UPDATE: Congratulations to Vicki W. of Fargo, ND and Kari F. of Wolcott, NY. They are our lucky winners of this amazing giveaway!
Put some cool Rock n Roll vibes in your kids with these funky nursery rhyme rock tees. A totally adorable, sassy and clever spin on boring old rhymes – Mary and the ‘Lil L.A.M.B., “This Sheep is Bananas!”. Just don’t tell your kids what the real Gwen Stefani lyrics are. Another fun one, “Little Miss Muffet, Drop it like it’s hot!”, as in the spider of course. The London Bridge is my favorite with the tag line borrowed from Fergie, “Back 2 back drop it down real low”. There are so many and if you win, you get to pick from any of the Concert Series tees. The tee shirts are worth $38 (prices vary depending on style and size) and sizing is from infant all the way up to 5/6. To win, explain to me what “The Cat and the Fiddle” rhyme means. I have never understood it, it is so abstract and cryptic, especially the dish and spoon part! Put your interpretation in comments and we will select 2 winner through a random drawing from all entries. We will give away one boy AND one girl so please specify which when you enter. One entry per person please! The giveaway will close on Friday August 1st at 11:59pm EST.
Thank you Crib Rock Couture for sponsoring the prizes.
I think those people who were drunk or high thought they saw this thing. Therefore, it doesn’t need to make much sense 😛
PS: I’d like to win for a boy!
I think it has something to do with ‘cat dancing’.
thanks for the chance to win a girl tee!
“Cat and the fiddle” is sometimes claimed to be a nonsense rhyme based on a corruption of “catus fideles”, referring to a faithful cat. Another interpretation is that it refers to the animals and implements owned by a poor household – a cat to keep away mice, a dog to protect the home, a cow to provide milk, a dish and spoon to eat with and a fiddle for making music.
A more elaborate interpretation claims the rhyme to be derived from Egyptian mythology or artwork. The fiddle is not a fiddle at all, but an Egyptian instrument called a sistrum. A drawing of a sistrum does resemble a fiddle standing on its neck. The cat, dog and cow are, respectively, the Egyptian gods Bast, Anubis and Hathor although whoever created the rhyme may not have realised the animal-headed figures depicted in Egyptian art represented deities. The dish and spoon are ritual implements, just as the sistrum was used at religious ceremonies. Bast was a local deity associated with Bubastis and many depictions show her holding a sistrum. To those not versed in Egyptology, this could indeed have resembled a cat holding a fiddle. Hathor was most often depicted carrying the sun disk between her horns and this might have been misidentified as the moon
Cats are finicky and fiddles are high pitched, funky instruments. The cat is strumming to his/her own music. boy tee please.
I don’t think it really means anything…it’s just charming nonsense! I’d like a girl prize.
Thank you for this giveaway. I’m entering for the London Bridges tshirt. The cat and the fiddle to me means a cat playing the fiddle, dancing around. It’s funny, I can’t remember this nursery rhyme.
Thanks again.
I would like to win for a little boy.
It means the cat had geat talent, one for a boyy would be nice. Thanks
To me, the “Cat and the Fiddle” rhyme is a combination of nursery rhymes and baby-related symbols. The Cat and the fiddle represents music (we all know how important it is in our lives, lullaby’s are our humble beginnings in music). The cow jumping over the moon part symbolizes milk and night time and how we are always up feeding kids at night. The “Little dog laughed” part reminds me of people that are seeing you be a parent because they think it’s funny to watch all the craziness that surrounds child-rearing. And the dish and spoon run away because kids almost never want to eat their food with utensils and the food all ends up off the plate anyway.
I would like a girl tee- Thanks!
Maybe it’s like the lyrics to Louie, Louie….. it’s not meant to be understood.
(Girl, please)
I think someone was munching magic mushrooms when they came up with that one. It makes as much sense as some of the Beatles lyrics.
We’d like the boys prize please.
I think it is to teach kids that you can do anything like jumping ove rthe moon and that you may find a friend with somebody that is different like the dish and the spoon.
I think it was just a nonsensical rhyme,wasn’t supposed to make sense and children just like the silly story!
I think it means something that brings you joy or happiness.
If I win I would pick this one.
Crib Rock® BOYS JERSEY, Snips n’ Snails, HOT CHOCOLATE in size 6
wow i love to win a tee for my little one any one of them will do there all so nice thanks
No idea.
I remember studying the meanings of various nursery rhymes in history. Ring around the rosey is about the plague. The cat and the fiddle no one is sure of, but many think it’s about Queen Elizabeth the first. She is thought to be the cat. I can’t remember the rest!
Hm..I’m really not ever sure what that rhyme meant but if I had to take a stab at it, it’s just about people being silly and doing what they want to do.
Apologies but I forgot to mention that I wanted the girl prize. Thanks for the contest!
This is what I found about the meaning of the verse:
Hey diddle, diddle,
Hey Diddle, Diddle was originally published in 1765, as High Diddle, Diddle and reflects the popular use of nonsense phrases in songs and rhymes. Shakespeare himself used the word diddle in his writing. And the phrase hey diddle, diddle is considered similar to a colloquialism found in many traditional English folk ballads: ‘hey nonny no.’
The cat and the fiddle,
The cat is believed to represent Queen Elizabeth I who was nicknamed ‘The Cat’ because of the way she played or fiddled with her cabinet members, much like a cat will play with mice. An interesting quote by Elizabeth I states, “I may not be a lion, but I am a lion’s cub, and I have a lion’s heart.” Perhaps the nickname, given behind her back, was not unknown to Elizabeth.
