ID: 875 Date: 1970s-2000 Title: Not last night Gender: Female Classification: Tangle talk, skipping Rhyme: Not last night, but the night before, Three tom cats came knocking at the door, One had a fiddle, One had a drum, One had a trumpet (pancake) Stuck up his bum! (Christchurch, 1960s; Blenheim, 1990s) -- Not last night, but the night before, Three tom cats came knocking at the door, One had a pistol, One had a gun, One had a frying pan stuck to his bum! (Napier, 1970s) -- Not last night, but the night before, Three little beggars came knocking on my door, One had a fiddle, One had a drum, One had a pancake sticking to his bum! How many songs did they play? 1, 2, 3.. (Palmerston North, 1970s) -- Not last night, but the night before, Bloody Homer Simpson came knocking at my door. Went upstairs to make his bed, And a pile of shit fell on his head. (Hamilton, 2000) -- Not last night but the night before, Twenty four robbers came knocking at my door, As I went out to let them in This is what they said to me, Spanish lady turn around Spanish lady touch the ground, Spanish lady do the high kicks, Spanish lady do the splits. (NZ, 1990s) -- Not last night but the night before, Twenty four robbers came knocking at my door, I ran out, they ran in, Hit me on the head with a rolling pin. This is what they said to me, Spanish lady give high kicks Spanish lady turn around Spanish lady get out of town. (NZ ex USA, 1990s) -- Not last night but the night before Three Spanish men came knocking at my door, As I ran out they came in And this is what they said, Spanish lady turn around Spanish lady climb the stairs Spanish lady say your prayers Spanish lady turn out the light, Spanish lady say goodnight. G. O. O. D. N. I. G. H. T. (Christchurch, 1970s; Ashburton, 2005) -- Background Info: Variations in Turner, 1978:149: Not last night but the night before, Two tom cats came knocking at the door, The black cat said, "By God, you'll die." Because the white cat piddled In the black cat's eye. (Melbourne, 1973) == Opie, 1967:23 -24.for variations. Also details of Lewis Carroll writing to Agnes Hughes in 1866 with a story based on this rhyme.."a very curious thing happened to me at half-past four yesterday. Three visitors came knocking at my door, begging me to let them in. And when I opened the door, who do you think they were? You'll never guess. Why, they were three cats! Wasn't it curious? However, they all looked so cross and disagreeable that I took up the first thing I could lay my hand on (which happened to be a rolling pin) and knocked them all down as flat as pan-cakes!" == From the Scottish website www.glesga.ukpals.com/MemoryLane%20Songs.htm (accessed 15 January, 2007) comes: No' last night but the night before, Three wee monkeys came tae ma door. One wi' a trumpet, and one wi' a drum, And one wi' a pancake stuck tae its bum. == Lowenstein, 1974:33 records: Not last night but the night before Three tom cats came aknocking at the door, One had a pistol, one had a gun, The other dirty bugger had a spear up his bum. (Melbourne, 1967) == "Play and Folklore", Issue 7, 1984:10: Not last night but the night before, Twenty four robbers came knocking at the door. I went downstairs to let them in, They knocked me down with a rolling pin. Now the rolling pin was made of glass, It fell down and cut my arse. I went upstairs to fix it later, I burnt my dick on a radiator. I went downstairs to cool it off, Some little bastard shot it off. (1984, Australia) == Butler, 1989:106 records from USA: Last night, the night before, A lemon and a pickle came A knockin' at my door. When I went down to let them in They hit me over the head With a roller pin . (Virginia, USA, 1949) == Keywords: tangle talk, media culture Location: Various NZ Group size: 3 Incidence: 9