The poem is a riddle which demonstrates the importance of proper punctuation. Upon a first reading, the poem seems to make outlandish claims (every lady has 20 nails on each hand and every lady has 25 nails on hands and feet). Upon further examination, the poem only makes true statements (every lady has 20 nails, every lady has 5 nails upon each hand, and every lady has 20 nails upon hands and feet).
The poem is a logic joke which states two things that together must obviously be true. 'If the woman is not gone from her house under the hill, she lives there still.'
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town, making sure the children are in bed. Some interpretations of the poem view Willie Winkie as a personification of sleep visiting all the children.
The poem is a riddle. The poem's title is the answer. Nanny Etticoat is a white (petticoat) candle with a red flame (nose) that grows shorter as it burns.
The poem remarks on cooperation between a husband and a wife. One eats fat, the other lean, and together they cooperate to eat everything and waste nothing.
Nancy Dawson lies in bed and does not work. Nancy Dawson was a real person, a dancer, who lived in the 1700s. She achieved fame for her dancing. There are multiple references to her in poetry and literature.
Pancake day is a day in Great Britain before Lent, where people make pancakes to use up eggs and milk. There is also some ball throwing mentioned in the poem, suggesting children playing catch might recite it in rhythm with the toss of the ball.
The narrator asks Jack to give up his fiddle. Fiddling is getting in the way of Jack's success. Jack won't give up his fiddle because it makes him happy.
The king is served a pie of live blackbirds and counts his money, the queen eats bread and honey in the parlor, and the maid gets bitten on the nose by a blackbird.
The narrator sells their toy horse and seems to regret it. The narrator vows never to sing again until they get something of equal value, in this case, a new coat.
The narrator spends some of his money and brings the rest home to his wife. It is unclear whether the wife knows the man does not bring home all his earnings.
The fiddler loses his stick and can't play. The lady loses her shoe and cannot dance. The narrator nonsensically claims the lady will dance without her shoe until the fiddler finds his stick.
Taken literally, 'A Cock and Bull Story' is a story of exaggerations. The poem claims a rooster is blowing horn, cows are threshing corn, and maids are making hay.
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