Notes

According to Wikipedia, the earliest published version is from John Newbery's "Mother Goose's Melody" (c. 1760) as follows:

Pease-porridge hot,
Pease-porridge cold.
Pease-porridge in the pot
Nine days old.
Spell me that in four letters:
I will: T H A T.

Here's another version of this rhyme from The Little Mother Goose (1912), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith:

Pease porridge hot,
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot nine days old.
Some like it hot,
Some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot nine days old.
Spell me that with a P
And a clever scholar you will be.

Andrew Lang called this a "Game with the hands" in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).

Game Instructions

Here's how you play the hand-clapping game:

1. Slap thighs, clap hands, clap partner's hands.
2. Repeat line 1
3. Slap thighs, clap hands, slap partner's right with your right hand, clap hands.
4. Slap partner's left hand with your left hand, clap your hands, clap your partner's hands.
5. Slap thighs, clap hands, clap partner's hands.
6. Repeat line 5
7. Slap thighs, clap hands, slap partner's right with your right hand, clap hands.
8. Slap partner's left hand with your left hand, clap your hands, clap your partner's hands.

The words to the mp3 below can be found in the Notes.

Download

Here's the version from An Alphabet Of Old Friends (1874) by Walter Crane (it's recited in the mp3):

Pease-pudding hot, pease-pudding cold;
Pease-pudding in the pot, nine days old.

Download

Thanks and Acknowledgements

The 1st illustration is from Mother Goose, The Original Volland Edition (1915), edited and arranged by Eulalie Osgood Grover and illustrated by Frederick Richardson (with some graphical editing by Mama Lisa). The 1st version of the rhyme and the 2nd illustration can be found in The Little Mother Goose (1912), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. The 1st version of the rhyme and the 3rd illustration can be found in The Real Mother Goose (1916), illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright.