"Old King Cole" is a British nursery rhyme most likely deriving from ancient Welsh. The historical identity of King Cole has been much debated and several candidates have been advanced as possibilities. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 1164. The poem describes a merry king who called for his pipe (a musical instrument), his bowl (a drinking vessel), and his three fiddlers.
Read more about Old King Cole: Lyrics, Origins, Interpretations, Modern Usage, In Yiddish
Famous quotes containing the words king and/or cole:
“I am as unfit for any practical purpose—I mean for the furtherance of the world’s ends—as gossamer for ship-timber; and I, who am going to be a pencil-maker to-morrow, can sympathize with God Apollo, who served King Admetus for a while on earth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Fifty million Frenchmen can’t be wrong.”
—Anonymous. Popular saying.
Dating from World War I—when it was used by U.S. soldiers—or before, the saying was associated with nightclub hostess Texas Quinan in the 1920s. It was the title of a song recorded by Sophie Tucker in 1927, and of a Cole Porter musical in 1929.