The Surprisingly Lewd Origins of the “Rub-a-Dub-Dub” Nursery Rhyme

If you grew up in the English-speaking world, chances are you’ve heard this nursery rhyme before (probably while you were in a bath):

“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.” 

Nursery rhyme origins are often murky. The history of this one is both apocryphal and slightly lewd.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub as a children’s rhyme first showed up in the late 18th century when a version of it was featured in the second volume of English composer James Hook’s A Christmas Box, alongside other popular nursery rhymes like “Goosy, Goosy, Gander,” “ See Saw Margery Daw,” “Who Comes Here, a Grenadier,” and, as seen recently in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)—“Little Jack Horner, Sat in a Corner.”

That said, the lyrics of “Rub-a-Dub-Dub” refer to a decidedly adult situation. Oral traditions are thought to go back as far as the 14th century, when tub was a slangy euphemism for brothels, carnival attractions, and other places where men could ogle women.

“Hey! rub-a-dub, ho! rub-a-dub, three maids in a tub,” an early version of the rhyme went, according to American Songwriter, “And who do you think were there? / The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker, / And all of them gone to the fair,” the implication being that these three honorable tradesmen are doing something naughty. 

The rhyme itself was essentially calling out the men for paying to see the “maids,” much like social media and the news media might do today. “British tabloids love stories about respectable tradesfolk … being caught in places they shouldn’t be caught in,” Chris Roberts, author of Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme, told NPR.

Over time, the rhyme’s salacious origins made way for a more child-friendly, less moralistic, and sillier vibe. Reads one iteration from 1842 cited by American Songwriter, “Rub a dub dub, / Three fools in a tub, / And who do you think they be? / The butcher, the baker, / The candlestick maker. / Turn them out, knaves all three.”

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, by the mid-19th century, rub-a-dub as a verb and noun also came to describe a rhythmic drumming sound or motion. The Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher Thomas Carlyle wrote, “what rub-a-dub is that?” when referring to a chaotic episode from the French Revolution in his collected works. The OED also notes that rub-a-dub is Cockney rhyming slang for pub.

“Rub-a-Dub-Dub” isn’t the only English nursery rhyme originating from NSFW themes: “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” and “Jack and Jill” stem from royal scandals.

Discover More Disturbing Origins of Nursery Rhymes: