"Tinker, Tailor" is a counting game,

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 ...

and

fortune telling Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical wi ...

song traditionally played in England, that can be used to count cherry stones, buttons, daisy petals and other items. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 802. It is commonly used by children in both Britain and America for "counting out", e.g. for choosing who shall be "It" in a game of tag.

Lyrics

The most common modern version is: :

Tinker Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils. Description ''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Roman ...

Tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

, :

Soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

Sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the ...

, :Rich Man, Poor Man, : Beggar Man, Thief.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 404–5. The most common American version is: :Rich Man, Poor Man, :Beggar Man, Thief, :Doctor, Lawyer, (or "Merchant") :Indian Chief.

Origins

A similar rhyme has been noted in

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer (publisher), printer to be the first English retailer of printed boo ...

's '' The Game and Playe of the Chesse'' (c. 1475), in which pawns are named: "Labourer, Smith, Clerk, Merchant, Physician, Taverner, Guard and Ribald." The first record of the opening four professions being grouped together is in

William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a mi ...

's ''Love for Love'' (1695), which has the lines: :A Soldier and a Sailor, a Tinker and a Tailor, :Had once a doubtful strife, sir. When

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 ...

collected the rhyme in the 1840s, it was for counting buttons with the lines: "My belief – a captain, a colonel, a cow-boy, a thief." The version printed by William Wells Newell in ''Games and Songs of American Children'' in 1883 was: "Rich man, Poor man, beggar-man, thief, Doctor, lawyer (or merchant), Indian chief", and it may be from this tradition that the modern American lyrics solidified.

Alternative versions

A. A. Milne's ''

Now We Are Six ''Now We Are Six'' is a book of thirty-five children's verses by A. A. Milne, with illustrations by E. H. Shepard. It was first published in 1927 including poems such as "King John's Christmas", "Binker" and "Pinkle Purr". Eleven of the poe ...

'' (1927) had the following version of "Cherry stones": :Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, :Or what about a cowboy, policeman, jailer, engine driver, or a pirate chief? :Or what about a ploughman or a keeper at the zoo, :Or what about a circus man who lets the people through? :Or the man who takes the pennies on the roundabouts and swings, :Or the man who plays the organ or the other man who sings? :Or what about the rabbit man with rabbits in his pockets :And what about a rocket man who's always making rockets? :Oh it's such a lot of things there are and such a lot to be :That there's always lots of cherries on my little cherry tree. The "tinker, tailor" rhyme is one part of a longer counting or divination game, often played by young girls to foretell their futures; it runs as follows: :When shall I marry? ::This year, next year, sometime, never. :What will my husband be? (or what I be?) ::Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich-man, poor-man, beggar-man, thief. :What will I be? ::Lady, baby, gypsy, queen. :What shall I wear? ::Silk, satin, cotton, rags (or silk, satin, velvet, lace) (or silk, satin, muslin, rags) :How shall I get it? ::Given, borrowed, bought, stolen. :How shall I get to church? ::Coach, carriage, wheelbarrow, cart. (or Coach, carriage, wheelbarrow, dustbin) :Where shall I live? ::Big house, little house, pig-sty, barn. During the divination, the child will ask a question and then count out a series of actions or objects by reciting the rhyme. The rhyme is repeated until the last of the series of objects or actions is reached. The last recited term or word is that which will come true. Buttons on a dress, petals on a flower, bounces of a ball, number of jumps over a rope, etc., may be counted.

In popular culture

Noel Coward Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places *Noel, Missouri, United States, a city * Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community *1563 Noël, an asteroid * Mount Noel, Brit ...

’s 1929 song ''Half-caste Woman'' includes the lyrics, “Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief”. '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

novel. '' "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor"'' is a 2016 Radiohead song. '' "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor"'' is a 1967 Yardbirds song.

Lyrics

Origins

Alternative versions

In popular culture

Notes

Further reading