It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19096 and many different variations of it have been recorded.

[2] The modern English language rhyme can be dated at least to the 17th century, when James Howell in his 1659 collection of proverbs noted "Raine, raine, goe to Spain: faire weather come againe".

At the same period John Aubrey noted that "little children have a custom when it raines to sing or charme away the Raine; thus they all joine in a chorus and sing Raine, raine, goe away, Come againe a Saterday", while a book of prognostications for 1829 provides "come again tomorrow day".

[6] In Yorkshire, after it has been told to go away, it is further exhorted, "Rain, rain, come down and pour, Then you'll only last an hour"; in Norfolk this changes to "Go to France and go to Spain, And mind you don’t come back again".

The song is also known in the U. S. where, in North and South Carolina, the rain is informed that Little Johnny wants to play, In the meadow on the hay.