現在這個版本的簡單西蒙出自1764年首版的一本暢銷故事書。[1] 簡單西蒙這個角色曾出現在伊莉莎白時代的暢銷書及一首1685年的民謠《簡單西蒙的不幸與其妻馬潔麗的殘忍》(Simple Simon's Misfortunes and his Wife Margery's Cruelty)中。[1] 另外也可能與18世紀的一名乞丐西蒙·埃迪有關。[2]
^ 1.01.11.2I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 333-4.
^Walter Thornbury, Edward Walford, Old and New London: Westminster and the western suburbs Volume 3 of Old and New London: A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its Places, Old and New London, Cassell, Petter, & Galpin: 207, 1880