I've Got Rings On My Fingers

I've Got Rings On My Fingers is a popular song written in 1909, words by Weston and Barnes, and music by Maurice Scott. It concerns an Irishman named Jim O'Shea, a castaway who finds himself on an island somewhere in the East Indies, whereupon he is made Chief Panjandrum by the natives because they like his red hair and his Irish smile. He then sends a letter to his girlfriend, Rose McGee, imploring her to come join him.

The song was a hit for Ada Jones and Blanche Ring. The verses explain the situation. The chorus is best remembered:

Sure, I've got rings on my fingers,

Bells on my toes,

Elephants to ride upon,

My little Irish Rose

So, come to your Nabob

And next Patrick's Day

Be Mistress Mumbo Jumbo Jijjiboo J. O'Shea

The first two lines of the chorus refer to the nursery rhyme:

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross

To see a fine lady upon a white horse

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes

She shall have music wherever she goes.

A version of that rhyme was published in 1784, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (edited by Peter and Iona Opie, 1951, 1973).

Joan Morris and William Bolcom recorded the song as part of their 1974 debut album, After the Ball; this may be the only modern recording.

Decades later, Ray Stevens referenced the expression in his comic song, "Ahab the Arab", in which Ahab's girlfriend Fatima wore "rings on her fingers and bells on her toes and a bone in her nose, ho ho."