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CHILDREN'S RHYMES
CHILDREN'S GAMES
CHILDREN'S SONGS
CHILDREN'S STORIES
A Book for Bairns and Big Folk
by
ROBERT FORD
Author of "Thistledown," and Editor of
"Ballads of Bairnhood," "Vagabond Songs
and Ballads of Scotland" Etc., etc.
"_Auld rhymes and auld chimes
Gar us think on auld times_"
--_Proverb_
[Illustration: JINGO-RING.
DRAWN BY KATE T. HILL.]
Paisley: Alexander Gardner
Publisher to the late Queen Victoria: 1904
Second Edition
PREFACE.
In offering to the public this collection of Children's Rhymes,
Children's Games, Children's Songs, and Children's Stories--the
multitudinous items of which, or such, at least, as were not living in
my own memory, have been gathered with patient industry, albeit with
much genuine delight, from wide and varied sources--I anticipate for the
work a hearty and general welcome, alike from old and young. It is the
first really sincere effort to collect in anything like ample and
exclusive fashion the _natural literature_ of the children of Scotland,
and meets what has long appealed to me as decidedly a felt want. The
earlier pages are occupied with a commentary, textually illustrated, on
the generally puerile, but regularly fascinating Rhymes of the Nursery,
the vitality and universal use of which have been at once the wonder and
the puzzle of the ages. This is followed in turn by a chapter on
Counting-out Rhymes, with numerous examples, home and foreign; which is
succeeded, appropriately, by a section of the work embracing description
of all the well-known out-door and in-door Rhyme-Games--in each case the
Rhyme being given, the action being portrayed. The remaining contents
the title may be left to suggest. I may only add that the
Stories--including "Blue Beard," and "Jack the Giant Killer," and their
fellow-narratives--ten in all--are printed _verbatim_ from the old
chapbooks once so common in the country, but now so rare as to be almost
unobtainable.
Essentially a book about children and their picturesque and innocent,
though often apparently meaningless, frolics, by the young in the land,
I am assured, it will be received with open arms. From the "children of
larger growth"--those who were once young and have delight in
remembering the fact--the welcome, if less boisterous, should be not
less sincere. Commend to me on all occasions the man or woman who, "with
lyart haffets thin and bare," can sing with the poet--
"Och hey! gin I were young again,
Ochone! gin I were young again;
For chasin' bumbees owre the plain
Is just an auld sang sung again."
ROBERT FORD.
287 ~Onslow Drive~,
~Dennistoun~,
~Glasgow~.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
~Rhymes of the Nursery~, 9
~Counting-out Rhymes~, 38
~Children's Rhyme-Games~, 55
"Merry-ma-Tanzie," 56
"The Mulberry Bush," 57
"A Dis, a Dis, a Green Grass," 58
"Looby Looby," 59
"I Dree I Droppit it," 60
"Bab at the Bowster," 61
"The Wadds," 63
"The Wadds and the Wears," 65
"The Widow of Babylon," 68
"London Bridge," 69
"The Jolly Miller," 70
"Willie Wastle," 70
"Oats and Beans and Barley," 71
"Hornie Holes," 72
"The Craw," 73
"Neevie-neevie-nick-nack," 73
"Blind Man's Buff," 74
"Water Wallflower," 75
"The Emperor Napoleon," 75
"A' the Birdies i' the Air," 76
"Through the Needle-e'e, Boys," 76
"King Henry," 77
"The Blue Bird," 78
"When I was a Young Thing," 78
"Carry my Lady to London," 79
"A, B, C," 80
"My Theerie and my Thorie," 80
"Glasgow Ships," 81
"Airlie's Green," 83
"Het Rowes and Butter Cakes," 83
"Queen Mary," 84
"Whuppity Scoorie," 85
"Hinkumbooby," 85
"Three Brethren come from Spain," 87
"Here Comes a Poor Sailor from Botany Bay," 90
"Janet Jo," 91
"The Goloshans," 94
~Children's Songs and Ballads~, 101
Cock Robin, 101
The Marriage of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren, 104
The North Wind, 109
Little Bo-Peep, 110
The House that Jack Built, 111
Simple Simon, 114
Old Mother Hubbard, 114
Old Mother Goose, 115
The Old Woman and her Pig, 117
A Frog he would a-wooing go, 122
The Carrion Crow, 126
My Pretty Maid, 127
Can ye Sew Cushions? 127
Hush-a-ba Birdie, Croon, 129
Dance to your Daddie, 129
Katie Beardie, 132
The Miller's Dochter, 133
Hap and Row, 133
How Dan, Dilly Dow, 134
Crowdie, 135
Whistle, whistle, Auld Wife, 136
The Three Little Pigs, 137
Cowe the Nettle early, 138
The Wren's Nest, 140
Robin Redbreast's Testament, 141
~Children's Humour and Quaint Sayings~, 143
~Schoolroom Facts and Fancies~, 163
~Children's Stories~, 182
Blue Beard, 184
Jack and the Bean-Stalk, 191
The Babes in the Wood, 205
Jack the Giant Killer, 210
Little Red Riding Hood, 229
Cinderella; or, the Little Glass Slipper, 233
Puss in Boots, 243
Whittington and his Cat, 249
Beauty and the Beast, 259
The Sleeping Beauty, 274
RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
Writing on the subject of nursery rhymes more than half a century ago,
the late Dr. Robert Chambers expressed regret because, as he said,
"Nothing had of late been revolutionised so much as the nursery." But
harking back on the period of his own childhood, he was able to say,
with a feeling of satisfaction, that the young mind was then "cradled
amidst the simplicities of the uninstructed intellect; and _she_ was
held to be the best nurse who had the most copious supply of song, and
tale, and drollery, at all times ready to soothe and amuse her young
charges. There were, it is true, some disadvantages in the system; for
sometimes superstitious terrors were implanted, and little pains were
taken to distinguish between what tended to foster the evil and what
tended to elicit the better feelings of infantile nature. Yet the ideas
which presided over the scene," he continues, "and rung through it all
the day in light gabble and jocund song, were simple, often beautiful
ideas, generally well expressed, and unquestionably suitable to the
capacities of children.... There was no philosophy about these gentle
dames; but there was generally endless kindness, and a wonderful power
of keeping their little flock in good humour. It never occurred to them
that children were anything but children--'Bairns are just bairns,' my
old nurse would say--and they never once thought of beginning to make
them men and women while still little more than able to speak." They did
not; and, in the common homes of Scotland, they do not to this hour. The
self-same rhymes and drollery which amused Dr. Chambers as a child are
amusing and engaging the minds and exercising the faculties of children
over all the land even now. I question if there is a child anywhere
north of the Tweed who has not been entertained by
Brow, brow, brinkie,
Ee, ee, winkie,
Nose, nose, nebbie,
Cheek, cheek, cherrie,
Mou, mou, merry,
Chin, chin, chuckie,
Curry-wurry! Curry-wurry! etc.
