> Tim Hart and Friends > Songs > Nick Nack Paddy Wack
My Old Man / Nick Nack Paddy Wack
[
Roud 3550
; Ballad Index FSWB390C
; trad.]
George Spicer sang My Old Man at his home in Selsfield, Sussex, 1973. This recording made by Mike Yates was included in 2001 on the Muscial Traditions anthology Up in the North and Down in the South. Mike Yates commented in the accompanying booklet:
According to Frank Kidson, this was originally a children's singing game (although, as a child, I remember it more as a song used to raise flagging morale on long country walks). Certainly, there must have been a popular recording of it for the song to have been so widely known in fifties England.
The early folksong scholar Anne Gilchrist learnt a fragment of it, called Jack Jingle, from her Welsh nursemaid Elizabeth Piercy, whilst Cecil Sharp collected a version in 1911 from ‘children’ in East Dereham, Norfolk. In the 1950s Mervyn Plunkett noted it from George's one-time singing companion Pop Maynard—who called it Old Joe Nigalock. Other titles include Old Joe Padlock, in Canada, and Old Tommy Kendall, in Newfoundland. I suspect that George may have confused verses 7 and 11, which should probably be swapped around i.e. Seven / down in Devon, and, Eleven / up in Heaven.
Tim Hart sang Nick Nack Paddy Wack in 1981 on Tim Hart and Friends' album My Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record. This track was later included on their compilation CD Favourite Nursery Rhymes and Other Children's Songs.
Lyrics
George Spicer sings My Old Man | Tim Hart sings Nick Nack Paddy Wack |
---|---|
My old man, he played one, Chorus (after each verse): |
This old man, he played one, Chorus (after each verse): |
My old man, he played two, |
This old man, he played two, |
My old man, he played three, |
This old man, he played three, |
My old man, he played four, |
This old man, he played four, |
My old man, he played five, |
This old man, he played five, |
My old man, he played six, |
This old man, he played six, |
My old man, he played seven, |
This old man, he played seven, |
My old man, he played eight, |
This old man, he played eight, |
My old man, he played nine, |
This old man, he played nine, |
My old man, he played ten, |
This old man, he played ten, |
My old man, he played eleven, | |
My old man, he played twelve, |