Ding Dong Bell
"Ding Dong Bell" or "Ding Dong Dell" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12853.
The nursery rhyme tells the story of a naughty boy who throws a cat into a well. The rhyme starts with the sound of bells ringing to grab attention. It then describes how the cat was thrown into the well by a mischievous child, but is later rescued by a kind boy.
The rhyme serves as a moral lesson, teaching children not to be cruel to animals and that such actions are wrong. The rescue part emphasizes kindness and taking responsibility to correct bad actions.
Words
One modern version, cited by The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, is:Origins
The earliest recorded reference to the rhyme is from John Lant, the organist of Winchester Cathedral in 1580, who recorded the following rhyme:It was printed in Thomas Ravenscroft's Pammelia, Musicks Miscellanie in 1609, as a canon for four voices.
The phrase 'Ding, dong, bell' also appears in these passages of Shakespeare's plays:
The Tempest, Act I, Scene II:
The Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene II:
The earliest version to resemble the modern one is from Mother Goose's Melody published in London around 1765. The additional lines that include the more acceptable ending for children with the survival of the cat are in James Orchard Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes of England, where the cat is pulled out by "Dog with long snout".
Several names are used for the malevolent Johnny Green, including Tommy O' Linne and Tommy Quin. Iona and Peter Opie suggested that it may have had its origins in Tom a lin or Tom o' Lin, the protagonist of another nursery rhyme.