I thought I would ask you a question. Did you know June 14th is National Pop Goes the Weasel Day #NationalPopGoesTheWeaselDay? I remember this nursery rhyme not only from David and Suzzie’s childhood but mine as well. Do you remember Pop Goes The Weasel and can you recite it? I can and so can Charlie.
National Pop Goes The Weasel Day is enjoyed by everyone on June 14th. National Pop Goes The Weasel Day celebrates the nursery rhyme that we all have been singing since we were kids. National Pop Goes The Weasel Day has been around for almost 300 years now. National Pop Goes The Weasel Day is a great throwback to those childhood memories. Not many would know that the rhyme was a comment on the social-political scenario during that era and the poverty that people had to endure.
The ‘Pop Goes The Weasel’ rhyme originated in the 1700s. National Pop Goes The Weasel Day mentions the Eagle Tavern, also known as the Eagle Freehold Pub, which is situated on London’s City Road. The pub was shut down and turned into a music room in 1825 until 1901 when it was rebuilt as a public house and still exists to date.
A boat called Pop Goes The Weasel took part in the Durham Regatta way back in June of 1852. In the same year, in December, National Pop Goes The Weasel Day rose to public prominence. National Pop Goes The Weasel Day was referred to as a social dance in and around England. In Ipswich, a country dance ended with this rhyme on December 13, 1852. Soon afterward, on December 24, 1852, the rhyme was introduced to the royalty and their private soirees. By December 28, 1852, it started being included in publications and was being advertised throughout England.
At first, National Pop Goes The Weasel Day was just a tune, and only later the lyrics were added. National Pop Goes The Weasel Day even crossed the Atlantic Ocean and went from England to America in the late 1850s. The rhyme soon became popular there as well, although the words were still British to an extent. Therefore U.S. lyrics were written to be slightly different from the original, however, the rhyme retained the same tune.
NATIONAL POP GOES THE WEASEL DAY ACTIVITIES
- To celebrate NATIONAL POP GOES THE WEASEL DAY, go to your nearby bookstore or library and spend some time reading the nursery rhyme. Or find Pop Goes The Weasel online and sing it out loud!
- Host a reading session of the poem with your kids or your friend’s kids or your relative’s kids this way, they will also learn POP GOES THE WEASEL if they don’t already know it.
- NATIONAL POP GOES THE WEASEL DAY is a commentary on the socio-political atmosphere of the time, and you can study the history of that era by doing research and gaining more knowledge about what life used to be like in those times amidst such sordid poverty
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT NURSERY RHYMES
- Nursery rhymes as we know them date back to the Middle Ages
- Only after Ann and Jane Taylor printed, published, and circulated their book called “Rhymes For The Nursery” in 1806 did the phrase ‘nursery rhymes’ become colloquial.
- Shakespeare mentions Jack and Jill in “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and in “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
- The first collection of nursery rhymes in English was “Tommy Thumb’s Song Book,” which was published in 1774.
- In 1951 ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’ became the first song digitally saved and played on a computer.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE NATIONAL POP GOES THE WEASEL DAY
- National Pop Goes The Weasel Day helps us go back to our childhood and revisit some memories that we may have not thought about for ages.
- On National Pop Goes The Weasel Day, if you’re reading the nursery rhyme to your kids or that of your friends and relatives, you’re imparting some of your own childhood memories to them.
- Pop Goes The Weasel’ was set in an era where the socio-political nature of the countries wasn’t too good. Everyone was dealing with poverty and on National Pop Goes The Weasel Day you get to learn about the history of that period
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