Or the briefer formula, referring only to the brow, the eye, the nose,
and the mouth, which runs:--
Chap at the door,
Keek in,
Lift the sneck,
Walk in.
And it was only the other evening that I saw a father with his infant
son on his knee, having a little hand spread out, and entertaining its
owner by travelling from thumb to little finger, and repeating the old
catch:--
This is the man that broke the barn,
This is the man that stole the corn,
This is the man that ran awa',
This is the man that tell't a',
And puir Pirly Winkie paid for a', paid for a'.
well as its fellow-rhyme:--
This little pig went to the market,
This little pig stayed at home;
This little pig got roast beef,
This little pig got none;
This little pig cried, Squeak! squeak!
I can't find my way home.
Than the nonsense rhymes and capers that have delighted the nursery life
of Scotland for many generations, none, of course, could be more
delectable--none more suitable. While charming the sense, they have
awakened imagination and developed poetic fancy in thousands who
otherwise might have blundered into old age proving stolid and
uninteresting men and women. They are, for this reason, part and parcel
of every properly-balanced life, and the healthy and happy mind can
never let them go.
Johnny Smith, my fallow fine,
Can you shoe this horse o' mine?
Yes, indeed, and that I can,
Just as weel as ony man.
Ca' a nail into the tae,
To gar the pownie climb the brae;
Ca' a nail into the heel,
To gar the pownie trot weel;
There's a nail, and there's a brod,
There's a pownie weel shod,
Weel shod, weel shod, weel shod pownie.
What pleasing recollections of his own early childhood many a father has
had when, sitting with his child on his knee, he has demonstrated and
chanted that rude rhyme by the fireside o' nights far, as often has
been the case, from the scene where he learned it! To know such is to
realise one, at least, of the various reasons why the old delight in the
frolics of the young.
Hush-a-by baby on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock;
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come cradle and baby and all.
This is a rhyme which "every child has joyed to hear." Its origin, as
told in the records of the Boston (U.S.) Historical Society, is not more
curious than beautiful and significant. "Shortly after our forefathers
landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (I am quoting), a party were out in
the fields where the Indian women were picking strawberries. Several of
the women, or squaws as they were called, had papooses--that is
babies--and, having no cradle, they had them tied up in Indian fashion
and hung from the limbs of the surrounding trees. Sure enough, when the
wind blew these cradles would rock! A young man of the party observing
this, pulled off a piece of bark and wrote off the above words, which is
believed to be the first poetry written in America." Several have
curious histories.
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner
Eating his Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb
And pulled out a plum,
And said, What a good boy am I!
Master Horner, it appears, was not a myth, but a real personage.
Tradition tells that when Henry VIII. suppressed the monasteries, and
drove the poor old monks from their nests, the title-deeds of the Abbey
of Mells, including the sumptuous grange built by Abbot Bellwood, were
demanded by the Commissioners. The Abbot of Glastonbury determined
instead that he would send them to London; and, as the documents were
very valuable, and the road was infested by thieves, to get them to the
metropolis safely he ordered a pie to be made, as fine as ever smoked on
a refectory table, inside of which the precious documents were placed,
and this dainty he entrusted to a lad named Horner to carry up to London
and deliver into the hands of the party for whom it was intended. But
the journey was long, the day was cold, the boy was hungry, the pie was
tempting, and the chances of detection, the youth presumed, were small.
So he broke the crust of the pie, and behold the parchment! He pulled it
forth innocently enough, wondering by what chance it could have reached
there, and arrived in town. The parcel was delivered, but the
title-deeds of Mells Abbey estate were missing. Jack had them in his
pocket, and--now learning their value--he kept them there. These were
the juiciest plums in the pie. Great was the rage of the Commissioners,
heavy the vengeance they dealt out to the monks. But Jack kept his
secret and the documents, and when peaceful times were restored he
claimed the estates and received them. So goes the story; and it may be
true. But, then, in the light of its truth, whether Master Horner
deserved the title of "good boy" bestowed on him by the rhyme will be
more than doubtful.
We all know the lines,
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day,
It was against the rule,
And made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.
These verses were founded, it appears, on an actual circumstance, and
the heroine Mary may be still living. Less than eighty years ago she was
a little girl, the daughter of a farmer in Worcester County,
Massachusetts, U.S. One spring her father brought a feeble lamb into the
house, and Mary adopted it as her especial pet. It became so fond of her
that it would follow her everywhere. One day it followed her to the
village school, and, not knowing well what to do with it there, the girl
put it under her desk and covered it over with her shawl. There it
stayed until Mary was called up with her class to the teacher's desk to
say her lesson; but then the lamb went quietly after her, and the whole
school burst out laughing. Soon after, John Rollstone, a fellow-student
with Mary, wrote a little rhyme commemorating the incident, and the
verses went rapidly from lip to lip, giving the greatest delight to all.
