# Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

"Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater" is a nursery rhyme with both British and American roots, in print by about 1797, in which Peter keeps his wife in a pumpkin shell.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Sung in | English |
| Words by | Traditional |
| First known | c. 1797 |
| Best for ages | 2–7 |
| Mood | playful, traditional |
| Page | https://littlesongbook.com/songs/peter-peter-pumpkin-eater/ |

## Lyrics

### Verse 1 (en)

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her!
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well!

## Common questions

**How old is "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater"?**

The earliest surviving version is from about 1797, in a London collection called "Infant Institutes". It was printed in Boston around 1825, and an older Scottish variant was collected and published in 1868 — so it has both British and American roots.

**What does the rhyme mean?**

On its face, very little: Peter cannot manage his wife, so he houses her in a hollowed-out pumpkin, where — the rhyme cheerfully insists — he keeps her "very well". Like much nursery verse it is a small absurd picture rather than a story with a moral, and no hidden meaning has been established.

**Is "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" related to any other rhyme?**

Yes — the older Scottish verse behind it is also considered a version of the separate rhyme "Eeper Weeper", which shares the same odd theme of a husband and a hard-to-keep wife.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Peter_Pumpkin_Eater)
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7176357