E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Sing Old Rose.
Sing Old Rose and burn the bellows. “Old Rose” was the title of a song now unknown; thus, Izaak Walton (1590–1683) says, “Let’s sing Old Rose.” Burn the bellows is said to be a schoolboy’s perversion of burn libellos. At breaking-up time the boys might say, “Let’s sing Old Rose [a popular song], and burn our schoolbooks” (libellos). This does not accord with the words of the well-known catch, which evidently means “throw aside all implements of work.”
