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"Ding Dong Bell" or "Ding Dong Dell" is a popular
The most common modern version is:
The earliest recorded reference to the rhyme is from John Lant, the organist of Winchester Cathedral in 1580, who recorded the following rhyme:
It was printed in
version
composed as a four-part
The most common modern version is arguably already a moderation of the theme of the original rhyme. The fear that children might be affected by the violence of the rhyme and specifically that children might be tempted to put cats in wells, led to several attempts to reform the rhyme. In his ''New Nursery Rhymes for Old'' (1949) Geoffrey Hall published the following alternative:
A modern version replaces the word "
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 ...
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 ...
. 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 Londo ...
number of 12853.
Lyrics
The most common modern version is:
Origins
The earliest recorded reference to the rhyme is from John Lant, the organist of Winchester Cathedral in 1580, who recorded the following rhyme:
It was printed in Thomas Ravenscroft
Thomas Ravenscroft ( – 1635) was an English musician, theorist and editor, notable as a composer of rounds and catches, and especially for compiling collections of British folk music.
Little is known of Ravenscroft's early life. He pro ...
's ''Pammelia, Musicks Miscellanie'' in 1609, as a canon for four voices.
The phrase 'Ding, dong, bell' also appears in these passages of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's plays:
'' The Tempest'', Act I, Scene II:
''The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
'', Act III, Scene II:
The earliest version to resemble the modern one is from ''Mother Goose's Melody'' published in London around 1765. The additional lines that include (arguably) the more acceptable ending for children with the survival of the cat are in James Orchard Halliwell's ''Nursery Rhymes of England'', where the cat is pulled out by "Dog with long snout".
Several names are used for the malevolent Johnny Green, including Tommy O' Linne (1797) and Tommy Quin (c. 1840). 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 ...
suggested that it may have had its origins in Tom a lin or Tom o' Lin, the protagonist of another nursery rhyme.
William Stonard's composition
There is alsoversion
composed as a four-part
round
Round or rounds may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere
* Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...
by William Stonard (1585-1630) to the following text:
Reformed versions
The most common modern version is arguably already a moderation of the theme of the original rhyme. The fear that children might be affected by the violence of the rhyme and specifically that children might be tempted to put cats in wells, led to several attempts to reform the rhyme. In his ''New Nursery Rhymes for Old'' (1949) Geoffrey Hall published the following alternative:
A modern version replaces the word "pussy
''Pussy'' is a used as a noun, an adjective, and—in rare instances—a verb in the English language. It has several meanings, as slang, as euphemism, and as vulgarity. The most common as a noun, it means "cat", as well as "coward or weakli ...
" with "kitty".
References
{{Authority control English nursery rhymes Cats in literature 16th-century songs Songwriter unknown Year of song unknown Songs about cats English children's songs English folk songs Traditional children's songs