Pop Goes the Weasel

For Flowering Baby this month we are singing Pop Goes the Weasel. It struck me that I did not know the words and also I did not understand what it meant! So I thought I would do a little research. It seems it dates back to the 1700's. The verse is derived from Cockney Rhyming slang. The Cockney's were suspicious of strangers and dislike of the police (and still are). Cockney's developed a language of their own based roughly on rhyming slang. It was difficult to understand and often the second noun was dropped. Apples and Pears means stairs but was abbreviated to just apples e.g. watch your step on the apples. To Pop means to pawn i.e. sell. Weasel and stout means coat. It was traditional for even poor people to have a suit for Sundays. When times were hard they would sell their coat on Monday and but it back before Sunday!

Up and down the city road, in and out of the eagle refers to The Eagle Tavern which is located in Hackney, London. It was an old pub that became a Music Hall in 1825. It was purchased by the Salvation Army in 1833. It was then demolished and became a pub in 1901