The lamb grew up to be a sheep, and lived many years; and when it died
Mary grieved so much that her mother took some of its wool, which was
"white as snow," and knitted for her a pair of stockings to wear in
remembrance of her pet. Some years after, Mrs. Sarah Hall composed
additional verses to those of John Rollstone, making the complete rhyme
as we know it.[A] Mary took such good care of the stockings made from
her lamb's fleece that when she was a grown-up woman she was able to
give one of them to a church bazaar in Boston. As soon as it became
known that the stocking was from the fleece of "Mary's little lamb,"
every one wanted a piece of it. So the stocking was unravelled, and the
yarn cut into short pieces. Each piece was fastened to a card on which
Mary wrote her full name, and those cards sold so well that they brought
the handsome sum of £28 to the Old South Church in Boston.
[Footnote A: The following are the added lines referred to:--
And so the teacher turned him out,
But still he lingered near,
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear.
And then he ran to her, and laid
His head upon her arm.
As if he said, "I'm not afraid,
You'll shield me from all harm."
"What makes the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry.
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"
The teacher did reply.
]
Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall;
Not all the King's horses, nor all the King's men,
Could set Humpty-Dumpty up again.
Attempts have been made to show how that was suggested by the fall of a
bold bad baron who lived in the days of King John; but every child more
than ten years old knows that the lines present a conundrum, the answer
to which is--an egg. And yet, were it no conundrum, but only a nonsense
rhyme, its fascination for the budding intellect would be no less. It is
enough when, with the jingle of rhyme, the imagination, is tickled, as
in
Hey diddle dumplin' my son John,
Went to his bed with his trowsers on;
One shoe off and the other shoe on,
Hey diddle dumplin', my son John;
or--
Cripple Dick upon a stick,
And Sandy on a soo,
Ride away to Galloway
To buy a pund o' woo';
or yet again in--
Sing a sang o' saxpence,
A baggie fu' o' rye,
Four-and-twenty blackbirds,
Bakit in a pie.
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
And wasna that a dainty dish
To set before the King?
The King was in his counting-house
Counting out his money,
The Queen was in the parlour
Eating bread and honey,
The maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes,
When by came a blackbird
And snapped aff her nose.
For such supreme nonsense no historical origin need be sought, surely.
Yet part of the latter has been at least applied to a historical
personage in a way that is worth recalling. Dr. H. J. Pye, who was
created Poet Laureate in succession to Thomas Warton, in 1790, was, as
a poet, regularly made fun of. In his _New Year Odes_ there were
perpetual references to the coming spring: and, in the dearth of more
important topics, each tree and field-flower were described: and the
lark, and every other bird that could be brought into rhyme, were sure
to appear; and his poetical and patriotic _olla podrida_ ultimately
provoked the adaptation:--
When the Pye was opened,
The birds began to sing,
And was not that a dainty dish,
To set before a king?
But to take the rhymes only by themselves. Action rhymes, by reason of
their practical drollery, never fail to amuse. And among the very
earliest practised is the following. The nurse, with the child on her
knee, takes a little foot in either hand, and, making them go merrily up
and down, she sings:--
This is Willie Walker, and that's Tam Sim,
He ca'd him to a feast, and he ca'd him;
He sticket him on the spit, and he sticket him;
And he owre him, and he owre him,
And he owre him, and he owre him, etc.
Then, to keep up the diversion, may follow in the same manner:--
Twa little doggies gaed to the mill,
This way and that way, and this way and that way;
They took a lick out o' this wife's poke,
And a lick they took out o' that wife's poke,
And a loup in the lade, and a dip in the dam,
And hame they cam' wallopin', wallopin', wallopin', etc.
Or:--
Feetikin, feetikin,
When will ye gang?
When the nights turn short,
And the days turn lang,
I'll toddle and gang, toddle and gang.
Should more active entertainment be demanded, the child will be set bold
upright on one knee, and, suiting the action to the line, the rhyme will
be:--
This is the way the ladies ride,
Jimp and sma' jimp and sma';
This is the way the gentlemen ride,
Trotting a', trotting a';
This is the way the cadgers ride,
Creels and a'! creels and a'!!
Creels and a'!!!
For variety's sake, on an easier swing, may follow:--
A' the nicht owre and owre,
And a' the nicht owre again;
A' the nicht owre and owre
The peacock followed the hen.
The hen's a hungry beast,
The cock is hollow within;
But there's nae deceit in a puddin',
A pie's a dainty thing.
A' the nicht owre and owre.--_Da Capo._
Or, yet more to engage the intellect may come:--
Poussie, poussie, baudrons,
Whaur ha'e ye been?
I've been to London
Seeing the Queen.
Poussie, poussie, baudrons,
What gat ye there?
I gat a good fat mousikie,
Rinning up a stair.
Poussie, poussie, baudrons,
What did ye wi't?
I put it in my meal-poke
To eat it wi' my bread.
Or:--
Hushie-ba, birdie beeton,
Your mammie's gane to Seaton,
For to buy a lammie's skin
To row your bonnie boukie in.
And:--
Bye baby, buntin',
Daddie's gane a-huntin':--
Mammie's gane to buy a skin,
To row the baby buntin' in.
East Coast mothers sing:--
Ding dang, bell rang,
Cattie's in the well, man.
Fa' dang her in, man?
Jean and Sandy Din, man.
Fa' took her out, man?
Me and Willie Cout, man.
A' them that kent her
When she was alive,
Come to the burialie
Between four and five.
