“ From this into yonder wee town, e-ho!" [273]
The fox when he came to the farmer's gate,
Whom should he see but the farmer's drake;
"I love you well for your master's sake,
And long to be picking your bones, e-ho!"
The gray goose she ran round the hay-stack;
"Oh, ho!" said the fox, "you are very fat,
You'll grease my beard and ride on my back
From this into yonder wee town, e-ho!"
The farmer's wife she jumped out of bed,
And out of the window she popped her head;
"Oh, husband! oh, husband! the geese are all dead,
For the fox has been through the town, e-ho!" ”

“ I never would cry old clothes to sell;
Old clothes to sell, old clothes to sell;
I never would cry old clothes to sell.
SEE, SEE!
See, see! what shall I see?
A horse's head where his tail should be! ”

“ ONE MISTY MOISTY MORNING
One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather,
There I met an old man clothed all in leather;
He began to compliment and I began to grin,
How do you do? how do you do? how do you do again? ”

“ THE very title, Nursery Rhymes, which has come to be associated with a great body of familiar verse, is in itself sufficient indication of the manner in which that verse has been passed down from generation to generation. Who composed the little pieces it is, save in a few cases, impossible to say: some are certainly very old and were doubtless repeated thousands of times before their first appearance in print. ”

“ GREEN GRAVEL
Around the green gravel the grass grows green,
And all the pretty maids are plain to be seen;
Wash them with milk, and clothe them with silk,
And write their names with a pen and ink. ”

“ The earliest known collection of Nursery Rhymes was published about 1760 by John Newbery, the first publisher who devoted his attention to very young readers. In his book, which included songs from the plays of Shakespeare, some of the Rhymes appeared with titles which sound strange to our ears; thus "Ding, Dong, Bell" was called "Plato's Song", while "There were Two Birds sat on a Stone" was "Aristotle's Song". To each Rhyme was appended a moral maxim, as for example, to "Is John Smith within?" is added "Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it". ”

“ Jack sing saddle oh,
Blowsey boys buble, oh,
Under the broom.
I sold my cat and bought me a mouse;
He carried fire in his tail, and burnt down my house;
With my wing, wang, waddle, oh,
Jack sing saddle, oh,
Blowsey boys buble, oh,
Under the broom.
THE HART
THE hart he loves the high wood,
The hare she loves the hill;
The Knight he loves his bright sword,
The Lady—loves her will.
[300]
OLD CHAIRS TO MEND
IF I'd as much money as I could spend,
I never would cry old chairs to mend;
Old chairs to mend, old chairs to mend;
I never would cry old chairs to mend. ”

“ How your bright and tiny spark
Lights the traveller in the dark!
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
[126]
BOYS AND GIRLS
Boys and girls come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day;
[127]
Come with a whoop, and come with a call,
Come with a good will or come not at all.
Lose your supper and lose your sleep,
Come to your playfellows in the street.
[128]
[129]
Up the ladder and down the wall,
A halfpenny loaf will serve us all;
You find milk, and I'll find flour,
And we'll have a pudding in half an hour.
[130]
SING IVY ”

“ Others have been compared with early versions in chap-books issued late in the eighteenth century or early in the nineteenth.
Students divide our rhymes into narrative pieces, historical, folk-lore, game rhymes, counting-out rhymes, jingles, fragments, and so forth, but for the children for whom and by whom they are remembered, and for whose sake they are here collected and pictured anew, they are just—Nursery Rhymes. ”

“ Though ne'er instructed by a cat,
He knew a mouse was not a rat.
One day, as I am certified,
He took a whim, and fairly died;
And, as I'm told by men of sense,
He never has been living since.
[56]
A NICK AND A NOCK
A nick and a nock,
A hen and a cock,
And a penny for my master.
PANCAKE DAY
Great A, little A,
This is pancake day;
Toss the ball high,
Throw the ball low,
Those that come after
May sing heigh-ho! ”

