Let us all ring fancy's knell;
I'll begin it – Ding, dong, bell.
The earliest version to resemble the modern one is from Mother Goose's Melody published in London around 1765.[1] The additional lines that include (arguably) the more acceptable ending for children with the survival of the cat are in James Orchard Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes of England, where the cat is pulled out by "Dog with long snout".[3]
Several names are used for the malevolent Johnny Green, including Tommy O' Linne (1797) and Tommy Quin (c. 1840).[1]Iona and Peter Opie suggested that it may have had its origins in Tom a lin or Tom o' Lin, the protagonist of another nursery rhyme.[1]
William Stonard's composition
There is also a version composed as a four-part round by William Stonard (1585–1630) to the following text:
Ding, ding, ding dong bell, ding, ding, ding, ding dong bell.
Oh cruel death that stopped the breath of him I loved so well.
Alack and well away 'tis a heavy day that ever us befell.
Then for his sake some order let us take that we may ring his knell.
The most common modern version is arguably already a moderation of the theme of the original rhyme. The fear that children might be affected by the violence of the rhyme and specifically that children might be tempted to put cats in wells, led to several attempts to reform the rhyme.[1] In his New Nursery Rhymes for Old (1949) Geoffrey Hall published the following alternative:
Ding dong bell
Pussy's at the well
Who took her there?
Little Johnny Hare.
Who'll bring her in?
Little Tommy Thin.
What a jolly boy was that
To get some milk for pussy cat
Who ne'er did any harm
But played with the mice in
His father's barn.