Again:--
Eezy ozy moolin's o' bread,
Kens na whaur to lay her head,
Atween the Kirkgate and the Cross
There stands a bonnie white horse,
It can gallop, it can trot,
It can carry the mustard-pot.
And yet again:--
Willie Warstle, auld Carle,
Dottered, dune, and doited bodie,
Feeds his weans on calfs' lugs,
Sowps o' brose, and draps o' crowdie.
In Arbroath and district, mothers, indicating the various parts of the
child's anatomy as they proceed, sing:--
Brow o' knowledge,
Eye o' life,
Scent bottle,
Penknife.
Cheek cherry,
Neck o' grace,
Chin o' pluck--
That's your face.
Shoulder o' mutton,
Breast o' fat,
Vinegar-bottle,
Mustard-pot--
That's my laddie.
Touching severally the various buttons on the child's dress during its
repetition, this sort of fortune-telling rhyme is common:--
A laird, a lord,
A rich man, a thief,
A tailor, a drummer,
A stealer o' beef.
Or supposing for the nonce that the child is a piece of cooper-work,
requiring to be mended, the following, accompanied by the supposed
process, may be sung:--
Donald Cooper, Carle, quo' she,
Can ye gird my coggie?
Couthie Carline, that I can,
As weel as ony bodie.
There's ane about the mou' o't,
And ane about the body o't,
And ane about the leggen o't,
And that's a girded coggie!
The next is lilted as an accompaniment to a pretended game of thumps:--
Bontin's man
To the town ran;
He coffed and sold,
And a penny down told;
The kirk was ane, and the choir was twa,
And a great muckle thump doon aboon a',
Doon aboon a', doon aboon a'.
The following (as Dr. Chambers remarks) explains its own theatrical
character:--
I got a little manikin, I set him on my thoomiken;
I saddled him, I bridled him, I sent him to the tooniken:
I coffed a pair o' garters to tie his little hosiken;
I coffed a pocket-napkin to dight his little nosiken;
I sent him to the garden to fetch a pund o' sage
And found him in the kitchen-neuk kissing little Madge.
While dandling the child on her knee the mother or nurse may sing:--
I had a little pony,
Its name was Dapple Grey:
I lent it to a lady,
To ride a mile away.
She whipped it, she lashed it,
She ca'd it owre the brae;
I winna lend my pony mair,
Though a' the ladies pray.
In the same manner the above may be followed by--
Chick! my naigie,
Chick! my naigie,
How many miles to Aberdaigy?
Eight and eight, and other eight;
Try to win there by candlelight.
Or:--
Cam' ye by the kirk?
Cam' ye by the steeple?
Saw ye our gudeman,
Riding on a ladle?
Foul fa' the bodie,
Winna buy a saddle,
Wearing a' his breeks,
Riding on a ladle!
Or again:--
The cattie rade to Passelet,
To Passelet, to Passelet,
The cattie rade to Passelet,
Upon a harrow-tine, O.
'Twas on a weetie Wednesday,
Wednesday, Wednesday:
'Twas on a weetie Wednesday,
I missed it aye sin syne, O.
Lighting a stick, and making it wave to and fro, so as to form a
semi-circle of red fire before the child's eyes, the nurse will sing or
croon:--
Dingle, dingle dousy,
The cat's at the well,
The dog's awa' to Musselbro'
To buy the bairn a bell.
Greet, greet bairnie,
And ye'se get a bell;
If ye dinna greet faster,
I'll keep it to mysel'.
Or again, dandling the child, the entertainment may be what some
Perthshire children know well:--
Riding on a horsie, never standing still,
Doun by St. Martins, and owre by Newmill,
In by Guildtown and round by Cargill,
Richt up Burstbane, and owre by Gallowhill,
Yont by the Harelaw, and doun to Wolfhill,
And that's the way to ride a horse and never stand still.
Or the universal favourite may ensue:--
Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross,
To see an old woman ride on a white horse;
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.
Or:--
Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed,
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
In a reposeful attitude, such rhymes as follow may be employed:--
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down
And broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Shoo shuggie, owre the glen,
Mammie's pet, and daddie's hen.
Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full;
One for the master, one for the dame,
One for the little boy that lives in the lane.
Goosey, Goosey Gander,
Where shall I wander?
Upstairs, downstairs,
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him downstairs.
Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cupboard,
To fetch her poor doggie a bone;
But when she got there, the cupboard was bare,
And so the poor doggie got none.
Little Polly Flinders
Sat among the cinders,
Warming her pretty little toes,
Her mother came and caught her,
And whipped her little daughter
For spoiling her nice new clothes.
Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
Stole a pig and away he run;
Pig was eat, and Tom was beat,
And Tom went roaring down the street.
Little Betty Blue
Has lost her holiday shoe,
Give her another
To match the other,
And then she will walk in two.
Three blind mice; three blind mice;
See how they run; see how they run;
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did ever you see such fools in your life?
Three blind mice!
Mary, Mary,
Quite contrairy,
How does your garden grow?
Silver bells,
And cockle shells,
And pretty-maids all in a row.
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man!
Bake a cake as fast as you can;
Prick it, and pat it, and mark it with T,
And put it in the oven for Tommy and me.
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
There came a great spider
And sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean;
And so, betwixt them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
Little Tom Tucker
Sang for his supper.
What shall we give him?
Brown bread and butter.
How shall he cut it
Without any a knife?
How shall he marry
Without any wife?
See-saw, Margery Daw,
Jenny shall have a new master;
She shall have but a penny a day,
Because she can't work any faster.
Roun', roun' rosie, cuppie, cuppie shell,
The dog's awa' to Hamilton, to buy a new bell;
If you don't tak' it, I'll tak' it to mysel',
Roun', roun' rosie, cuppie, cuppie shell.
There was a little man, and he had a little gun,
And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead;
He shot Johnnie Twig through the middle of his wig,
And knocked it right off his head, head, head.
