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Tickling

Hickory, Dickory, Dock

Good for:
Baby, Toddler
Tune:
The tune in Our Old Nursery Rhymes (London, 1911), harmonised by Alfred Moffat
Hear how the tune goes, on a music box

Hickory, dickory, dock! The mouse ran up the clock; The clock struck one, And down he run, Hickory, dickory, dock!

Dickory, dickory, dare, The pig flew up in the air; The man in brown soon brought him down, Dickory, dickory, dare.

How to play

  1. “Hickory, dickory, dock!” Rock your baby gently from side to side, like the swing of a clock, or tick-tock a finger in front of them.
  2. “The mouse ran up the clock;” Run your fingers up from their tummy to their chin.
  3. “The clock struck one,” Tap their nose, or clap once.
  4. “And down he run,” Run your fingers back down again.
  5. “Hickory, dickory, dock!” Rock from side to side to finish.
  6. The second verse: on “The pig flew up in the air”, lift your baby up, then bring them down for a cuddle on “brought him down”. Only lift a baby who can hold their head up steadily, and keep it slow and gentle.

Where it comes from

The rhyme was first printed in Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book (London, 1744), as “Hickere, Dickere Dock”. A few years later, in Mother Goose’s Melody (about 1765), it had become “Dickery, Dickery Dock”.

Nobody knows what the first line means. It may be a scrap of an old counting rhyme: shepherds in Westmorland once counted their sheep with old number words, and “hevera”, “devera” and “dick” were eight, nine and ten. Another story ties it to the astronomical clock in Exeter Cathedral, which has a small hole cut in its door so the cathedral cat could go after the mice.

These words come from The Real Mother Goose (1916). The tune in the player is from Our Old Nursery Rhymes (1911), where the mouse “ran down” and the rhyme starts “Dickory”. Most people sing “The mouse ran down” today. It fits the same notes.

Old words

  • struck one: rang once, for one o’clock.
  • run: an old way of saying “ran”.

Tips

  • Keep the clock going: let it strike two, then three, with a tap or a clap for each.
  • Walk your fingers up slowly the first time and quickly the next. A little surprise in the timing is half the fun.

Where these words come from

Public domain. A traditional English rhyme, first printed in Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book (London, 1744). Text from The Real Mother Goose, illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1916), as transcribed by Project Gutenberg (eBook #10607). Original source

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