"Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" is a popular English language nursery rhyme.

Modern versions of the rhyme include:

:Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
:Stole a pig, and away did run;
:The pig was eat
:And Tom was beat,
:And Tom went crying [or "roaring", or "howling", in some versions]
:Down the street.

The 'pig' mentioned in the song is almost certainly not a live animal but rather a kind of pastry, often made with an apple filling, smaller than a pie.

Another version of the rhyme is:

:Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
:Stole a pig, and away he run.
:Tom run here, Tom run there,
:Tom run through the village square.

This rhyme is often conflated with a separate and longer rhyme:

:Tom, he was a piper's son,
:He learnt to play when he was young,
:And all the tune that he could play
:Was 'over the hills and far away';
:Over the hills and a great way off,
:The wind shall blow my top-knot off.

:Tom with his pipe made such a noise,
:That he pleased both the girls and boys,
:They all stopped to hear him play,
:'Over the hills and far away'.

:Tom with his pipe did play with such skill
:That those who heard him could never keep still;
:As soon as he played they began for to dance,
:Even the pigs on their hind legs would after him prance.

:As Dolly was milking her cow one day,
:Tom took his pipe and began to play;
:So Dolly and the cow danced 'The Cheshire Round',
:Till the pail was broken and the milk ran on the ground.

:He met old Dame Trot with a basket of eggs,
:He used his pipe and she used her legs;
:She danced about till the eggs were all broke,
:She began for to fret, but he laughed at the joke.

:Tom saw a cross fellow was beating an ass,
:Heavy laden with pots, pans, dishes, and glass;
:He took out his pipe and he played them a tune,
:And the poor donkey's load was lightened full soon.

A version of the character appears in ''Babes in Toyland.'' After Alan and Jane arrive in Toyland, they find Contrary Mary and Tom-Tom and seek protection from the Master Toymaker, an evil genius who plots with Barnaby to create toys that kill and maim. The demonically possessed dolls turn on the Toymaker, killing him, and Barnaby uses the information to have Alan sentenced to death.

Contrary Mary agrees to marry Barnaby in exchange for Alan's pardon, but after he marries her, Barnaby denounces Alan again. Barnaby dies after drinking a wine glass filled with poison meant for Alan. Tom-Tom reveals that an old law of Toyland permitting marriage between a widow and a condemned man on condition that he supports her may save Alan from the gallows. Alan is now free to marry Contrary Mary.

Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son.jpg|“Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son,” illustration from ''The National Nursery Book'', ca. 1870.
Tom, the Piper’s Son, by A. B. Houghton.jpg|“Tom, the Piper’s Son,” illustration by A. B. Houghton from ''National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs'', 1872.

All published appearances of the Tom the Piper's Son from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.

Some notable appearance are listed below:

*The Campaigners (1698)
*Directions for a Mother Goose Party, by George B. Bartlett (1876)
*Babes in Toyland (1903)

*Tom the Piper's Son (1795)
*The Baby's Opera A Book of Old Rhymes and The Music by the Earliest Masters (1877)
*Mother Goose in Prose (1897)
*Babes in Toyland (1904)

*Four Color #126, 185

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom,_Tom,_the_Piper%27s_Son Wikipedia]
*[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/tom-piper/4005-148990/ ComicVine]
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