Hickety, pickety, my black hen,
Lays eggs for gentlemen,
Whiles ane, whiles twa,
Whiles a bonnie black craw.
For slightly more matured wits will be provided:--
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do;
She gave them some broth, without any bread,
And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.
Doctor Foster, went to Glo'ster
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle,
Up to the middle,
And never went there again.
This is another version of one that has been given earlier:--
Ding, dong, bell, Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in? Little Tommy Thin.
Who pulled her out? Little Tommy Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
Thus to drown poor Pussy Cat.
Little Boy Blue, come, blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn;
Where is the boy that looks after the sheep?
He's under the haycock, fast asleep!
Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief,
Taffy came to my house, and stole a piece of beef;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not at home;
Taffy came to my house, and stole a marrow-bone.
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,
I took up a broomstick and flung it at his head.
The lion and the unicorn
Fighting for the crown;
Up jumps a wee dog
And knocks them both down.
Some got white bread,
And some got brown:
But the lion beat the unicorn
All round the town.
There was a wee wifie row'd up in a blanket,
Nineteen times as high as the moon;
And what she did there I canna declare,
For in her oxter she bure the sun.
Wee wifie, wee wifie, wee wifie, quo' I,
O what are ye doin' up there so high?
I'm blawin' the cauld clouds out o' the sky.
Weel dune, weel dune, wee wifie, quo' I.
What ca' they you?
They ca' me Tam Taits!
What do ye do?
I feed sheep and gaits!
Where feed they?
Doun in yon bog!
What eat they?
Gerse and fog!
What gie they?
Milk and whey!
Wha sups that?
Tam Taits and I!
The laverock and the lintie,
The robin and the wren;
Gin ye harry their nests,
Ye'll never thrive again.
During a hail-storm country children sing:--
Rainy, rainy rattle-stanes,
Dinna rain on me;
But rain on Johnnie Groat's House,
Far owre the sea.
Again, when snow is falling:--
Snaw, snaw, flee awa'
Owre the hills and far awa'.
Towards the yellow-hammer, or yellow-yite--bird of beautiful plumage
though it be--because it is the subject of an unaccountable
superstitious notion, which credits it with drinking a drop of the
devil's blood every May morning, the children of Scotland cherish no
inconsiderable contempt, which finds expression in the rhyme:--
Half a puddock, half a taed,
Half a yellow yorling;
Drinks a drap o' the deil's blood
Every May morning.
On the East Coast, when the seagulls fly inland in search of food, the
children, not desiring their appearance--because probably of the old
superstition that they are prone to pick out the eyes of people--cry to
them:--
Seamaw, seamaw, my mither's awa'
For pouther an' lead, to shoot ye dead--
Pit-oo! pit-oo! pit-oo!
To the lark's song the young mind gives language, in a kindly way,
thus:--
Larikie, larikie, lee!
Wha'll gang up to heaven wi' me?
No the lout that lies in his bed,
No the doolfu' that dreeps his head.
Interpreting similarly the lapwing's cry, they retaliate with:--
Peese-weep! Peese-weep!
Harry my nest, and gar me greet!
Of the cuckoo they have this common rhyme:--
The cuckoo is a bonnie bird,
He sings as he flies;
He brings us good tidings;
He tells us no lies.
He drinks the cold water
To keep his voice clear;
And he'll come again
In the Spring of the year.
The lady-bird, or "Leddy Lanners," is a favourite insect with children,
and is employed by them to discover their future partners in life. When
a boy or girl finds one, he, or she, as the case may be, places it on
the palm of his, or her, hand, and repeats, until it flies off, the
lines:--
Leddy, Leddy Lanners,
Leddy, Leddy Lanners,
Tak' up yer cloak about yer head
An' flee awa' to Flann'ers;
Flee ower firth, an' flee ower fell,
Flee ower pool, an' rinnin' well,
Flee ower hill, an' flee ower mead,
Flee ower livin', flee ower dead,
Flee ower corn, an' flee ower lea,
Flee ower river, flee ower sea,
Flee ye East, or flee ye West,
Flee to the ane that loves me best.
The following rhyme, old and curious, and still not unknown to the young
in Scotland and England alike, has many varieties:--
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on;
Four posties to my bed,
Six angels are outspread:
Two to bottom, two to head,
One to watch me while I pray,
One to bear my soul away.
After the first two lines it goes sometimes:--
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels round my head;
One to read and one to write,
Two to guard my bed at night.
And often the closing lines run:--
One to watch and two to pray,
One to keep all fears away.
In an old MS. by Aubrey, in the British Museum, he states that this was
a prayer regularly used by people when they went to bed. Then Ody, in
his _Candle in the Dark_, 1656, tells that it was frequently used by old
people as a charm, and was repeated three times before going to bed.
Launcelot Sharpe, in his _Towneley Mysteries_, 1838, relates that he had
often, when a boy, heard similar words used in Kent as a prayer.
Since about the time of the Crimean War--and more immediately after then
than now--the children of Glasgow have shouted in the streets:--
Saw ye the Forty-Second?
Saw ye them gaun awa'?
Saw ye the Forty-Second
Marching to the Broomielaw?
Some o' them had boots an' stockin's,
Some o' them had nane ava;
Some of them had tartan plaidies,
Marching to the Broomielaw.
At an earlier period they had:--
Wha saw the Cotton-spinners?
Wha saw them gaun awa'?
Wha saw the Cotton-spinners
Sailing frae the Broomielaw?
Some o' them had boots an' stockin's,
Some o' them had nane ava;
Some o' them had umbrellas
For to keep the rain awa'.
