"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:
“When Prince William [later King William IV] was at Cork in 1787, an old officer ... dined with him, and happened to say he had been forty years in the service. The Prince with a sneer asked what he had learnt in those forty years. The old gentleman justly offended, said, “Sir, I have learnt, when I am no longer fit to fight, to make as good a retreat as I can” —and walked out of the room.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
““Orders to shoot on sight.” I thought he said the bloke was invisible!”
—Lester Cole (1904–1985)