The Three Little Naughty Boys (their comical history and sad fate, with an appropriate moral)
There were three naughty, idle boys,
Dick and Harry and Tom;
There were three naughty, idle boys,
Who bothered their father with their noise.
And broke all their kind little sister's toys,
Dick and Harry and Tom.
They wrought all the mischief they could do,
Dick and Harry and Tom;
They wrought all the mischief they could do,
They broke their grandfather's pipe in two,
And they make a boat of his gouty shoe,
Dick and Harry and Tom.
Now what d'ye think they did after that?
Dick and Harry and Tom;
Now what d'ye think they did after that?
They teased the dog, and they chased the cat,
And the kittens they drowned in their father's hat,
Dick and Harry and Tom.
And they stole their grandmother's bonnet and wig,
Dick and Harry and Tom;
They they stole their grandmother's bonnet and wig,
That she wore at the market, dressed so trig,
And tied them upon the head of the pig,
Dick and Harry and Tom.
But the pig gave a grunt, and gobbled them up,
Dick and Harry and Tom;
But the pig gave a grunt, and gobbled them up,
And she asked the dog on their bones to sup,
And the rest she gave to the cat in a cup,
Dick and Harry and Tom.
So that was the end of those naughty boys,
Dick and Harry and Tom;
So that was the end of those naughty bosy,
Who bothered their father with their noise,
And likewise destroyed their sisters' toys,
Dick and Harry and Tom.
MORAL
So all ye children a warning take
From Dick and Harry and Tom;
So all ye children a warning take,
And never, never try and make
An apple pie of a tough beefsteak.
So endeth now my song.
Another Tom, Dick, and Harry
Another reference could be the Dunsdon brothers.Er, it looks like this wikipedia entry has changed and removed mention of Tom, Dick, and Harry Dunsdon. Maybe it was an elaborate hoax. But if so, it was an interesting story, so I created a difficultbooks.com page with the original text here.