The earliest mention of the Apple Pie ABC rhyme is dated to 1671.
The reference appears in a religious work by John Eachard, who used the alphabet rhyme while making a satirical point about preaching. The surviving quotation runs only from A through G, ending with the pie being “got” or obtained. It is therefore an early recorded fragment, not the complete version familiar today.
The rhyme was printed later in children’s books. One important early appearance was in Child’s New Plaything, published in London in 1742, followed by Tom Thumb’s Playbook in 1747. These versions helped turn a passing reference into a durable alphabet-learning text.
The date is often confused with later landmarks: 1808 belongs to a revised alphabet, while 1886 is associated with Kate Greenaway’s illustrated A Apple Pie. Those dates describe later editions or adaptations, not the earliest known mention.