“ Hush-a-bye, baby,
On the tree top,
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock;
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,
Down tumbles baby,
Cradle, and all.
[58]
IN MARBLE HALLS
IN marble halls as white as milk,
Lined with a skin as soft as silk;
Within a fountain crystal clear,
A golden apple doth appear;
No doors there are to this stronghold,
Yet thieves break in and steal the gold.
JACK SPRAT'S PIG
Jack Sprat had a pig, who was not very little,
Nor yet very big;
He was not very lean, he was not very fat;
He'll do well for a grunt,
Says little Jack Sprat. ”

“ Will the flame that you're so rich in
Light a fire in the kitchen?
Or the little god of Love turn the spit, spit, spit?"
HANDY PANDY
[26]
Handy Pandy, Jack-a-Dandy,
Loves plum-cake and sugar-candy;
He bought some at a grocer's shop,
And out he came, hop, hop, hop.
THE KILKENNY CATS
[27]
There were once two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren't any.
[28]
BLOW WIND BLOW
Blow, wind, blow! ”

“ WHAT ARE LITTLE BOYS MADE OF?
What are little boys made of, made of?
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails;
That's what little boys are made of, made of.
What are little girls made of, made of?
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice, and all things nice,
That's what little girls are made of, made of.
[91]
THERE WAS A LITTLE MAN
THERE was a little man, and he had a little gun,
And his bullets they were made of lead, lead, lead.
He shot Johnny Sprig through the middle of his wig,
And knocked it right off his head, head, head. ”

“ He that hath thriven,
May lie till seven;
And he that by the plough would thrive,
Himself must either hold or drive.
THE TAILORS AND THE SNAIL
Four and twenty tailors went to kill a snail,
The best man amongst them durst not touch her tail;
She put out her horns like a little Kyloe cow,
Run, tailors, run, or she'll kill you all e'en now.
[110]
BUTTONS
BUTTONS, a farthing a pair,
Come, who will buy them of me?
They're round and sound and pretty,
And fit for the girls of the city.
Come, who will buy them of me,
Buttons, a farthing a pair?
SULKY SUE
Here's Sulky Sue ”

“ To lie down and sleep than to quarrel and fight.
[40]
THE FLY AND THE HUMBLE-BEE
FIDDLE-DE-DEE, fiddle-de-dee,
The fly shall marry the humble-bee;
They went to church and married was she,
The fly has married the humble-bee.
CAT AND DOG
Pussy sits beside the fire,
How can she be fair?
In comes the little dog,
"Pussy, are you there?
So, so, Mistress Pussy,
Pray, how do you do?" ”

“ Determined to shoot this little Cock Sparrow.
"This little Cock Sparrow shall make me a stew,
And his giblets shall make me a little pie too."
"Oh, no!" said the sparrow, "I won't make a stew."
So he flapped his wings and away he flew!
[97]
DAME TROT
Dame Trot and her cat
Sat down for to chat;
The Dame sat on this
side.
And Puss sat on that.
"Puss," says the Dame,
"Can you catch a rat
Or a mouse in the dark?"
"Purr," says the cat.
[98]
IF
IF you are to be a gentleman, as I suppose you be,
You'll neither laugh nor smile for a tickling of the knee. ”

“ The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.
Where's the little boy that looks after the sheep?
Under the haystack, fast asleep.
LITTLE TOM TUCKER
Little Tom Tucker sings for his supper.
What shall he eat? White bread and butter.
How will he cut it without e'er a knife?
How will he be married without e'er a wife?
[224]
OLD WOMAN, OLD WOMAN
OLD woman, old woman, shall we go a-shearing? ”

“ The cat's in the cupboard
And can't see me.
[294]
COMICAL FOLK
IN a cottage in Fife
Lived a man and his wife,
Who, believe me, were comical folk;
For, to people's surprise,
They both saw with their eyes,
And their tongues moved whenever they spoke.
When they were asleep,
I'm told—that to keep
Their eyes open they could not contrive;
They both walked on their feet,
And 't was thought what they eat
Helped, with drinking, to keep them alive.
[295]
DING, DONG, BELL
Ding, dong, bell, the cat is in the well! ”

