Origins: <br /> <br />Simple Simon and the pie man, according to Denslow. The verses used today are the first of a longer chapbook history first published in 1764. The character of Simple Simon may have been in circulation much longer, possibly appearing in an Elizabethan chapbook and in a ballad, Simple Simon's Misfortunes and his Wife Margery's Cruelty, from about 1685. Another possible inspiration was Simon Edy, a beggar in the St Giles area in the 18th century. <br /> <br />Simple Simon Met A Pieman Nursery Rhymes For Babies <br /> <br />Simple Simon met a pieman, <br />Going to the fair; <br />Says Simple Simon to the pieman, <br />Let me taste your ware. <br />Says the pieman to Simple Simon, <br />Show me first your penny; <br />Says Simple Simon to the pieman, <br />Indeed I have not any. <br />Simple Simon went a-fishing, <br />For to catch a whale; <br />All the water he had got, <br />Was in his mother's pail. <br />Simple Simon went to look <br />If plums grew on a thistle; <br />He pricked his fingers very much, <br />Which made poor Simon whistle. <br />He went for water in a sieve <br />But soon it all fell through <br />And now poor Simple Simon <br />Bids you all adieu
