Among the popular songs which have found their way into nursery collections is the one known as _A Frog he would a wooing go_, the subject of which is old. Already in 1549 the shepherds of Scotland sang a song called, _The Frog cam to the Myldur_. In the year 1580 there was licensed, _A most strange Wedding of the Frog and the Mouse_, as appears from the books of the Stationers' Company cited by Warton.[19] The song has been preserved in many variations with a variety of burdens. These burdens sound like nonsense, but in some cases the same words appear elsewhere in a different application, which shows that they were not originally unmeaning. [19] Warton, _History of English Poetry_, 1840, III, 360. The oldest known version of the song begins:-- It was a frog in the well, _humble dum, humble dum_, And the mouse in the mill, _tweedle tweedle twino_.[20] [20] Chappell, loc. cit., p. 88. The expression _humble dum_ occurs in other songs and seems to indicate triumph; the word _tweedle_ represents the sound made by the pipes. A Scottish variation of the song begins:-- There lived a Puddy in a well, _Cuddy alone, Cuddy alone_, There lived a Puddy in a well, _Cuddy alone and I_.[21] [21] Sharpe, Ch. K., _Ballad Book_, 1824, p. 87. In the nursery collection of _c._ 1783 the song begins:-- There was a frog liv'd in a well, _Kitty alone, Kitty alone_, There was a frog liv'd in a well. There was a frog liv'd in a well, _Kitty alone and I_. And a farce mouse in a mill, _Cock me cary, Kitty alone, Kitty alone and I_. (_c._ 1783, p. 4.) The origin and meaning of this burden remains obscure. The antiquity and the wide popularity of these verses are further shown by a song written in imitation of it, called _A Ditty on a High Amore at St. James_, and set to a popular tune, which dates from before 1714. It is in verse, and begins:-- Great Lord Frog and Lady Mouse, _Crackledom hee, crackledom ho_, Dwelling near St. James' house, _Cocki mi chari chi_; Rode to make his court one day, In the merry month of May, When the sun shone bright and gay, _twiddle come, tweedle dee_.[22] [22] Chappell, loc. cit., p. 561. In the accepted nursery version the song begins:-- A frog he would a wooing ride, _heigho, says Rowley_, Whether his mother would let him or no, _With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach, Heigho, says Anthony Rowley_.