# Hey Diddle Diddle

"Hey Diddle Diddle" is an English nursery rhyme of about 1765, usually taken as pure nonsense verse; it gave the language the phrase "over the moon", meaning delighted.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Sung in | English |
| Words by | Traditional |
| First known | c. 1765 |
| Best for ages | 2–7 |
| Mood | playful, traditional |
| Page | https://littlesongbook.com/songs/hey-diddle-diddle/ |

## Lyrics

### Verse 1 (en)

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun,
And the dish ran away with the spoon!

## Common questions

**What does "Hey Diddle Diddle" mean?**

Most scholars agree it means nothing in particular — it is nonsense verse, a string of impossible, delightful images: a fiddling cat, a cow jumping the moon, a laughing dog, a dish eloping with a spoon. The fun is precisely that none of it makes sense.

**How old is the rhyme?**

The earliest recorded version close to the modern one was printed in London around 1765 in "Mother Goose's Melody". The melody usually sung was written down later, by James William Elliott in 1870.

**Did the phrase "over the moon" come from this rhyme?**

Yes. The expression "over the moon", meaning delighted or thrilled, comes from the cow that jumped over the moon in this very rhyme.

**Have people tried to find a hidden meaning?**

Many have — proposing links to Greek choruses, Tudor courtiers, even constellations — but all of it is guesswork with no evidence, and the flood of theories was gently mocked by J. R. R. Tolkien. "The Cat and the Fiddle" was, at least, a genuine old English inn name, recorded in London by 1587.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — Hey Diddle Diddle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Diddle_Diddle)
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3135083