That song you can't get out of your head...

I've heard this song twice in the past two days and it's driving me crazy so I did a spot of research:

The origins of this song are obscure. The earliest extant record is a version noted in Anne Gilchrist's Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (1937), learnt from her Welsh nurse in the 1870s under the title "Jack Jintle" with the lyrics:

 

My name is Jack Jintle, the eldest but one,

And I can play nick-nack upon my own thumb.

With my nick-nack and pad-lock and sing a fine song,

And all the fine ladies come dancing along.

My name is Jack Jintle, the eldest but two,

And I can play nick-nack upon my own shoe.

With my nick-nack, etc.

 

The more familiar version goes like this:

This old man, he played one,

 He played knick-knack on my thumb;

 With a knick-knack paddywhack,

 Give the dog a bone,

 This old man came rolling home.

 

 This old man, he played two,

 He played knick-knack on my shoe;

 With a knick-knack paddywhack,

 Give the dog a bone,

 This old man came rolling home.

 

 This old man, he played three,

 He played knick-knack on my knee;

 With a knick-knack paddywhack,

 Give the dog a bone,

 This old man came rolling home.

 

 This old man, he played four,

 He played knick-knack on my door;

 With a knick-knack paddywhack,

 Give the dog a bone,

 This old man came rolling home.