There are many similar entertainments which these suggest. But to follow
in extent the out-door rhymes of the bairns would carry us beyond the
prescribed limits of this chapter. None have been cited, so far, that do
not belong absolutely to the nursery; and the collection of these even,
though fairly ample, is not so full as it might be. We will conclude
with a few, each of which forms a puzzle or conundrum--some of them, in
all conscience, gruesome enough, and full of terrible mystery--but,
individually, well calculated to awaken thought and stir imagination in
any youthful circle.
As I gaed owre the Brig o' Perth
I met wi' George Bawhannan;
I took aff his head, and drank his bluid,
And left his body stannin'.
[A bottle of wine.]
As I looked owre my window at ten o'clock at nicht,
I saw the dead carrying the living.
[A ship sailing.]
Hair without and hair within,
A' hair, and nae skin. [A hair rope.]
Three feet up, cauld and dead,
Twa feet doun, flesh and bluid;
The head o' the livin' in the mouth o' the dead:
An auld man wi' a pot on his head.
[Last line is the answer.]
There was a man o' Adam's race,
Wha had a certain dwellin' place;
It was neither in heaven, earth, nor hell,
Tell me where this man did dwell.
[Jonah in the whale's belly.]
A ha'penny here, an' a ha'penny there,
Fourpence-ha'penny and a ha'penny mair;
A ha'penny weet, an' a ha'penny dry,
Fourpence-ha'penny an' a ha'penny forby--
How much is that?
[A shilling.]
There was a prophet on this earth,
His age no man could tell;
He was at his greatest height
Before e'en Adam fell.
His wives are very numerous,
Yet he maintaineth none;
And at the day of reckoning
He bids them all begone.
He wears his boots when he should sleep,
His spurs are ever new;
There's no a shoemaker on a' the earth
Can fit him wi' a shoe.
[A cock.]
Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tot,
A wee, wee man in a red, red coat;
A staff in his hand and a stane in his throat,
Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tot.
[A cherry.]
There was a man made a thing,
And he that made it did it bring;
But he 'twas made for did not know
Whether 'twas a thing or no.
[A coffin.]
Pease-porridge het, pease-porridge cauld,
Pease-porridge in a pot ten days auld;
Spell me that in four letters.
[T-H-A-T.]
I sat wi' my love, and I drank wi' my love,
And my love she gave me light;
I'll give any man a pint o' wine
To read my riddle right.
[He sat in a chair made of his mistress's bones, drank out of her skull,
and was lighted by a candle made of the substance of her body.]
Mouth o' horn, and beard o' leather;
Ye'll no guess that were ye hanged in a tether.
[A cock.]
Bonnie Katie Brannie stands at the wa',
Gi'e her little, gi'e her muckle, she licks up a':
Gi'e her stanes, she eats them--but water, she'll dee,
Come, tell this bonnie riddleum to me.
[The fire.]
Down in yon meadow
There sails a boat;
And in that boat
The King's son sat.
I'm aye telling ye,
But ye're no calling,
Hoo they ca' the King's son
In the boat sailing.
[Hoo, or Hugh.]
As I gaed owre Bottle-brig,
Bottle-brig brak';
Though ye guess a' day,
Ye winna guess that. [The ice.]
If Dick's father is John's son,
What relation is Dick to John?
[His grandson.]
The brown bull o' Baverton,
Gaed owre the hill o' Haverton;
He dashed his head atween twa stanes
And was brought milk-white hame.
[Corn sent to the mill and ground.]
A beautiful lady in a garden was laid,
Her beauty was fair as the sun;
In the first hour of her life she was made a man's wife,
And she died before she was born.
[Eve.]
The minister, the dominie, and Mr. Andrew Lang,
Went to the garden where three pears hang:
Each one took a pear--how many pears then?
[Two: the three persons were one.]
Mou'd like the mill-door, luggit like the cat;
Though ye guess a' day, ye'll no guess that.
[An old-fashioned kail-pot.]
There stands a tree at our house-end,
It's a' clad owre wi' leather bend:
It'll fecht a bull, it'll fecht a bear,
It'll fecht a thousand men o' wear.
[Death.]
Lang man legless,
Gaed to the door staffless:
Goodwife, put up your deuks and hens;
For dogs and cats I carena.
[A worm.]
As I gaed to Falkland to a feast,
I met me wi' an ugly beast:
Ten tails, a hunder nails,
And no a fit but ane.
[A ship.]
As I cam' owre the tap o' Trine,
I met a drove o' Highland swine:
Some were black, and some were brawnet,
Some o' them was yellow tappit.
Sic a drove o' Highland swine
Ne'er cam' owre the tap o' Trine.
[A swarm of bees.]
Infir taris, inoknonis;
Inmudeelis, inclaynonis.
Canamaretots?
[In fir tar is, in oak none is;
In mud eel is, in clay none is.
Can a mare eat oats?]
Wee man o' leather
Gaed through the heather,
Through a rock, through a reel,
Through an auld spinning-wheel,
Through a sheep-shank bane.
Sic a man was never seen.
Wha had he been?
[A beetle.]
The robbers cam' to our house
When we were a' in;
The house lap out at the windows,
And we were a' ta'en.
[Fish caught in a net.]
COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
The use of doggerel rhymes by children in playing their out-of-door
games, to decide by the last word which of their number shall be "it" or
"takkie," in games like "Hide and Seek" and "I Spy," must be familiar to
every reader who has had any youth worthy of being so called. What is
not well known, however, is the fact that some of them--the rhymes, I
mean--that very common one in particular, beginning--"One-ery, two-ery,
tickery, seven," and its fellow in like respect, with the opening
line--"Eeny, meeny, manny, mo"--have, in almost identical form, been in
active use by the wee folks for hundreds of years, as they are still, in
nearly every country of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. That the
pastime has been common among the children of civilized and
semi-civilized races alike is certainly of curious interest, and yet
investigation has proved this to be the case. Not only so, but the form
of use is nearly always identical. A leader, as a rule self-appointed,
having engaged the attention of the boys and girls about to join in a
proposed game, arranges them either in a row or in a circle around him.
