Polly Put the Kettle On

History & Origin

"Polly Put the Kettle On" was first printed in a children's collection around 1797, though the song is likely somewhat older. In its earliest recorded form it had additional verses describing a domestic scene in a little more detail, but the modern version has reduced to its essential four-line call and response: the kettle goes on for company, the kettle comes off when company has gone.

The rhyme has been interpreted in various ways over the years. One popular reading suggests that Polly and Sukey are sisters playing a game: Polly puts the kettle on to invite her friends to stay, and Sukey — who wants the guests to leave — takes it off again when the moment is right. This gives the rhyme a small drama of domestic hospitality and its withdrawal.

"Sukey" is an old diminutive of Susan, now largely fallen from use. The rhyme preserves the name as a small piece of social history: the world of domestic servants and family nicknames from which so many nursery rhymes emerged. Our traditional arrangement gives the rhyme the warm, unhurried quality of a proper English tea.