"Lucy Locket" is an

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

. It has a

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

number of 19536.

Lyrics

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Common modern versions include: :Lucy Locket lost her pocket, :

Kitty Fisher Catherine Maria Fischer (1 June 1741 – 10 March 1767), known as Kitty Fisher, was a prominent British courtesan. From her teenage years onward, Fisher developed a carefully molded public image, which was enhanced by acknowledgement from Sir ...

found it; :Not a penny was there in it, :Only ribbon round it. Another version: :Lucy Locket lost her pocket, :Kitty Fisher found it; :Nothing in it, nothing in it, :But a binder round it.

Tune

One version of the song shares its tune with "

Jack and Jill "Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...

" and "

Yankee Doodle "Yankee Doodle" is a traditional song and nursery rhyme, the early versions of which predate the Seven Years' War and American Revolution. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state anthem of Connecticut. Its ...

", with Yankee Doodle emerged in North America in the mid-eighteenth century, but it is not clear which set of lyrics emerged first.O. G. T. Sonneck, ''Report on "The Star-Spangled Banner", "Hail Columbia", "America", "Yankee Doodle"'' (Minerva, 2001), p. 116.

Origins and meaning

Historically, the term "pocket" referred to a pouch worn around the waist by women in the 17th to 19th centuries. Skirts or dresses of the time had an opening at the waistline to allow access to the pocket which hung around the woman's waist by a ribbon or tape. The opening in the skirt was formed by leaving unstitched, near the waist, the panels of fabric for the skirt. Fabrics could be around 20 inches wide, so seaming the selvedges offered a reliable opportunity for an opening. Corresponding opening in the panels of fabric forming the petticoat underneath. The rhyme was first recorded by

James Orchard Halliwell James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (born James Orchard Halliwell; 21 June 1820 – 3 January 1889) was an English Shakespearean scholar, antiquarian, and a collector of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Life The son of Thomas Halliwell, he ...

in 1842, but there is evidence that it was popular in Britain and America at least in the early nineteenth century.

I. Opie and P. 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 ...

, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 279–80. Various persons have been identified with Lucy Locket and

. Halliwell suggested that they were "two celebrated courtesans of the time of Charles II", but no supportive evidence has been found. The name Lucy Locket was used by

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...

in ''

Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sat ...

'' (1728), but may have already been proverbial. Kitty Fisher may have been Catherine Marie Fischer (d. 1767) a British

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

who was the subject of three unfinished portraits by

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

and a number of songs, including an air recorded in Thompson's ''Country Dances'' (1760).D. H. Fischer, ''Liberty and freedom'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 217.

Notes

{{authority control English folk songs English children's songs English nursery rhymes Songs about fictional female characters Traditional children's songs Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown