Sing a song o' sixpence, a handful of rye,
Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie;
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the King?
IF you have never heard the legend of Gilligren and the King's pie you
will scarcely understand the above verse; so I will tell you the whole
story, and then you will be able to better appreciate the rhyme.
Gilligren was an orphan, and lived with an uncle and aunt who were
very unkind to him. They cuffed him and scolded him upon the slightest
provocation, and made his life very miserable indeed. Gilligren never
rebelled against this treatment, but bore their cruelty silently and
with patience, although often he longed to leave them and seek a home
amongst kinder people.
It so happened that when Gilligren was twelve years old the King died,
and his son was to be proclaimed King in his place, and crowned with
great ceremony. People were flocking to London from all parts of the
country, to witness the festivities, and the boy longed to go with
them.
One evening he said to his uncle,
"If I had sixpence I could make my fortune."
"Pooh! nonsense!" exclaimed his uncle, "a sixpence is a small thing.
How then could you make a fortune from it?"
"That I cannot tell you," replied Gilligren, "but if you will give me
the sixpence I will go to London, and not return until I am a rich man."
"The boy is a fool!" said his uncle, with anger; but the aunt spoke up
quickly.
"Give him the money and let him go," she said, "and then we shall be
well rid of him and no longer be obliged to feed and clothe him at our
expense."
"Well," said her husband, after a moment's thought, "here is the money;
but remember, this is all I shall ever give you, and when it is gone
you must not come to me for more."
"Never fear," replied Gilligren, joyfully, as he put the sixpence in
his pocket, "I shall not trouble you again."
The next morning he cut a short stick to assist him in walking, and
after bidding good-bye to his uncle and aunt he started upon his
journey to London.
"The money will not last him two days," said the man, as he watched
Gilligren go down the turnpike road, "and when it is gone he will
starve to death."
"Or he may fall in with people who will treat him worse than we did,"
rejoined the woman, "and then he'll wish he had never left us."
But Gilligren, nothing dismayed by thoughts of the future, trudged
bravely along the London road. The world was before him, and the bright
sunshine glorified the dusty road and lightened the tips of the dark
green hedges that bordered his path. At the end of his pilgrimage was
the great city, and he never doubted he would find therein proper work
and proper pay, and much better treatment than he was accustomed to
receive.
So, on he went, whistling merrily to while away the time, watching the
sparrows skim over the fields, and enjoying to the full the unusual
sights that met his eyes. At noon he overtook a carter, who divided
with the boy his luncheon of bread and cheese, and for supper a
farmer's wife gave him a bowl of milk. When it grew dark he crawled
under a hedge and slept soundly until dawn.
The next day he kept steadily upon his way, and toward evening met a
farmer with a wagon loaded with sacks of grain.
"Where are you going, my lad?" asked the man.
"To London," replied Gilligren, "to see the King crowned."
"Have you any money?" enquired the farmer.
"Oh yes," answered Gilligren, "I have a sixpence."
"If you will give me the sixpence," said the man, "I will give you a
sack of rye for it."
"What could I do with a sack of rye?" asked Gilligren, wonderingly.
"Take it to the mill, and get it ground into flour. With the flour you
could have bread baked, and that you can sell."
"That is a good idea," replied Gilligren, "so here is my sixpence, and
now give me the sack of rye."
The farmer put the sixpence carefully into his pocket, and then reached
under the seat of the wagon and drew out a sack, which he cast on the
ground at the boy's feet.
"There is your sack of rye," he said, with a laugh.
"But the sack is empty!" remonstrated Gilligren.
"Oh, no; there is some rye in it."
"But only a handful!" said Gilligren, when he had opened the mouth of
the sack and gazed within it.
"It is a sack of rye, nevertheless," replied the wicked farmer, "and
I did not say how much rye there would be in the sack I would give
you. Let this be a lesson to you never again to buy grain without
looking into the sack!" and with that he whipped up his horses and left
Gilligren standing in the road with the sack at his feet and nearly
ready to cry at his loss.
"My sixpence is gone," he said to himself, "and I have received nothing
in exchange but a handful of rye! How can I make my fortune with that?"
He did not despair, however, but picked up the sack and continued his
way along the dusty road. Soon it became too dark to travel farther,
and Gilligren stepped aside into a meadow, where, lying down upon the
sweet grass, he rolled the sack into a pillow for his head and prepared
to sleep.
The rye that was within the sack, however, hurt his head, and he sat up
and opened the sack.
"Why should I keep a handful of rye?" he thought, "It will be of no
value to me at all."
So he threw out the rye upon the ground, and rolling up the sack again
for a pillow, was soon sound asleep.
When he awoke the sun was shining brightly over his head and the
twitter and chirping of many birds fell upon his ears. Gilligren opened
his eyes and saw a large flock of blackbirds feeding upon the rye he
had scattered upon the ground. So intent were they upon their feast
they never noticed Gilligren at all.
He carefully unfolded the sack, and spreading wide its opening threw it
quickly over the flock of blackbirds. Some escaped and flew away, but a
great many were caught, and Gilligren put his eye to the sack and found
he had captured four and twenty. He tied the mouth of the sack with a
piece of twine that was in his pocket, and then threw the sack over his
shoulder and began again his journey to London.
