An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Knittelvers
Knittelvers, masculine, ‘doggerel,’ Modern High German only; Knittel for Knüttel, ‘cudgel.’ English staff, in the sense of ‘stick,’ and also ‘verse, strophe, stanza,’ may be adduced as an approximate parallel. The Dutchman Junius says of the refrain in Dutch popular songs, ‘In vulgaribus rhythmis versum identidem repetitum scipionem ant baculm appellant’; the Romans had versus rhopalici, the Scandinavians the stef.