Poem of the Day - Part 24

 Rub a Dub Dub

Today's poem is a familiar English nursery rhyme.  The rhyme exists in several different versions.  The oldest version, dating to the 14th century, is:

                Hey, rub a dub, ho, rub a dub, three maids in a tub

                And who do you think were there?

                The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,

                And all of them going to the fair.

This is thought to refer to a peep show at a fair, where the butcher, baker, and candlestick maker were peeping at three naked girls in a tub.  The origins of some of these nursery rhymes are not so innocent!

In the 1800s the rhyme was changed to refer to three men, not three maids, in an effort to clean it up.  One version goes:

                Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub

                And who do you think they were?

                The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker

                'Twas enough to make a man stare.

Of course, which version is dirtier depends on your point of view, and on what the three men were doing in that tub.  I'm taking my cue from "Twas enough to make a man stare."  So, friends, feel free to stare!

                Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub

                And who do you think they were?

                The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker

                'Twas enough to make a man stare.

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Note: I got the third photo from Franco's blog Vellohomo.  Thanks, Franco!