Give a dog a bone

 

Give a dog a bone

Our dogs don’t have butcher’s bones, but they do have bone-shaped chews, and chews in the shape of toothbrushes, or hedgehogs, or alligators. At other times, they have a raw carrot each. These things all help to keep their teeth clean and their breath sweet.

‘Give a dog a bone’ is a line in a children’s nursery rhyme, ‘This old man.’ It is an old counting rhyme with a strong rhythm, with different versions dating from the 1870s. It has been suggested that it referred to itinerant Irish pedlars, and the unpleasant treatment they received in Victorian times, but this has never been verified.

This old man, he played one,
He played knick-knack on my thumb,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

A knick-knack is a trinket or inexpensive trifle sold by a traveller. It is also the nuchal ligament at the back of the neck in some mammals that have a heavy head or have to run long distances. It helps to support the weight of the head. In sheep and cows, this ligament is called the paxwax, or paddywhack. The nuchal ligament is often dried for use as dog treats. Paddywhack is an old English dialect word and has no association with Irish people.

This old man, he played two,
He played knick-knack on my shoe,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

Knick-knack may also have been an allusion to the sounds made by bones or spoons, which might have been played as an accompaniment to the song.

This old man, he played three,
He played knick-knack on my knee,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

Although paddy-whack does not refer to an Irishman, Paddy has been an affectionate name for Irishmen since the late 18^th century. It is the diminutive of Patrick or Pádraig, which are traditional Irish names.

This old man, he played four,
He played knick-knack on my door,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

Why was the dog given a bone? Was it literal? It’s possible it referred to providing some form of small meal to the pedlar.

This old man, he played five,
He played knick-knack on my hive,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

Bee-keeping was widespread in ordinary homes from the 12^th to the 19^th centuries. The hives were skeps, baskets made from coiled straw, and coated with dung or clay to provide some defence against poor weather. Honey was cheaper than sugar, and beeswax was used to make candles.

This old man, he played six,
He played knick-knack on my sticks,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

Small cut branches or ‘hedge sticks’ were collected and used as kindling. Bundles of sticks were called faggots.

This old man, he played seven,
He played knick-knack up to Heaven,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

Many infants did not live to see their first birthday in 1870. One in six died from infectious diseases, like measles, diarrhoea, and scarlet fever. Other causes of death included milk which may have been mixed with water or chalk, overcrowding in insanitary conditions, low birth-weight, and pollution in the cities. So, death and ‘Heaven’ were ever-present in families’ thoughts.

This old man, he played eight,
He played knick-knack on my gate,
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

I always assumed that ‘rolling home’ referred to an inebriated man staggering home, but another suggestion is that it refers to a tinker’s horse-drawn caravan rolling along.

Rhymes nine and ten, ‘my spine,’ and ‘my hen,’ completed the song.