"Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker’s Man", "Pat-a-Cake", "Patty-cake" or "Pattycake" is an
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 ...
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 6486.
Verse
:Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man.
:Bake me a cake as fast as you can
:Roll it, pat it, and mark it with a B
:Throw it in the oven for Baby and me.
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. 341–2. .
Origins
The earliest recorded version of the rhyme appears in
Thomas D'Urfey's play ''The Campaigners'' from 1698, where a nurse says to her charges:
...and pat a cake Bakers man, so I will master as I can, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and throw't into the Oven.
The next appearance is in ''Mother Goose's Melody'' (c. 1765) in the form:
:Patty Cake, Patty Cake,
:Baker's Man;
:That I will Master,
:As fast as I can;
:Pat it and prick it,
:And mark it with a T,
:And there will be enough for Tommy and me.
Marking pastry or baked goods with an identifiable mark may stem from a time when households without an oven of their own could take their items to a local baker or bake house, paying to have their items finished for a small fee. Marking the pastry would have been a way to ensure the return of the proper item.
The earliest version set to music appears in
James Hook's "A Christmas Box" (1796).
Game
The rhyme often accompanies a
clapping game
A clapping game (or hand game) is a type of usually cooperative (i.e., non-competitive) game which is generally played by two players and involves clapping as a rhythmic accompaniment to a singing game or reciting of a rhyme, often nursery rhyme ...
between two people. It alternates between a normal individual clap by one person with two-handed claps with the other person. The hands may be crossed as well. This allows for a possibly complex sequence of clapping that must be coordinated between the two. If told by a parent to a child, the "B" and "baby" in the last two lines are sometimes replaced by the child's first initial and
first name.
[
The "pat-a-cake" song and clapping game was used by ]Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...
and Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
in their series of "Road to
''Road to ...'' is a series of seven comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. They are also often referred to as the "''Road''" pictures or the "''Road''" series. The movies were a combination of adventure, comedy, ...
" films as a means of distraction. The gag worked by means of adding a synchronised punch into the clapping game routine, allowing them to make their escape.''The "Road..." Films of Hope, Crosby and Lamour''
/ref>
See also
* List of nursery rhymes
References
{{Hand games
Clapping games
English children's songs
English folk songs
English nursery rhymes
Children's games
Songs about occupations
Songwriter unknown
Year of song unknown