Kelley wrote:
Dear Lisa,
I was wondering if you could help me. My mum used to sing a song to my children about a man running through a paddock or field with a pancake tied to his bum, bum, bum.
This is the only bit of the song I can remember and I wondered if you had ever heard of it or knew of its origins. I haven’t been able to find it on any Nursery Rhyme Websites as I don’t know the name of it.
Hoping you can help.
Kind Regards,
Kelley Carter
If anyone can help out with this song, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
This article was posted on Friday, May 18th, 2007 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Australia, Australian Kids Songs, British Children's Songs, Canada, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, English, English Nursery Rhymes, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Readers Questions, United Kingdom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
123 Responses to “Does Anyone Know a Song About a Pancake Tied to a Man’s Bum, Bum, Bum?”
Leave a Reply
August 13th, 2017 at 7:43 am
At primary school in the early 50s we used to sing:
He ran like Kelly
With a belly full of jelly
And a pancake tied to his bum, bum, bum
but I’ve no idea who Kelly was.
My brother knew the Worm Song and passed it on to my daughters. He would add “Bite the heads off, suck the juice out” with a loud slurp.
August 16th, 2017 at 11:38 am
Gai asks for the full text of the Worm Song.
As far as I can remember without asking my kids or brother it went:
Nobody loves me. Everybody hates me. They say I eat worms. Long thin skinny ones, big fat juicy ones. See then squiggle and squirm. Bite their heads off, suck the juice out [long sucking noise here]. Throw the skins away. Nobody knows how well I thrive on worms three times a day.
October 27th, 2017 at 2:59 am
My mum, born in 1928 was taught this my her grandmother whilst they were taking shelter in London during the blitz in the war. It was always recited with a ‘cockney’ accent. The first four lines were those taught to me as a young boy; the rest I added in later years as a sort of memory to my mum who loved writing poetry and ‘ditties’.
Little Fly.
Little fly upon the wall.
Ain’t you got no ‘ome at all?
Ain’t you got no mum and Dad?
Oh gore blimey – Ain’t that sad.
Maybe I could ‘elp you out,
‘Ate to see ya go wiv’out,
Maybe you could go inside,
My old work boot were you could ‘ide.
Raise ya kids and call it ‘ome,
Then you wouldn’t ‘ave to roam
And live in dustbins all alone.
You’d live ‘appy ever after.
No more worries – lots of laughter!
∞
Now the summer’s been and gone,
‘Ad the feeling summits wrong,
‘Ad’nt seen ya flying round
Even missed that buzzing sound;
Then I saw you on the floor,
Arhh…now I’m sad – No more buzzing any more!
Jan Bolders 2014
February 8th, 2018 at 3:17 pm
My Mom used to sing her version of “there was a little man…”
Oh there was a little girl and she had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead
With a belly full of fat
And a big a plug a hat
And a pancake on her rummytum tum…”
I can’t remember if there’s more, which is why I’ve been searching.
May 6th, 2018 at 3:56 am
There was a little man and he had a little gun oh-ver the mountain he did run with a belly full of fat and a high cocked hat and a pancake tied to his Boom Boom Boom Ta-da-ta taa Taa Taa Taa
My father-in-law, now 93 used to sing it to my kids as they sat on his knee, bouncing them on the Boom Boom Boom and Ta-da-ta taa Taa Taa Taa. The high cocked hat line is accompanied by the gesture of tipping an imaginary hat. I thought the song was American in origin until i read this thread.
May 14th, 2018 at 1:40 am
The little man in the song was William Henry Harrison who became President of the USA in 1840. He ran on the hard cider and log cabin platform. The Black Cock Hat referred to a black cockade hat that General Harrison wore as in the war of 1812 as he defeated the British. Unfortunately the Black Cockade Hat was the symbol of the Federalist Party that taxed whiskey inciting the Whiskey Rebellion and lost power. The song was against Harrison The Irish Potato famine was in 1840. Harrison belonged to the Whig party pro hard cider without tax, and against slavery and possibly not in favor of Catholic immigrants. Irish hated both Harrison and the English and after Harrison’s death one month after taking office, the Irish sang the song to taunt the English. I am amazed how it has persisted.
May 27th, 2018 at 5:15 am
Ontario, Canada – 31 years old
My grandmother used to bounce my brother and I (one at a time) on her knees while singing a version of this song 😊 she would pat us on our bellies and on our bums at the end, and would we would laugh hysterically!
‘Oh there was a little man
Who had a little gun
Over the mountain he did run
With a belly full of fat
And a stovepipe hat
And a pancake tied to his bum bum bum.’
Can’t wait to sing it to my children someday!
August 30th, 2018 at 11:24 pm
There was a little man and he had a little fun
And up the chimney and he ran
With a belly full of fat and a old tall hat
And a pancake stuck to his bun bun bum.