"I have made a good exchange, after all," he thought, "for surely four
and twenty blackbirds are worth more than a handful of rye, and perhaps
even more than a sixpence, if I can find anyone who wishes to buy
them."
He now walked rapidly forward, and about noon entered the great city of
London.
Gilligren wandered about the streets until he came to the King's
palace, where there was a great concourse of people and many guards to
keep intruders from the gates.
Seeing he could not enter from the front, the boy walked around to the
rear of the palace and found himself near the royal kitchen, where the
cooks and other servants were rushing around to hasten the preparation
of the King's dinner.
Gilligren sat down upon a stone where he could watch them, and laying
the sack at his feet was soon deeply interested in the strange sight.
Presently a servant in the King's livery saw him and came to his side.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, roughly.
"I am waiting to see the King," replied Gilligren.
"The King! The King never comes here," said the servant; "and neither
do we allow idlers about the royal kitchen. So depart at once, or I
shall be forced to call a guard to arrest you."
Gilligren arose obediently and slung his sack over his shoulder. As he
did so the birds that were within began to flutter.
"What have you in the sack?" asked the servant.
"Blackbirds," replied Gilligren.
"Blackbirds!" echoed the servant, in surprise, "well, that is very
fortunate indeed. Come with me at once!" He seized the boy by the arm
and drew him hastily along until they entered the great kitchen of the
palace.
"Here, Mister Baker!" the man called, excitedly, "I have found your
blackbirds!"
A big, fat man who was standing in the middle of the kitchen with
folded arms and a look of despair upon his round, greasy face, at once
came toward them and asked eagerly,
"The blackbirds? are you sure you can get them?"
"They are here already; the boy has a bag full of them."
"Give them to me," said the cook, who wore a square cap, that was
shaped like a box, upon his head.
"What do you want with them?" asked Gilligren.
"I want them for a pie for the King's dinner," answered Mister Baker;
"His Majesty ordered the dish, and I have hunted all over London for
the blackbirds, but could not find them. Now that you have brought
them, however, you have saved me my position as cook, and perhaps my
head as well."
"But it would be cruel to put the beautiful birds in a pie,"
remonstrated Gilligren, "and I shall not give them to you for such a
purpose."
"Nonsense!" replied the cook, "the King has ordered it; he is very fond
of the dish."
"Still, you cannot have them," declared the boy stoutly, "the birds
are mine, and I will not have them killed."
"But what can I do?" asked the cook, in perplexity; "the King has
ordered a blackbird pie, and your birds are the only blackbirds in
London."
Gilligren thought deeply for a moment, and conceived what he thought to
be a very good idea. If the sixpence was to make his fortune, then this
was his great opportunity.
"You can have the blackbirds on two conditions," he said.
"What are they?" asked the cook.
"One is that you will not kill the birds. The other condition is that
you secure me a position in the King's household."
"How can I put live birds in a pie?" enquired the cook.
"Very easily, if you make the pie big enough to hold them. You can
serve the pie after the King has satisfied his hunger with other
dishes, and it will amuse the company to find live birds in the pie
when they expected cooked ones."
"It is a risky experiment," exclaimed the cook, "for I do not know the
new King's temper. But the idea may please His Majesty, and since you
will not allow me to kill the birds, it is the best thing I can do. As
for your other condition, you seem to be a very bright boy, and so I
will have the butler take you as his page, and you shall stand back of
the King's chair and keep the flies away while he eats."
The butler being called, and his consent secured, the cook fell to
making the crusts for his novel pie, while Gilligren was taken to the
servants' hall and dressed in a gorgeous suit of the King's livery.
When the dinner was served, the King kept looking for the blackbird
pie, but he said nothing, and at last the pie was placed before him,
its crusts looking light and brown, and sprigs of myrtle being stuck in
the four corners to make it look more inviting.
Although the King had already eaten heartily, he smacked his lips when
he saw this tempting dish, and picking up the carving-fork he pushed it
quickly into the pie.
At once the crust fell in, and all the four and twenty blackbirds
put up their heads and began to look about them. And coming from the
blackness of the pie into the brilliantly lighted room they thought
they were in the sunshine, and began to sing merrily, while some of the
boldest hopped out upon the table or began flying around the room.
At first the good King was greatly surprised; but soon, appreciating
the jest, he lay back in his chair and laughed long and merrily. And
his courtiers and the fine ladies present heartily joined in the
laughter, for they also were greatly amused.
Then the King called for the cook, and when Mister Baker appeared,
uncertain of his reception, and filled with many misgivings, His
Majesty cried,
"Sirrah! how came you to think of putting live birds in the pie?"
The cook, fearing that the King was angry, answered,
"May it please your Majesty, it was not my thought, but the idea of the
boy who stands behind your chair."
The King turned his head, and seeing Gilligren, who looked very well in
his new livery, he said,
"You are a clever youth, and deserve a better position than that of a
butler's lad. Hereafter you shall be one of my own pages, and if you
serve me faithfully I will advance your fortunes with your deserts."
And Gilligren did serve the King faithfully, and as he grew older
acquired much honor and great wealth.
"After all," he used to say, "that sixpence made my fortune. And it all
came about through such a small thing as a handful of rye!"
[Illustration: The Story of Little Boy Blue]