Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19621. Modern versions of the rhyme include: The 'pig' mentioned in the song is almost certainly not a live animal but rather a kind of pastry, often made with an apple filling, smaller than a pie. Another version of the rhyme is: This rhyme is often conflated with a separate and longer rhyme: Both rhymes were first printed separately in a "Tom the Piper's Son", a chapbook produced around 1795 in London, England. The
William Green (piper) earliest record of him as a piper is of him being appointed Piper to the Duchess in 1806, on the death of Young William Lamshaw.. A photograph of him, with his pipes, and wearing the crescent badge of the Percys, was taken later in his life, and is at . He was succeeded as Ducal Piper by his son William Thomas (Tom) Green, on his retirement in 1849. A photograph of Tom is available at . Over a period of decades, from 1822 until 1857, there survive newspaper accounts of William Green and Robert Nicholson playing together, for instance at