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 and Blanche Ring. 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

The first two lines of the chorus refer to the nursery rhyme:

  Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross
  To see a fine lady upon a white horse
  Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
  She shall have music wherever she goes.

A version of that rhyme was published in 1784, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (edited by Peter and Iona Opie, 1951, 1973).

The same nursery rhyme was alluded to by satirical songwriter/singer Ray Stevens' 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!"