He then repeats the rhyme, fast or slow, as he is capable or disposed,
pointing with the hand or forefinger to each child in succession, not
forgetting himself, and allotting to each one word of the mysterious
formula. It may be, for example:--
Eeny, meeny, manny, mo,
Catch a nigger by the toe;
When he hollers, let him go,
Eeny, meeny, manny, mo.
Having completed the verse, the child on whom the last word falls is
said to be "out," and steps aside. At each repetition one in like manner
steps aside, and the one who survives the ordeal until all the rest have
been "chapped" or "titted" out is declared "it" or "takkie," and the
game proceeds forthwith. Sometimes the formula employed in certain parts
of Scotland, as I recollect, was for each boy to insert his finger into
the leader's cap, around which all the company stood. The master of the
ceremonies then with his finger allotted a word to each "finger in the
pie." It might be:--
Eenity, feenity, fickety, feg,
El, del, domen, egg,
Irky, birky, story, rock,
Ann, Dan, Toosh, Jock.
With the pronouncement of the word "Jock," the M.C.'s finger came down
with a whack which made the one "chapped out" be withdrawn in a "hunder
hurries." In some parts of America a peculiar method obtains. The
alphabet is repeated by the leader, who assigns one letter to each child
in the group, and when a letter falls to a child which is the same as
the initial of his last name, that child falls out, and this is
continued, observing the same plan, until only one child remains, who is
"it." There are other forms, too, but none strikingly dissimilar. Where
the little ones have been in haste to proceed with the game, and in no
mood to waste time in counting out each one to the last, they have taken
the sharper process of saying--
Red, white, yellow, blue,
All out but you,
and by the first reading fixed the relationship of parties.
Now, a very important and interesting feature of these rhymes and their
application, as I have said, is found in the fact that they prevail in a
more or less identical form all over the world. When this is so, their
common origin is placed almost beyond dispute. The question only, which
perhaps no one can answer, is--Whence come they? It would not be
hazarding too much to say, I think, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in
their turn as boys, with other boys of their time, each used a form of
counting-out rhyme in the manner and for the purpose for which they are
still in vogue by the boys and girls of the present day. Undoubtedly
they found a precedent, if they did not actually themselves exercise a
part, in the very ancient custom of casting lots, which prevailed among
the heathen as well as among the chosen people of God in very early
times. From sacred history we learn that lots were used to decide
measures to be taken in battle; to select champions in individual
contests; to determine the partition of conquered or colonised lands; in
the division of spoil; in the appointment of Magistrates and other
functionaries; in the assignment of priestly offices; and in criminal
investigations, when doubt existed as to the real culprit. Among the
Israelites, indeed, the casting of lots was divinely ordained as a
method of ascertaining the Holy will, and its use on many interesting
occasions is described in the Holy Scriptures. The simplicity of the
process, and its unanswerable result, were appreciated by Solomon, who
says: "The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the
mighty" (Prov. xviii. 18). In New Testament times, again, Matthias was
chosen by lot to "take the place in this ministry and apostleship from
which Judas fell away" (Acts i. 24-26). The Babylonians, when about to
wage war against another nation, were wont to determine which city
should be attacked first by casting lots in a peculiar manner. The names
of the cities were written on arrows. These were shaken in a bag, and
the one drawn decided the matter (see Ezekiel xxi. 21-22). A like method
of divination, called _belomany_, was current among the Arabians before
Mahomet's rise, though it was afterwards prohibited by the Koran. By
imitation of their elders, to which children are constantly prone--in
the making of "housies," in nursing of dolls, etc. etc.--doubtless there
came the counting-out rhyme. What is not so easily understood is their
existence in so many identical forms in so many widely distant lands. As
an example of how cosmopolitan some of them are, let us track a familiar
enough one for a fair distance and see how it appears in the national
garb of the various countries in which it has found bed, board, and
biding. All over Britain and America it goes:--
One, two, buckle my shoe,
Three, four, open the door,
Five, six, pick up the sticks,
Seven, eight, lay them straight,
Nine, ten, a good fat hen,
Eleven, twel', bake it well,
Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting,
Fifteen, sixteen, maids a-kissing,
Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting,
Nineteen, twenty, my stomach's empty.
In Germany it is found in various forms, but one will suffice:--
1, 2, Polizei,
3, 4, Offizier,
5, 6, Alte Hex,
7, 8, Gute Nacht,
9, 10, Auf Wiedersehen,
11, 12, Junge Wölf,
13, 14, Blaue Schürzen,
15, 16, Alte Hexen,
17, 18, Mädle Wachsen,
19, 20, Gott Verdanzig.
In France it also appears in various forms, and the children of Paris,
not disposed to waste time and energy, cut it briefly, as follows:--
Un, deux, trois,
Tu ne l'es pas,
Quatre, cinq, six,
Va t'en d'ici.
In Italy a form goes:--
Pan uno, pan duo,
Pan tre, pan quattro,
Pan cinque, pan sei,
Pan sette, pan otto,
Pancotto!
And versions, all revealing a common origin, might be quoted in the
languages of many more countries, but we can employ our space to better
purpose. With regard to the rhyme already quoted, beginning, "Eenity,
feenity, fickety, feg," it has been asked whether the second line, "El,
del, domen, egg," would not warrant the conclusion that it sprang into
existence on the streets, and among the children, of Ancient Rome.
Perhaps it did; for who may say it did not? There is that very common
one all over Scotland, which, it will be remembered, that wonderful
child, Marjorie Fleming, played off on Sir Walter Scott:--
One-ery, two-ery, tickery, seven,
Alibi, crackaby, ten and eleven;
Pin, pan, musky dan;
Tweedle-um, twoddle-um, twenty-one;
Eerie, orie, ourie. You are out!
