The dance was very popular in England too; there are two references that Queen Victoria used to play it at the balls organized by the Court. Even today, there are plenty of variations of the lyrics. Below, you will find the two most popular versions of them. First, the version more popular in the UK. The second version is most popular in the USA. There was enormous demand for it, mainly to produce cloth and everyone who had land, from peasants to major landowners, raised sheep.
The great English landowners including lords, abbots and bishops began to count their wealth in terms of sheep, with some flocks totalling over 8, animals, all tended by dozens of full-time shepherds. After returning from the crusades in , Edward I imposed new taxes on the wool trade in order to pay for his military ventures.
It is believed that this wool tax forms the background to the rhyme. One-third of the price of each bag, or sack sold, was for the king the master ; one-third to the monasteries, or church the dame ; and none to the poor shepherd the little boy who cries down the lane who had tirelessly tended and protected the flock.
Georgie Porgie, Pudding and pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry; When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away. Despite his large size, George had also established for himself a rather poor reputation for his lusty romps with the fairer sex that involved several mistresses leaving a string of illegitimate children. When he was 23 he fell in love with the beautiful Maria Anne Fitzherbert; he was so besotted with her that he persuaded her to go through with a secret marriage.
The marriage would never have been allowed as Maria was both a commoner, but much, much worse; she was a Roman Catholic! George later went on to marry Catherine of Brunswick , whom he despised so much that he even had her banned her from his coronation.
And so George had made both the women in his life miserable kissed the girls and made them cry. George was well known for his foppish behaviour, and had apparently been at the rear of the class when badges for courage and bravery were handed out. That said, he did enjoy watching other people display these attributes; George was a great fan of bare-knuckle boxing. There's an example of that in a newspaper advertisement for groceries from The Hudson North Star newspaper, April including lbs of Extra Family Butter, whatever that is :.
Of the different meanings of the word weasel, the most commonly used today is as the name of the small carnivorous mammal. Weasels do pop their heads up when disturbed and it is quite plausible that this was the source of the name of the dance. Weasel may be a corruption of whistle - in cockney rhyming slang 'whistle and flute', that is, suit.
It could also be from another example of CRS - 'weasel and stoat', meaning coat. The lyrics of the rhyme go:. Up and down the City Road, in and out of The Eagle, that's the way the money goes, pop goes the weasel. This is said to describe spending all your money on drink in the pub and subsequently pawning your suit to raise some more.
The pawning and popping explanation seem to fit the meaning of the song and the rest of the lyrics of the English version at least , so many people like to believe it is the origin.
However, the expression 'pop goes the weasel' has existed since at least the s but the rhyming slang 'whistle and flute' and 'weasel and stoat' aren't known until the s. So, the theory that 'pop' means 'pawn' is unconvincing. Just for completeness, there's also a theory that the weasel refers to a weaver's shuttle, which makes a popping sound when the loom is in use.
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