Peter Piper
"Peter Piper" is an English-language nursery rhyme and well-known alliteration tongue-twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19745.[1]
"Peter Piper" | |
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Illustration from Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation (1836 American ed.) | |
Nursery rhyme | |
Published | 1813 |
Lyrics
Common modern versions include:
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
- A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
- If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
- Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
- If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
- How many pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?
Origins
The earliest version of this tongue twister was published in Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation by John Harris (1756–1846) in London in 1813, which includes a one name tongue-twister for each letter of the alphabet in the same style. However, the rhyme was apparently known at least a generation earlier.[2] Some authors have identified the subject of the rhyme as Pierre Poivre, an eighteenth‑century French horticulturalist and government administrator of Mauritius, who once investigated the Seychelles' potential for spice cultivation.[3][4]
References
- "English Folk Dance and Song Society Song Index". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- H. Carpenter and M. Prichard, The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (Oxford University Press, 1984), p. 408.
- Hassall, S.; Hassall, P.J. (1988). "Exploration, Discovery and Settlement". Seychelles. Places and People of the World. Chelsea House. p. 26. ISBN 0-7910-0104-0.
- Lionnet, Guy (1972). "Geography, Geology and Government". The Seychelles. The Islands Series. Stackpole Books (U.S.)/David & Charles (UK). p. 28. ISBN 0-8117-1514-0.
External links
- Text of Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation at Project Gutenberg
- Peter Piper public domain audiobook at LibriVox