Old King Cole - Chords, Lyrics and Origins

Origins

The song 'Old King Cole' comes from Britain, and is well known as a children's nursery rhyme.  It dates back at least as far as the early eighteenth century, and is part of the Road Folk Song Index.  Whilst it might be just about possible that King Cole could be Coel Hen, a legendary British king from the Roman era, there is absolutely no evidence for this, save for the similar name.  It's also possible that King Cole could be Thomas Cole-Brook, a twelfth century cloth merchant, who somehow found his way into a number of seventeenth century plays.  Again though, there is little evidence for this.

Chords

C                              F           C
Old King Cole was a merry old soul,

           F             G          C
And a merry old soul was he.

C                                            F               C
He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl,

              F                  G           C
And he called for his fiddlers three.

F                    C
Every fiddler had a fiddle,

           C           G7          C     
And a very fine fiddle had he.

C                                       F          C
Oh there's none so rare, as can compare,

                  F                  G         C
With King Cole and his fiddlers three.

Lyrics

Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Every fiddler had a fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he.
Oh there's none so rare, as can compare,
With King Cole and his fiddlers three.