This song appears with musical notation in Franklin Square Song Collection, No. 7 by John Piersol McCaskey (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1891)

OLD KING COLE
Traditional

1. Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he.
He call'd for his pipe, and he call'd for his bowl,
And he call'd for his fiddlers three,
And ev'ry fiddler had a fine fiddle,
And ev'ry fiddler had a fine fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he;
And a very fine fiddle had he,

CHORUS: For Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he;
He call'd for his pipe, and he call'd for his bowl,
And he call'd for his fiddlers three.

2. Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
Nor read nor write could he,
For to read and write, 'twere useless quite,
When he kept a secretary.
So his mark for "Rex" was a single "X"—
And his drink was ditto double,
For he scorn'd the fetters of four-and-twenty letters
And it sav'd him a vast deal of trouble.

CHORUS.