"Eeper Weeper" or "Heeper Peeper" is a popular English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 nursery rhyme

Nursery rhyme

The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...

 and skipping song

Jump-rope rhyme

A skipping rhyme , is a rhyme chanted by children while skipping. Such rhymes have been recorded in all cultures where skipping is played. Examples of English-language rhymes have been found going back to at least the 17th century...

 that tells the story of a chimney sweep

Chimney sweep

A chimney sweep is a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combustion. Chimneys may be straight or contain many changes of direction. During...

 who kills his second wife and hides her body up a chimney. The rhyme has a Roud Folk Song Index

Roud Folk Song Index

The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...

 number of 13497.

Lyrics

Eeper Weeper, chimbly sweeper,

Had a wife but couldn't keep her.

Had another, didn't love her,

Up the chimbly he did shove her.

Origins

Iona and Peter Opie noted that the rhyme had been used in this form from at least the first decade of the twentieth century. A verse collected from Aberdeen, Scotland and published in 1868 had the words:

Peter, my neeper,

Had a wife,

And he couidna' keep her,

He pat her i' the wa',

And lat a' the mice eat her.

This may be an older version of Eeper Neeper and of Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

"Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13497.-Lyrics:Common modern versions include:...

.

Alternative lyrics

Occasionally two additional lines are prefixed to the main body of the rhyme. These are not optional – if the child is aware of the additional lines they will always be sung.

Ice cream, penny a lump,

The more you eat the more you jump.

Eeper Weeper, chimbly sweeper,

Had a wife but couldn't keep her.

Had another, didn't love her,

Up the chimbly he did shove her.