A Dillar, a Dollar

A Dillar, a Dollar is one of those quick little verses kids loved to throw around.

Origins

This isn’t really a nursery rhyme in the bedtime sense. It’s more of a classroom taunt. It was common on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1800s and into the early 1900s, back when showing up late to school could earn you a scolding — or worse. Teachers quoted it, classmates passed it around, and soon it was just part of the schoolyard vocabulary.

Meaning

That odd opener — “dillar, dollar” — doesn’t actually mean anything. It’s just nonsense sound, the sort of filler you hear in old ballads and playground chants, where the beat matters more than the words. Some versions swap the clock around — nine instead of ten — but the punchline never changes: you’re late, and now we’ve got a rhyme for it.

A “ten o’clock scholar” was the kid who dragged in long after class had begun. In some schools, the day started at seven or eight. By ten you’d already missed the heart of the morning.

So the rhyme’s point is simple: call out the straggler, and make sure they feel it. The silly “dillar, dollar” makes it sound playful, but the ending lands hard — you’re lazy, you’re late, and everybody noticed.

Cultural Background

Unlike the rhymes that spin little stories — Simple Simon, Tom the Piper’s Son — this one doesn’t bother. No kings, no pigs, no pies. Just a jab. That’s exactly why it thrived in the playground.

Picture it: the door creaks open, the latecomer slips in, and someone pipes up “A dillar, a dollar…” Maybe one or two giggle, and suddenly the whole row is chanting it. 

When folklorists began jotting down schoolyard rhymes in the 19th century, they realized these scraps mattered. They weren’t sweet little lullabies; they were tools. Kids used them to police each other, to mock, to keep order in their own rough way.

You don’t hear the whole chant much anymore, but the phrase “ten o’clock scholar” is still around. People use it as shorthand for someone who’s always behind, always showing up too late.

That’s the thing with these little rhymes. They sound harmless, but in the moment, they could sting.