One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is a nursery rhyme. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1940 and in US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1941 under the title of The Patriotic Murders. ... A nursery rhyme is a traditional song or poem taught to young children, originally in the nursery. ...

One, two, buckle my shoe

Three, four, knock at the door

Five, six, pick up sticks

Seven, eight, lay them straight

Nine, ten, a big fat hen

Eleven, twelve, dig and delve

Thirteen, fourteen, maids a'courting

Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen

Seventeen, eighteen, maids a'waiting

Nineteen, twenty, my platter's empty ...

Origins

These nursery rhyme lyrics have no traceable connection with any events in history. There is no historical or political association to one two buckle my shoe. Devised as a pleasurable and fun way to teach children how to count using one two buckle my shoe and its different imagery to fire a child's imagination. The rhyming used in one two buckle my shoe helps aid knowledge retention.

This may be considered only a simple counting rhyme these days, but its origin is far more interesting. It is the most famous of the English "Lace Tells", or short songs sung by the makers of bobbin lace as an aid in this repetitive work. An annotated version follows:

One, two, buckle my shoe

 (the lacemaker is getting up in the morning) 

Three, four, shut the door

 (making the house or schoolroom quiet for work) 

Five, six, pick up sticks

 (a direct reference to the wooden bobbins used in lacemaking) 

Seven, eight, lay them straight

 (a working direction to place the bobbins properly on the pillow before proceeding to the next movement) 

Nine, ten, big fat hen.

 (this is the earliest version, a direct reference to the large pillow used for bobbin lace. Particulary, the Honiton or Bedfordshire Maltese pillows are fat, round, and not too unlike a big fat hen. A paper or parchment pattern is fastened to the pillow, with the lace design pricked out in small holes. The bobbins are wound with thread and are attached to the pattern in pairs. Each pair is crossed or twisted by the lacemaker to make 'stitches'. Each 'stitch' is secured with pins placed in the pinholes. The pillow is stuffed hard with straw to form a secure base for the pins.) 

Parodies

In the medical field a slightly different version of the ryhme becomes a very useful aide memoir for the reflexes.

One, two, buckle my shoe - refers to the ankle jerk reflex. The nerve roots that supply it originate from the first and second sacral roots ie S1 and S2.

Three, four, kneel on the floor - the knee jerk, which is supplied by nerves from the lumbar roots L3 and L4.

Five, six, pick up sticks - flexion of the forearm refers to the bicep. The bicep reflex is supplied by nerves from the cervical roots C5 and C6.

Seven, eight, lay them straight - extension of the arm by the triceps muscle. The triceps jerk is supplied by C7 and C8.

The reflexes and their associated root origins have been known for many centuries and it may have been that the rhyme had evolved from this medical memory aid.

References in popular culture

A 1940 Agatha Christie novel used the rhyme in its title and story structure. Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), mainly known as Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1940 and in US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1941 under the title of The Patriotic Murders. ...

A form of this nursery rhyme appears in several of the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies being chanted by children: Cover art for the first film A Nightmare on Elm Street is a series of horror films that were exceptionally popular in the 1980s. ...

One, two, Freddy's coming for you.

Three, four, better lock your door.

Five, six, grab your crucifix.

Seven, eight, gonna stay up late.

Nine, ten, never sleep again.

In the Futurama episode, "Less Than Hero," after Leela says she is stopping a villain at 9 and meeting her parents at 10, Bender says, "Nine, ten, a big fat hen. The name, Bender." This article is about the television series. ...

In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Hush", a variation of the rhyme is sung by a little girl to provide Buffy with a clue about the "Gentlemen" and how to defeat them. For other uses, see Buffy the Vampire Slayer (disambiguation). ...

The words, "One, two, buckle my shoe." count off the song "America Drinks" on the 1967 album "Absolutely Free" by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.

A portion of the rhyme appears in the lyrics of the Korn song "Shoots and Ladders" off their debut album, along with other nursery rhymes. The song was meant as a mockery of the dreaded history and origins of some of the nursery rhymes present in the song, including the name which mocks that of the board game Chutes and Ladders, also known as Snakes and Ladders outside the US. This article is about the band. ... Shoots and Ladders is the second single by American nu-metal band Korn. ... Chutes and Ladders, sometimes called Snakes and Ladders, is a classic childrens board game played between 2 or more players on a playing board with numbered grid squares. ...

The first 4 verses appear in the lyrics of "New world" by Reamonn. Reamonn is a German rock band, that is well known all over Europe. ...