“ I will go with you, if that I may.
I'm going to the meadow to see them a-mowing,
I'm going to help them make the hay.
[230]
THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR
JANUARY brings the snow,
Makes our feet and fingers glow. ”

“ PUSSY CAT
Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?
I've been up to London to look at the queen.
Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?
I frightened a little mouse under the chair.
[69]
DANCE, LITTLE BABY
Dance, little Baby, dance up high,
Never mind, Baby, Mother is by;
Crow and caper, caper and crow,
There, little Baby, there you go;
Up to the ceiling, down to the ground,
Backwards and forwards, round and round;
Dance, little Baby, and Mother will sing,
With the merry coral, ding, ding, ding!
OF WASHING
They that wash on Friday, wash in need ”

“ And tried what she could, as a shepherdess should,
To tack to each sheep its tail, oh!
[163]
TO BED!
COME let's to bed,
Says Sleepy-head;
Sit up a while, says Slow;
Put on the pan, says Greedy Nan,
Let's sup before we go.
[164]
OF GOING TO BED
Go to bed first,
A golden purse;
Go to bed second,
A golden pheasant;
Go to bed third,
A golden bird.
GRACE BEFORE MEAT
Here a little child I stand,
Heaving up my either hand:
Cold as paddocks though they be,
Here I lift them up to Thee,
For a benison to fall
On our meat and on us all! ”

“ Attempts are sometimes made to read into these Rhymes a deeper significance than the obvious and simple one which has accounted for their enduring popularity in the Nursery, but this volume has no [4] concern with such profound interpretations, any more than have the little people who love the old jingles best. ”

“ Ye parents who have children dear,
And eke ye that have none,
If you would have them safe abroad,
Pray keep them safe at home.
[210]
RIDE AWAY, RIDE AWAY
Ride away, ride away, Johnny shall ride
And he shall have pussy-cat tied to one side;
And he shall have little dog tied to the other ”

“ And shot it right through the head, head, head.
He carried it home to his old wife Joan,
And bade her a fire to make, make, make,
To roast the little duck he had shot in the brook,
And he'd go and fetch the drake, drake, drake.
The drake was a-swimming, with his curly tail;
The little man made it his mark, mark, mark.
He let off his gun, but he fired too soon,
And the drake flew away with a quack, quack, quack.
[281]
IF WISHES WERE HORSES
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride ”

“ Up went Pussy cat and down went he.
Down came Pussy cat, and away Robin ran;
Says little Robin Redbreast: "Catch me if you can."
DIDDLE DIDDLE DUMPLING
DIDDLE diddle dumpling, my son John,
Went to bed with his breeches on,
One stocking off, and one stocking on;
Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John.
MARY, MARY
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow? ”

“ That those who heard him could never stand still;
Whenever they heard they began for to dance,
Even pigs on their hind-legs would after him prance. [258]
As Dolly was milking the cow one day,
Tom took out his pipe and began for to play ”

“ Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi ding do,
[237] And shot his own sow quite through the heart;
Sing heigh ho, the carrion crow,
Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi ding do.
Wife, bring brandy in a spoon,
Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi ding do,
For our old sow is in a swoon,
Sing heigh ho, the carrion crow,
Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi ding do.
[238]
NANNY ETTICOAT
LITTLE Nanny Etticoat,
In a white petticoat
And a red nose;
The longer she stands
The shorter she grows.
GOOD-FRIDAY SONG
Hot-cross Buns! ”

“ As well as another body?
[262]
SING, SING!
Sing, sing! what shall I sing?
The cat's run away with the pudding-bag string.
Do, do, what shall I do?
The cat has bit it quite in two.
[263]
PETER PIPER
PETER PIPER picked a peck of pickled pepper,
A peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
Where's the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?
NANCY DAWSON
Nancy Dawson was so fine
She wouldn't get up to serve the swine,
She lies in bed till eight or nine,
So its oh! poor Nancy Dawson. ”