I’ve been looking for the answer to this question for a long time.
Who is “Anthony Rowley” from the children’s song “A Frog He Would A’Wooing Go”? And while we’re at it, what’s with the “Roley, Poley, Gammon and Spinach”?
-M. Goose, Orem UT
I don’t think there’s any sure answer. An online Terry Pratchett concordance, such as here, alleges it’s the remnant of some English Regency topical song about an Italian opera singer, Antonio Rolli. But that seems a bit too pat for my liking, and it’s not corroborated elsewhere. (Interestingly, there was a Italian opera librettist, Paolo Antonio Rolli, but he died in 1765, 30 years too early for the Regency). This academic study of the song and its many variants, The History of The Frog’s Courtship, says it’s a mystery why an older refrain - e.g. “howdie, crowdie” - turned into “Anthony Rowley”.