Pustak Mahal Hickory Dickory Dock (HC018)

The earliest recorded version of the rhyme is in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, published in London in about 1744, which uses the opening line: 'Hickere, Dickere Dock'.The next recorded version in Mother Goose's Melody (c. 1765), uses 'Dickery, Dickery Dock'.The rhyme is thought by some commentators to have originated as a counting-out rhyme. Westmorland shepherds in the nineteenth century used the numbers Hevera  Devera  and Dick The rhyme is thought to have been based on the astronomical clock at Exeter Cathedral. The clock has a small hole in the door below the face for the resident cat to hunt mice.