November 2nd, 2018 at 11:55 pm
when I was little we used to sing: not last night but the night before, 3 dead men came knocking at my door, I opened the door and let them in, then hit each one with my rolling pin… also many people are mentioning a song similar to this (slightly darker version)… there was a little man and he had a little gun and its bullets were made of lead, lead, lead, he took it to the brook and he shot a little duck and the shot went through its head, head, head! just my memories :)
November 15th, 2018 at 3:58 pm
oh theeeeerreeeee… was a little man
and he had a little gun
and up that chimney he did run
with a pancake stuck a to his bum bum bum
bum budley up tum – BUM BUM!
My mum said that to me as a kid (i’m 46). My kids now sing this back to me. My mum had it sung to her as a kid.
There’s only one way to sing it too. Child on your knees, bumping them up and down as you sing it holding them tight so they don’t fall off. The last bit (bum budley..) – is the hardest bumps. My kids literally love it and we sing it down the phone to my Mum. Did it yesterday hence my search for this rhyme. Love that it’s different in every comment too lol
November 24th, 2019 at 10:35 am
Hey guys, I am 56 and from Huddersfield in England. When I was a child we used to say the rhymne ‘You know last night and the night before, 3 tom cats came knocking at my door. One with a fiddle, one with a drum and one with a pancake stuck to his bum
November 26th, 2019 at 5:31 pm
Not last night but the night before… Two tom cats came knocking at the door… One had a pistol and one had a gun and one shot the other one up the bum.
My nan born 1936 always sung us these as nursery rhymes “her dad would sing to her and her siblings” London Deptford
June 24th, 2020 at 2:44 pm
My Nan use to sing a song to me when I was young…..I am now 65 years old and she was from Ireland.
The song went: I dreamt last night and the night before 3 tom cats came knocking at my door. One had a Walking Stick, one had a Drum and one had a Paddywhack stuck to his bum….lol…. Oh…the memories are coming back…..
June 8th, 2021 at 3:24 am
There was a little man
And he had a little gun
And off to the Brickfields
He would run
With a belly full oƒ fat
And a white straw hat
And a pancake on his bum bum bum
The version I learned as a child
June 19th, 2021 at 10:49 am
My grandfather who’s been gone for over 30 years and i still miss him used to sing this version to me.
There was a little man
And he had a little gun
And his bullets were made of charcoal.
He went down the brook
And he saw a little rook
And he shot him right in the
He never said the last word but as a kid i found it hysterical.
August 28th, 2021 at 5:04 pm
There was a Sydney Australia artist who did a brilliant poster of the ‘Three cats who came a knocking’..may have been Martin Sharpe..!?
Cheers
Huey😊
January 23rd, 2022 at 4:22 pm
Not last night but the night before 3 wee monkeys came to my door, one with a fiddle, one with a drum and one with a pancake stuck to his bum, sung by my granny in Glasgow.
June 8th, 2022 at 4:51 pm
As a child, I was looked after by my Grandma, who was born in 1905 and worked in the cotton mills around Rochdale and Bury. She used to tell me the rhyme as “late last night or the night before, three little tomcats knocked at my door, one had a fiddle, one had a drum, and one had a pancake stuck to its bum.”
June 8th, 2022 at 5:06 pm
As a child, I was looked after by my Grandma, who was born in 1905 and worked in the cotton mills around Rochdale and Bury. She used to tell me the rhyme as “late last night or the night before, three little tomcats knocked at my door, one had a fiddle, one had a drum, and one had a pancake stuck to its bum”
June 13th, 2022 at 7:39 am
You know last night?
You know the night before?
Three big tomcats knocked at my door
One had a fiddle
One had a drum
One had a pancake stuck to his bum
September 4th, 2022 at 6:49 pm
My mom’s English grandfather used to sing it to her while holding her hands while bouncing on the knees, then her father carried on the tradition and sang to all of us, we’ve sang to all our children. I’m sure it’s been altered by us but I’m so glad to see similar versions here! We sang “there was a little man who had a little gun, down yon fields he did so run. With an oilskin cap and a bottle on his back and a pancake tied to his bum bum bum.” That last bit usually was accompanied by us falling backwards almost to the floor while he held our hands and pretended to not know how we ended up there. “What are you doing down there?!” Great fun.
October 20th, 2022 at 7:31 am
Not last night but the night before
3 tomcats came knocking at the door
One had a fiddle, one had a drum
And one had a pancake stuck to his bum
I went downstairs to let them in
They hit me on the head with a rolling pin
… I can’t remember the rest
November 26th, 2022 at 8:59 am
My granda in Northern Ireland sung it like this,
There was a wee man that had a wee gun,
Up the brickfields he did run with a belly full of fat, a white straw hat and a pancake tied to his bum bum bum,
He bounced us on his knee, smack our bums and drop us through his legs.
a core memory.