Simon Edy, known as Old Simon, (c. 1709-18 May 1783) was a London beggar who may have served as an inspiration for a popular

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European 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. Fr ...

. He lived in a derelict "Rats' Castle" in the

rookery A rookery is a colony of breeding rooks, and more broadly a colony of several types of breeding animals, generally gregarious birds. Coming from the nesting habits of rooks, the term is used for corvids and the breeding grounds of colony-fo ...

of Dyott Street. He was born in Woodford in Northamptonshire in 1709 and died on 18 May 1783. He had a succession of dogs and the last of them was a drover's sheepdog called Rover. He begged outside the churchyard of St Giles in the Fields and was a well-known figure, being portrayed by artists including John Seago and

Thomas Rowlandson Thomas Rowlandson (; 13 July 1757 – 21 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual soc ...

. He wore several hats, coats, rings and collected much bric-a-brac such as cuttings from old newspapers like ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

'', from which he regaled passers-by. As he was a simpleton, he is thought to be a possible inspiration for the nursery rhyme, '' Simple Simon'', which was published in the ''Royal Book of Nursery Rhymes'' nearby in Monmouth Court.

References

Beggars People from North Northamptonshire 1700s births 1783 deaths {{london-stub