Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair.
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
“Let me taste your ware.”
Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
“Show me first your penny.”
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
“Indeed, I have not any.”
Simple Simon went a-fishing,
For to catch a whale;
All the water he had got,
Was in his mother’s pail.
Simple Simon went to look
If plums grew on a thistle,
He pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle.
Then Simple Simon went a-hunting,
For to catch a hare;
He rode on a goat about the street,
But could not find one there.
He went for water in a sieve
But soon it all run through;
And now poor Simple Simon
Bids you all adieu!
I had a little hobby horse,
And it was dapple grey,
Its head was made of pea-straw,
Its tail was made of hay.
I sold it to an old woman
For a copper groat;
And I’ll not sing my song again
Without a new coat.