TAFFY WAS A WELSHMAN.
“Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;
Taffy came to my house and stole a shin of beef,
I went to Taffy’s house, Taffy was not at home;
Taffy came to my house, and stole a marrow bone.
I went to Taffy’s house, Taffy was not in;
Taffy came to my house and stole a silver pin;
I went to Taffy’s house, Taffy was in bed,
I took up a poker and flung it at his head.”
Taffy is a corruption of Taffid, the Welsh form of David. This very old nursery rhyme owes its origin to the continual raids and cattle-lifting expeditions which took place on the Welsh borders in the middle ages, but it has long since lost all serious meaning with those who repeat it. Twenty years ago the late Mr. Shirley Brooks completely re-modelled the poem very much in Taffy’s favour.