Simple Simon (nursery rhyme)

"Simple Simon"
William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for Simple Simon, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose
Nursery rhyme
Published	1764

"Simple Simon" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19777.

The rhyme is as follows;

The verses used today are the first of a longer chapbook history first published in 1764. The character of Simple Simon may have been in circulation much longer, possibly appearing in an Elizabethan chapbook and in a ballad, Simple Simon's Misfortunes and his Wife Margery's Cruelty, from about 1685. Another possible inspiration was Simon Edy, a beggar in the St Giles area in the 18th century.