This limerick rings in with a classic example of onomatopoeia, which, as all you English majors know, is a word that imitates a sound — like ah-choo, boom, bong, bop, burp, chomp, chop, clap, coo-coo, creak, ding-dong, groan, gulp, moan, plop, pow, rap, ring, slam, slap, slurp, stomp, tap, wham, zoom, snap, crackle, pop and tick-tock. “Hickory dickory dock” sounds like an old grandfather clock with hiccups. Another interpretation claims the words were numbers used by medieval shepherds to count their flock. These shepherds came home from a hard day in the pasture and put their children to sleep by counting sheep with the same rhyme.

On November 17, 2000, ka wrote:

Hi! Great site! Your comparison of the oral tradition of these rhymes in yesteryear with today's tabloids is surely right on the mark. It WAS their primary way of spreading gossip and alluding to what could not be said openly. Travelling minstrels carried news and stories as well as history in the form of songs and rhymes in a time when few people traveled beyond their own villages and even fewer were literate. 

I have no idea how much truth there is to this explanation, but I have heard that the HICKORY DICKORY DOCK rhyme, as well as some other common sayings, (“Abracadabra” being one,) evolved from pagan rituals, the kind of magic spells that old wives practiced at home. Along with their herbs and potions, certain words could be used in charms, and many small animals, especially black cats, but also mice and birds and all kinds of forest animals, were their “familiars” and aided them in their magic. They also believed that time was key as well. Midnight was the “witching hour” when spirits could roam freely in our world. The phases of the moon, the seasons, especially those days or hours that could be considered turning points or periods of transition, (the turning of the hour, midnight or midday, the full of the moon when it changes from waxing to waning, the solstices and equinoxes) were considered to be especially potent and facilitated their magic spells. Thus the chant, the mouse and the clock striking one.

I hope you will add more rhymes to your site. Great work!

On November 14, 2001, Richard J Wood wrote:

Early clocks were run by weights on chains. The weights were often fashioned in decorative or whimsical shapes, possibly reminiscent of a mouse. The mouse running up the clock referred to the chain being pulled to set the weight at the top of its run. As the clock ran, the mouse ran down. The hickory dickory probably is an onomatopoetic reference to the ticking of the clock. The weights of the clock in the rhyme apparently needed to be reset to the top of the run every hour or so.

On February 13, 2005, Richard Shewmaker wrote:

Hi, I found your site when looking for the rhyme.

As a child I learned it with a different fourth line:

and down he run

instead of:

The mouse ran down

I'm 43, so that gives you an idea of the time period involved. My guess is the difference is due to a decision to “clean up” the English.

Very nice site. Glad I found it.