...

".I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 333-4.

Notes

{{Portal , Children's literature English children's songs English folk songs English nursery rhymes Children's games Fictional murderers Songs about death Murder ballads Skipping rhymes Traditional children's songs Songwriter unknown Year of song unknown