Lucy Locket

Lucy Locket lost her pocket,

Kitty Fisher found it;

Not a penny was there in it,

Only ribbon ‘round it.

Lucy Locket is believed to have been a barmaid at a pub, The Cock, on Fleet Street in London in the mid-1700s, and alternate explanations of the rhyme exist.

One suggests that it alludes to Lucy dumping one of her lover-clients (her 'pocket') after she had spent all of his money. Catharine Maria “Kitty” Fisher, a notoriously wealthy London courtesan, was quick to grab him, only to find he had no money left.

Another explanation is similar, but involves a play on words. ‘Locket’ and ‘pocket’ were both slang terms for a vagina. The idea was that while Kitty Fisher could live in high style by selling herself, Lucy—and girls like her--could not.