“Billy, in one of his nice new sashes,
Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes;
Now, although the room grows chilly,
I haven’t the heart to poke poor Billy.”
(Ruthless Rhymes – Harry Graham, 1874 – 1936)
John Lentell
September 18th, 1968
Today's Piece
Lentell Soup 
Yours is the third version of the same verse I remember from my childhood. Do you think yours is correct because the following is the one I remember:
Or the following which is the one I remember?
Billy in his bright new sashes,
Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes,
And although the night grew chilly,
We hadn’t the heart to poke poor Billy.
This next, and my least favourite, I picked up as a direct quote off the net. I do hope that it was unreliably transcribed.
Little Willie, in bows and sashes
Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes,
Nowadays when the weather gets chilly
Nobody likes to poke poor Willie.
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I’m not sure of the source of this version – my father had a variety of books of quotations and the like so it would have been from one of those. I guess if it was in print in such a book 40 odd years ago, it’s more likely to be an original version.
I found this link from Time Magazine that alludes to it being the original version with many permutations having emerged since original publication.
Now that you’ve drawn attention to it, I bet there are many others that would be amusing to come across!
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