"There Was a Crooked Man" is an English

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

. It has a

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

number of 4826.

Origin

The rhyme was first recorded in print by

James Orchard Halliwell James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (born James Orchard Halliwell; 21 June 1820 – 3 January 1889) was an English writer, Shakespearean scholar, antiquarian, and a collector of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Life The son of Thomas Hal ...

in 1842:

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked
stile A stile is a structure or opening that provides passage for humansrather than animals such as livestockover or through a boundary. Common forms include steps, ladders, or narrow gaps. Stiles are often built in rural areas along footpaths, fen ...
; He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, And they all liv'd together in a little crooked house.

It gained popularity in the early twentieth century. I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd ed., 1997), p. 340. One legend suggests that this nursery rhyme originated in the once prosperous wool merchant's village of

Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Lavenham Guildhall, Guildhall, Little ...

, about 70 miles northeast of London, having been inspired by its multicolored half-timbered houses leaning at irregular angles as if they are supporting each other. One Lavenham house in particular, "The Crooked House" is often cited as the inspiration for the rhyme. Other sources state that the poem originates from British history, specifically the period of the Scottish Stuart King Charles I of England (reigned 1625–1649). The crooked man is reputed to be the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

General Sir

Alexander Leslie Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (4 April 1661) was a Scottish army officer. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of field marshal in Swedish Army, and in Scotland became Lord General in comma ...

, who signed a covenant securing religious and political freedom for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The "crooked

stile A stile is a structure or opening that provides passage for humansrather than animals such as livestockover or through a boundary. Common forms include steps, ladders, or narrow gaps. Stiles are often built in rural areas along footpaths, fen ...

" in the poem was the alliance between the parliaments of England and Scotland or the border between the two, depending on the source. "They all lived together in a little crooked house" refers to the fact that the English and Scots had at last come to an agreement, despite the continuing great animosity between the two peoples, who nonetheless had to live with each other due to their common border. The great recoinage around 1696 led to sixpence coins that were made of very thin silver and were easily bent, becoming "crooked"."The British Almanac", 1856
page 17

References

{{Authority control English folk songs English children's songs Traditional children's songs Songs about cats Cats in literature English nursery rhymes Songs with unknown songwriters Year of song unknown