A tongue-twisting nonsense rhyme about London merchants in fine scarlet coats, kept moving by its galloping opening line, 'Hey diddle dinkety poppety pet.' Useful for building rhythm and clear articulation.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
Hey diddle dinkety poppety pet,
The merchants of London they wear scarlet,
Silk in the collar and gold in the hem,
So merrily march the merchant men.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition