We often don’t realize where nursery rhymes, some dating back centuries, came from. Some have evolved over centuries, bringing a whole new version to modern children. Others have remained tried and true since inception.
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,
And all of them out to sea
Most American children know a heavily revised version of this rhyme with only men in a tub. But you need the original version to understand the origins of this 14th-century phrase:
Hey, rub-a-dub
Ho, rub-a-dub
Three maids in a tub
And who do you think were there?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker
And all of them going to the fair
According to author Chris Roberts, the “tub” here refers to a bawdy fairground attraction. “Today it would be perhaps a lap-dancing venue,” Roberts said in 2005. “The upper-class, the respectable tradesfolk — the candlestick maker and the butcher and the baker — are ogling, getting an eyeful of some naked young ladies in a tub.”