When I was a Bachelor
Lyrics
When I was a bachelor I lived by myself,And all the bread and cheese I got I laid upon the shelf;The rats and the mice, they made such a strife,I had to go to London to buy me a wife.
The streets were so bad and the lanes were so narrow,I was forced to bring my wife home in a wheelbarrow.The wheelbarrow broke and my wife had a fall;Down came wheelbarrow, little wife and all.
History and Meaning
A bachelor, overrun by rats and mice, decides the answer is to go to London and buy a wife, then wheels her home in a wheelbarrow that promptly breaks, tipping wife and barrow into the road. "When I Was a Bachelor" is nonsense slapstick, in print by about 1833.
Origins
The song has deep roots in English oral folklore. Its earliest known printed version appeared in The Only True Mother Goose Melodies, which was published in Boston around 1833. The rhyme was later collected by James Orchard Halliwell in his 1842 book The Nursery Rhymes of England. Halliwell suggested that the story might be connected to traditional Danish folklore, specifically the tale of "Swain Tomling." This character was a tiny man who sought a wife much larger than himself, which may have inspired the imagery of the small wife in the wheelbarrow.
Meaning & Interpretation
The nursery rhyme is primarily a piece of nonsense humor. It contrasts the bachelor's quiet life with the chaos introduced by rats and mice, which drives him to seek a wife. The journey home becomes a comedy of errors due to the poor condition of the streets, culminating in the wheelbarrow breaking and his wife tumbling out.
The first line of the rhyme is also shared with an older, unrelated traditional English folk song called "The Foggy, Foggy Dew," which deals with mature themes of romance and courtship. However, the children's version has been cleaned up and focuses entirely on the comical mishap of the wheelbarrow.
What is the meaning of When I Was a Bachelor?
The rhyme is a humorous nonsense story about a bachelor's domestic struggles. It uses slapstick humor, showing a husband trying to transport his wife home in a wheelbarrow because of narrow streets, only for the vehicle to collapse.
How is Tom Thumb connected to When I Was a Bachelor?
Folklorist James Orchard Halliwell proposed that the rhyme was related to the legend of Tom Thumb. He linked it to a Danish tale about a tiny man who had to carry his large wife in a similar wheelbarrow.
Music Video
Lyrics from nurseryrhymes.info