At Stepney there lived,
As every one knows,
An old woman who had
A plum tree on her nose!
The boys, while she slept,
Would cautiously take
The plums from her tree
Before she could wake.
This old woman went
One day to the lawn
Of my Lord Cockagee,
And there saw a fawn.
Having shot him, she tied
His hind legs to her tree,
And so quitted the lawn
Of my Lord Cockagee.
She'd nearly reached home,
When the constable came,
And put her in prison
For killing the game.
While locked in her cell,
She thought again and again
Of how to escape,
But kept thinking in vain.
She considered each plan,
Till she found out a way
Of escaping the prison
In the course of the day.
She cut the plum tree
close off from her nose,
And made a scarecrow,
Dress'd up in her clothes;
This she set on a stool,
With it's back to the wall,
And watch'd near the door
For fear it would fall.
Soon the jailor came in
With her water and bread;
He stared at the figure,
While from prison she fled.
The old woman reached home,
Singing diddle-dee-dee;
And again on her nose
There grew a plum tree.
[Page 108--Old Woman Tales]