Daffy-Down-Dilly

Daffy-Down-Dilly is one of those rhymes that seems to have been around forever. Nobody can really pin down where it started, but most people place it somewhere in England during the 1700s. It’s the sort of song that would have been sung at home, then passed to neighbors, then on to the next generation, until it simply became part of childhood.
The rhyme itself tells a simple story. It seems everyone wanted a chance with Daffy-down Dilly. Suitors lined up, gifts in hand and promises on their lips. They tried charm, they tried persistence. None of it moved her. No matter what’s offered, she refuses to marry any of them.

Meaning

At first glance, Daffy-Down-Dilly feels like nothing more than a sing-song rhyme. Kids could chant it in the yard, skip to it, or clap along without a thought in the world. But, as with many old rhymes, there’s more going on beneath the surface. Some people read it as a warning about vanity—that gifts and glitter can’t buy love. Others see Daffy as simply strong-willed, the kind of girl who won’t let anyone else decide her future.

And then there’s the odd twist: outside the nursery, “daffy-down-dilly” once carried a sting. In nineteenth-century England, calling a lawyer by that name was no joke. It meant he was working both sides of a case, a serious charge of malpractice. The insult was sharp enough that a barrister could actually sue you for libel if you said it. Imagine that—children happily singing about Daffy-Down-Dilly at play, while in the courts of London, the same phrase could wreck a man’s career.
Who would think a children’s rhyme could carry such weight? Cheerful and playful on one hand, yet sharp enough to ruin a lawyer’s reputation. That contrast makes it much richer than it appears.