Polly put the kettle on?

Question

Polly put the kettle on, kettle on, kettle on
Polly put the kettle on, we'll all have tea

Suky take it off again, off again, off again
Suky take it off again, we'll all have none

Three questions:

1) Are Polly and Suky room mates, or do they have imaginary friends? Or is Suky Polly's alternate personality?
2) Does Suky have a problem with people having tea?
3) Why that name, Suky? Could've easily been Suzie.

...boggle on some more...

Little Polly Flinders
Sat among the cinders
Warming her pretty little toes;
Her mother came and caught her,
Whipped her little daughter
For spoiling her nice new clothes.

Did Suky grass on Polly?

Answer 1

miss polly had a dolly who was sick sick sick so she phoned for the doctor to come quick quick quick the doctor came with his bag and his hat and rapped at the door with a ratta tat tat he looked at the dolly and he shook his head & he said miss polly put her straight to bed he wrote on the paper for a bill bill bill il be back in the morning with a pill pill pill

is this the same polly?
now did suky poison miss pollys dolly?
the mind bogles!!! x

Answer 2

No they're not room mates, Polly is Suky's obsessive compulsive alternate personality who likes playing with fire (the kettle was put on a gas stove) - the 'we' referred to in the poem are Suky's other alternate personalities who only Polly is in contact with. So Sucky took the kettle off thinking Polly was playing with fire when in fact, Polly was just being polite and putting on tea for all the other personalities in Sucky's head! She's called Sucky instead of Suzie because one of her personalities is only 3 and can't pronounce Suzie correctly.

Hope this clears the matter up!

Answer 3

Mmmm! It's really interesting. I like your questions. I wonder if there are 3 people: Polly, Suky and the speaker of the rhyme. Also I was thinking that both Polly and Suky are hearing impaired. Why else would the speaker have to repeat themself.
I think Suky is a bit of a sook too! It's a pet name because if her real name was used we would all recognise her from her brief and disasterous career in Hollywood.
.....well maybe!?!

Answer 4

These sort of rhymes are all extremely old- this one around 450 years.

Suky (Sally?) is a Puritan (ie radical Protestant- influential at the time) , and hence is stereotyped as frowning on any form of laziness or enjoyment.

Suky has either stuck her nose in on Polly because that is what these Puritans were seen to do- or perhaps she is a member of the same family representing the split between Catholics and Protestants that could occur even within houses.

Answer 5

Its like Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
jack fell down and broke his crown
and Jill came running after
and then somthing about vinegar and brown paper fixing it

well why would water be up a hill due to gravity water always flows down so there surley would have had a water source closer to the house. And if he broke his crown he was either a King so why was he fetching water in the first place a servent would have fetched it
or he suffered severe head injuries probably resulting in brain damage and death, so are brain surgeons lieng to us and all i need if suffering from brain damage is vinegar and brown paper??

Answer 6

Are you neurotic? You know someone made up this song about a hundred years ago (when Suky was a name) probably just to entertain some kids.

Settle down and go take your Ritalin

Answer 7

I never understood the use of english did polly actually put the kettle on if so was it on the head!

Boris the afghan

Answer 8

Yes, and Little Jack Horner sat in a corner.
He was a relation too.

Answer 9

interesting question for a friday morning look no further follow my link for the answer....

Answer 10

Just reading all the answers and I have to say
YOU ARE ALL WARPED Ha Ha
I love it keep it all comming
makes my day
Big Thanks