Ding Dong Bell

History & Origin

"Ding Dong Bell" is one of the oldest nursery rhymes in continuous use, with roots that extend back to the sixteenth century and possibly earlier. Its first known printed appearance dates to 1580, when it was quoted by the organist John Lant as a warning to children against cruelty to animals. The text at that time read slightly differently — the cat is a "boy" and the incident has a more directly moral framing — but the essential elements are already present.

The rhyme is notable for its appearance in Shakespeare: in "The Merchant of Venice" (Act III, Scene 2), the Prince of Portia sings "Tell me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart, or in the head? How begot, how nourished? Reply, reply. It is engender'd in the eyes, With gazing fed; and fancy dies In the cradle where it lies. Let us all ring fancy's knell; I'll begin it — ding, dong, bell." The "ding, dong, bell" refrain confirms that by the 1590s, when the play was written, the rhyme or its associated tune was already well known enough to be casually referenced on stage.

The moral of the finished nursery rhyme is straightforwardly anti-cruelty: the cat, whose only crime was killing mice (which is, of course, its job), deserves better than being thrown down a well. That Tommy Stout eventually rescues the cat gives the story a redemptive arc, and the final condemnation of Johnny Flynn is unambiguous.

The combination of genuine antiquity, a Shakespeare citation, and a dark-but-resolved plot gives this brief rhyme unusual depth.