A similar formula, only in slightly varying words, is found in the
folk-lore of almost every country in the world. Commenting on the
opening line, the late Mr. Charles G. Leland, author of the _Hans
Breitmann_ ballads, and an acknowledged authority on the language and
customs of the Eastern Gypsies, sets against it a Romany stanza, used as
a spell, beginning:--
Ekkeri, akai-ri, you kiar-an,
and remarks that "Ekkeri, akai-ri," literally translated, just gives the
familiar "One-ery, two-ery," which is etymologically analogous to
"Hickory, dickory," in the all-pervading nursery rhyme:--
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock;
The clock struck one, and down the mouse ran,
Hickory, dickory, dock.
An American version of which, by the bye, goes:--
Hiddlety, diddlety, dumpty,
The cat ran up the plum tree;
Half-a-crown to fetch her down,
Hiddlety, diddlety, dumpty.
But still, before leaving the familiar chapping-out rhyme of Marjorie
Fleming, let us see how it occurs again in Scotland and among the
children of some of the other English-speaking nations, to go no
further. Charles Taylor, in the _Magpie; or Chatterings of the Pica_,
published at Glasgow in 1820, gives it thus:--
Anery, twaery, duckery, seven,
Alama, crack, ten am eleven;
Peem, pom, it must be done,
Come teetle, come total, come twenty-one;
and remarks:--"This is reported to have originated with the Druids; the
total number of words is twenty-one, and it seems to be a mixture of
words put into rhyme." In the streets and lanes and open spaces of
Aberdeen it runs:--
Enery, twa-ery, tuckery, taven,
Halaba, crackery, ten or eleven;
Peen, pan, musky dan,
Feedelam, Fadelam, twenty-one.
In the county of Wexford, in Ireland, it goes:--
One-ery, two-ery, dickery, Davy,
Hallabone, crackabone, tenery, Navy;
Discome, dandy, merry-come-tine,
Humbledy, bumbledy, twenty-nine,
O-U-T, out. You must go out!
In the Midlands of England:--
One-ery, two-ery, dickery, dee,
Halibo, crackibo, dandilee;
Pin, pan, muskee dan,
Twiddledum, twaddledum, twenty-one;
Black fish, white trout,
Eeny, meeny, you go out.
In Massachusetts, U.S., America:--
Ena, deena, dina, dust,
Catler, wheeler, whiler, whust;
Spin, spon, must be done,
Twiddleum, twaddleum, twenty-one.
In the island of Guernsey:--
Eena, deena, dina, duss,
Catalaweena, wina, wuss;
Tittle, tattle, what a rattle,
O-U-T spells out!
Another Scotch version:--
One-ery, two-ery, tickery, ten,
Bobs of vinegar, gentlemen;
A bird in the air, a fish in the sea;
A bonnie wee lassie come singing to thee.
One, two, three!
Of the "Eeny, feenity, fickety, feg" rhyme, we find these evident
varieties. This, said to be used in the West of Scotland:--
Zeeny, meeny, fickety, fick,
Deal, doll, dominick;
Zarity-panty, on a rock, toosh!
This in Cumberland:--
Eeny, pheeny, figgery, fegg,
Deely, dyly, ham and egg.
Calico back, and stony rock,
Arlum, barlum, bash!
In the United States:--
Inty, minty, tippity, fig,
Dinah, donah, norma, nig,
Oats, floats, country notes;
Dinah, donah, tiz,
Hulla-ballop-bulloo,
Out goes you!
This curious one in Edinburgh:--
Inty, tinty, tethery, methery,
Bank for over, Dover, ding,
Aut, taut, toosh;
Up the Causey, down the Cross,
There stands a bonnie white horse:
It can gallop, it can trot,
It can carry the mustard pot.
One, two, three, out goes she!
Again, in Scotland:--
Inky, pinky, peerie-winkie,
Hi domin I.
Arky, parky, tarry rope,
Ann, tan, toozy Jock.
This is truly American--the first line of which, by the bye, is derived
from, or is borrowed by, the College song, "King of the Cannibal
Islands":--
Hoky poky, winky wum,
How do you like your 'taters done?
Snip, snap, snorum,
High popolorum,
Kate go scratch it,
You are out!
That this also is from beyond the "pond" is evident:--
As I was walking down the lake,
I met a little rattlesnake.
I gave him so much jelly-cake,
It made his little belly ache.
One, two, three, out goes she!
In the West of Scotland they sometimes say:--
Ease, ose, man's nose;
Cauld parritch, pease brose.
Forfarshire bairns say:--
Eemer-awmer, Kirsty Gawmer,
Doon i' Carnoustie, merchant-dale.
Leddy Celestie, Sandy Testie,
Bonnie poppy-show.
You--are--out!
And elsewhere, but still in Scotland:--
Eatum, peatum, potum, pie,
Babylonie, stickum, stie,
Dog's tail, hog's snout,
I'm in, you're out.
Or:--
Eerie, orie, owre the dam,
Fill your poke and let us gang;
Black fish and white trout,
Eerie, orie, you are out.
Another goes:--
A ha'penny puddin', a ha'penny pie,
Stand you there, you're out by.
The last appears in Chambers' _Popular Rhymes of
Scotland_, which interesting collection embraces also the
next two. First:--
My grandfather's man and me fell out,
How will we bring the matter about?
We'll bring it about as weel as we can,
And a' for the sake o' my grandfather's man.
Second:--
Master Foster, very good man,
Sweeps his college now and than,
After that he takes a dance
Up from London down to France,
With a black bonnet and a white snout,
Stand you there, you are out.
In Glasgow, I am told, the next one used to be common:--