Peter Piper
Encyclopedia
"Peter Piper" is an English language
nursery rhyme
and well-known tongue twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
number of 19745.
, a Mauritian
government administrator of the eighteenth century who once investigated the Seychelles
' potential for spice cultivation.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
and well-known tongue twister. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
Roud Folk Song Index
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...
number of 19745.
Lyrics
Common modern versions include:- Peter Piper picked a peckPeckA peck is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. Two pecks make a kenning , and four pecks make a bushel....
of pickled pepperPickled pepperA pickled pepper is a pepper that has been preserved by the process of pickling. For peppers, the pickling process usually involves submersion in a brine of vinegar and salt water with herbs and spices, including peppercorns, coriander, dill, and bay leaf....
s, - 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?
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 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. Some authors have identified the subject of the rhyme as Peter PoivrePierre Poivre
Pierre Poivre was a French horticulturalist born in Lyon; missionary to China and Cochinchina, Intendant of the Islands of Mauritius and Bourbon, and wearer of the cordon of St. Michel...
, a Mauritian
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
government administrator of the eighteenth century who once investigated the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
' potential for spice cultivation.
External links
- Text of Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...