Although The nursery rhyme 'Simple Simon' was first published in around 1764, it is thought its roots are much earlier. The character of Simple Simon was thought to be around in Elizabethan times, and there was even a ballad called Simple Simon's Misfortunes and his Wife Margery's Cruelty, from about 1685.
'Simple Simon' lyrics
Main image © Original copyright 1902 by William Wallace Denslow