meaning of "pop goes the weasel"

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

“Pop goes the weasel” comes from London’s Cockney dialect (I am a Cockney’s son).

“Pop” means to pawn something by taking it to one’s “uncle”, a euphemism for a pawnbroker.

My “weasel” comes from rhyming slang: “weasel and stoat” -> coat
(similarly my “trouble” is my “trouble and strife” -> wife)

The song goes:
“Up and down the City Road, in and out of the Eagle
That’s the way the money goes, pop goes the weasel”

The Eagle would be a public house wherein I spent the week’s wages, thus forcing me to pawn my coat (the only thing of value I now have) to give my “trouble” some cash to buy food!

2

The Eagle is still there (in Farringdon Rd - opposite the Guardian’s offices) It is now better known as the first Gastropub in Britain (and is crawling with Guardian staff).

Food’s good though.

3

Now if somebody could just explain “The Jabberwocky” to me…

4

Hrm. Friend of mine -insists- the tune has something to do with lockpicking. Anyone out there brave enough to prove her wrong?

5

That’s funny, on some historic house tour as a child I was told that it’s a spinning wheel count song.