| "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man" | |
|---|---|
 William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose | |
| Nursery rhyme | |
| Published | 1698 |
| Songwriter(s) | Traditional |
"Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man", "Pat-a-Cake", "Patty-cake" or "Pattycake" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6486. [1]
The earliest recorded version of the rhyme appears in Thomas D'Urfey's play The Campaigners from 1698, where a nurse says to her charges:
...and pat a cake Bakers man, so I will master as I can, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and prick it, and throw't into the Oven. [2]
The next appearance is in Mother Goose's Melody (c. 1765) in the form:
Marking pastry or baked goods with an identifiable mark may stem from a time when households without an oven of their own could take their items to a local baker or bake house, paying to have their items finished for a small fee. Marking the pastry would have been a way to ensure the return of the proper item. [3]
The earliest version set to music appears in James Hook's "A Christmas Box" (1796). [4]
The rhyme often accompanies a clapping game between two people. It alternates between a normal individual clap by one person with two-handed claps with the other person. The hands may be crossed as well. This allows for a possibly complex sequence of clapping that must be coordinated between the two. If told by a parent to a child, the "B" and "baby" in the last two lines are sometimes replaced by the child's first initial and first name. [2]
The "pat-a-cake" song and clapping game was used by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in their series of "Road to" films. The gag worked by means of adding a synchronised punch into the clapping game routine, allowing them to make their escape. [5]
Patty-cake appears as a plot point in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , where it is made out to be the toon equivalent of sex. [6]
