I've Got Rings On My Fingers

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I've Got Rings On My Fingers is a popular song written in 1909, words by Weston and Barnes, and music by Maurice Scott. It concerns an Irishman named Jim O'Shea, a castaway who finds himself on an island somewhere in the East Indies, whereupon he is made a king by the natives because they like his red hair and his Irish smile, and they dub him "Jijiboo Jhai". He then sends a letter to his girlfriend, Rose McGee, imploring her to come join him.

The song was a hit for Ada Jones. The verses explain the situation. The chorus is best remembered:

Sure, I've got rings on my fingers,

Bells on my toes,

Elephants to ride upon,

My little Irish Rose

So, come to your Nabob

And next Patrick's Day

Be Mrs. Mumbo Jumbo Jijiboo J. O'Shea

A measure of the song's longevity is satirical songwriter/singer Ray Stevens' reference to it in his 1962 hit "Ahab the Arab", whose girlfriend Fatima had, "rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes, and a bone in her nose... ho-ho!"