The cow jumped over the moon, / The little dog laughed to see such fun,
The little dog was reportedly Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. Some believe Elizabeth loved Robert others feel that they were simply very close friends. It is said that Elizabeth once referred to him as her ‘lap dog.’ It is suggested that the cow and the moon are also nicknames for members of Elizabethan court intrigue.
Court intrigue was a huge part of life in the Elizabethan era much as political intrigue is part of our world today. There was very strict protocol regarding the behavior of members of court towards each other and towards the Queen and it is not surprising that nicknames would have been given to the various players.
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
It is said that Elizabeth’s serving lady represents the dish and the spoon was the designation of the royal taster. These two servants fell in love and secretly eloped and ran away from the court. When they were captured, Elizabeth had them thrown into the Tower of London.
If I win I would like a GIRL prize. Thanks!
I think it means that you can do anything if you imagine it so.
My daughter loves this nursery ryhme! She sings it all the time with hand gestures to go along to. I think it is suppossed to be non-sensical mischief to get kids thinking about unlikely but happy things. Dogs laughing-cows flying-happy plates and spoons! Its great.
I would love to have the shirt for my girl but also have a boy that would love a tee so either prize for me. Thanks!
I believe this nursery rhyme was written as a political satire of the time. Thanks.
I don’t think it has a deep meaning. I think it was just meant to be a fun little nursery rhyme.
I would like to win for a girl! Thanks!!
It’s never had a real meaning. I only really remember that the cow jumper over the moon! Would like girl prize.
My cat is always stealing my daughter’s toys, Im thinking that stupid cat in the nursery rhyme was messing around with someones fiddle and it got put somewhere… I dont know. Im totally making stuff up now.
These freakin shirts are too cute. Im loving them and I cant decide which ones I like best!!
COOL
I never thought of it meaning anything just a nursey ryhme for the kids. Thank you for having this. I would choose this for my precious little girl.
I think the writer was indulging in a lot of absinthe…or whatever the semi-legal psychadelic of the day was!
I’ve never even contemplated with that rhyme meant and it IS pretty goofy isn’t it? 😀
I was gonna say the same thing about Queen Elizabeth I but someone already beat me to it. I honestly think that whoever made up this rhyme picked words that go well together and the cat & fiddle seemed like a good fit. Boy tee please.
I’ve wondered that before and have no exclamation! lol I’d choose the boy prize
I think someone just wanted to use the word ‘Diddle’ in a song. I just sound so silly 🙂 Since I have a three month old girl, I’d choose the girl prize. Thanks for the contest!
i think it is just for fun with no deep meaning.boy prize please.
the cat is playing a fiddle-my grandson would love this
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I think its just something to giggle about, no deep meaning.
it doesn’t make any sense – I think it was a night mare somebody had
For the Boys Please!
The cat and the fiddle is about a party in the moonlight. I need a shirt for my 3yr. old girl. Finally, shirts that are as cool as she is.
Cat and the fiddle is the best! The explaination is that there is no explaination. Kids stuff is silly and nonsensical! I would love a boy gift if I am picked. Thanks!
I think it’s a wonderful way to show imagination and learn rhyming. I’m sure it meant something to the one who wrote it but is probably lost on most everyone else. I’d like the girls prize please.
Love the shirts! As for the Cat and the Fiddle-my son tells me that it means animals get to have all the fun 🙂 I know there may be a whole lot more to it, but I thought his answer was much better than anything I could come up with! Would love to win for him. Thanks for the giveaway!
It was written to delight children with impossible images.
It was written to delight children with impossible images
I think it’s a victory for the sneaky: no one noticed that tawdry dish running off with the spoon because everyone was too distracted by the fiddle playing cat and moon jumping cow! 🙂
I’d love a girl tee!
I don’t think it means anything. I would like one for a girl.
I don’t think it means anything, I think its meant to inspire your child’s imagination and to take delight in the silly!
Although it looks like someone up there found some historical explanations for it.
Hey, diddle, diddle!
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon
I don’t think it means anything, I think its meant to inspire your child’s imagination and to take delight in the silly!
Although it looks like someone up there found some historical explanations for it.
Hey, diddle, diddle!
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon
oops forgot to say need the boy tee – the red one
I heard that rhyme was political. Like the dish ran away with the spoon part was a political figure (I can’t remember who) running away with some girl. Weird I know but that’s what I heard.
I think Hey Diddle Diddle was written by someone who had a love for acid! Who else sees a cow jump over the moon? I would like the boys tee. Thanks for the opportunity!
The rhyme is a satire about Queen Elizabeth I.
There is a post here which explains it in detail!
I’d like London Bridge tee,
thanks 🙂
I never gave it much thought. Cows jumping over moons and silverware dancing around. Just amusing for kids, I think. Girls’ shirt please. But I have a grandson, too. So either would be great. 🙂
I’d like to win for my grandson!
I think that it is just supposed to be fun for kids. I would pick the girl one.
Maybe the home of the author is a complete mess and the animals were knocking dishes and spoons and silverware all over the place and it was a moment of complete chaos which the author ended up finding funny later and put it into verse.
Probably not but who knows.
I don’t think it has any meaning…I think it is just a fun and catchy rhyme. I would like the boy please!
I think it’s about two very different souls who are in love with each other. Please enter me into the contest for the girl prize. Thanks!
Some say that it revolves around Queen Elizabeth I. Others say that the rhyme came out of a fraternity party. Of course, much drinking and carousing had gone on and the next morning, it was found written on a paper. I think they are non sensical lines because children are entertained by such sayings. They say that Shakespeare used the word diddle in his writings. Thanks, Cindi
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