Little Tommy Tucker

Lyrics

Common modern versions include:

Little Tom TuckerWhat shall we give him?How shall he cut itHow will he be married

Origins

The earliest recorded version of this rhyme is from Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (c. 1744), which has only four lines. The full version was produced in Mother Goose's Melody (c. 1765). There are references to various parts of the rhyme in earlier works. To 'sing for one's supper' was a proverbial phrase by the seventeenth century. An excellent new Medley (c. 1620) included the line 'Tom would eat meat but wants a knife'.

Various Thomas Tuckers have been identified, including a Bachelor of Arts who was appointed 'Prince or Lorde of the Revells' at St. John's College, Oxford in 1607, and a 'Tom Tuck' who appears in one of John Herrick's epigrams in Witt's Recreations (1640).

In popular culture

Was played by Russell Coles in Babes in Toyland

Tommy Tucker is the name of a variety of rose.

Tommy Tucker (squirrel), possibly named for Little Tommy Tucker