<P> Hey! rub - a-dub, ho! rub - a-dub, three maids in a tub, And who do you think were there? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick - maker, And all of them gone to the fair . </P> <P> In the original version as it appeared both in England and in the USA (Boston) the song was talking about three maids instead of three men . Later research, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1951), suggests that the lyrics are illustrating a scene of three respectable townsfolk "watching a dubious sideshow at a local fair". </P> <P> By around 1830 the reference to maids was being removed from the versions printed in nursery books . In 1842 James Orchard Halliwell collected the following version: </P> <P> Rub a dub dub, Three fools in a tub, And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, The candlestick maker . Turn them out, knaves all three . </P>

Where did the nursery rhyme rub a dub dub come from