Pease Porridge Hot
Encyclopedia
"Pease Porridge Hot" or "Pease Pudding Hot" (also known as "Peas Porridge Hot") is a children's singing game
and nursery rhyme
. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
number of 19631.
are unknown. The name refers to a type of porridge
made from pea
s, pease pudding
, also known as pease pottage (in Middle English
). ("Pease" was treated as a mass noun
, similar to "oatmeal" and the singular "pea" and plural "peas" arose by back-formation
.)
The earliest recorded version of Pease Porridge Hot is a riddle found in John Newbery
's Mother Goose's Melody
(c. 1760).
Where the terms "pease pudding" and "pease pottage" are used, the lyrics of the rhyme are altered accordingly.
Schoolchildren often play Pease Porridge Hot by pairing off and clapping their hands together to the rhyme as follows:
NOTE: The actions are performed during recitation of the word or phrase, not following.
Singing game
A singing game is an activity based around a particular verse or rhyme, usually associated with a set of actions and movements. They have been studied by folklorists, ethnologists and psychologists and are seen as important part of childhood culture...
and 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:...
. It 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 19631.
Lyrics
The lyrics to the rhyme are:- Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold,
- Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old;
- Some like it hot, some like it cold,
- Some like it in the pot, nine days old.
Origin
The origins of this rhymeRhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
are unknown. The name refers to a type of porridge
Porridge
Porridge is a dish made by boiling oats or other cereal meals in water, milk, or both. It is usually served hot in a bowl or dish...
made from pea
Pea
A pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Peapods are botanically a fruit, since they contain seeds developed from the ovary of a flower. However, peas are considered to be a vegetable in cooking...
s, pease pudding
Pease pudding
Pease pudding, sometimes known as pease pottage or pease porridge, is a boiled vegetable product, which mainly consists of split yellow or Carlin peas, water, salt, and spices, often cooked with a bacon or ham joint...
, also known as pease pottage (in Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
). ("Pease" was treated as a mass noun
Mass noun
In linguistics, a mass noun is a noun that refers to some entity as an undifferentiated unit rather than as something with discrete subsets. Non-count nouns are best identified by their syntactic properties, and especially in contrast with count nouns. The semantics of mass nouns are highly...
, similar to "oatmeal" and the singular "pea" and plural "peas" arose by back-formation
Back-formation
In etymology, back-formation is the process of creating a new lexeme, usually by removing actual or supposed affixes. The resulting neologism is called a back-formation, a term coined by James Murray in 1889...
.)
The earliest recorded version of Pease Porridge Hot is a riddle found in John Newbery
John Newbery
John Newbery was an English publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market. He also supported and published the works of Christopher Smart, Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Johnson...
's Mother Goose's Melody
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
(c. 1760).
- Pease Porridge hot,
- Pease Porridge cold,
- Pease Porridge in the Pot
- Nine Days old,
- Spell me that in four Letters?
- I will, THAT.
Where the terms "pease pudding" and "pease pottage" are used, the lyrics of the rhyme are altered accordingly.
The game
- Pease (clap both hands to thighs) porridge (clap own hands together) hot (clap partner's hands),
- pease (clap both hands to thighs) porridge (clap own hands together) cold (clap partner's hands),
- Pease (clap thighs) porridge (clap own hands) in the (clap right hands only) pot (clap own hands),
- nine (clap left hands only) days (clap own hands) old (clap partner's hands).
- (Repeat actions for second stanza)
NOTE: The actions are performed during recitation of the word or phrase, not following.
In popular culture
- In the 1966 Blake EdwardsBlake EdwardsBlake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
World War II comedy What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? is a 1966 comedy film written by William Peter Blatty and directed by Blake Edwards. It stars James Coburn and Dick Shawn.-Plot:...
, Major Pott (Harry MorganHarry MorganHarry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
) includes the last lines of the rhyme in his rantings after he is driven mad from getting lost in a maze of catacombs under the Sicilian village.
- In the 1986 film TrollTroll (film)Troll is a 1986 cult dark fantasy film. Its plot has no relation to the films Troll 2 and Troll 3, which are intended to be more horror than fantasy. Its "sequel", Troll 2 is considered to be one of the worst films of all time.-Plot:...
main character Wendy Potter recites the first half of this rhyme right before being trapped in the troll world.
- In the De La SoulDe La SoulDe La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
song, "Pease Porridge", the recording of the rhyme recorded by Harrell and Sharon Lucky is sampled repeatedly.
- The poem was mentioned in the very first episode of BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
Soap operaSoap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
in 1985.
- Pease Porridge and Pease PuddingPease puddingPease pudding, sometimes known as pease pottage or pease porridge, is a boiled vegetable product, which mainly consists of split yellow or Carlin peas, water, salt, and spices, often cooked with a bacon or ham joint...
are the same English dish known earlier as pease pottage. Pease PottagePease PottagePease Pottage is a small village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the southern edge of the Crawley built up area, in the civil parish of Slaugham....
is a small villageVillageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in West SussexWest SussexWest Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, EnglandEnglandEngland 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...
which, according to tradition, gets its name from serving pease pottage to convicts either on their way from LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to the South Coast or from East GrinsteadEast GrinsteadEast Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...
to HorshamHorshamHorsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...