Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
Stole a pig and away he run;
The pig was eat and Tom was beat
And Tom ran crying down the street.
THERE was not a worse vagabond in Shrewsbury than old Barney the
piper. He never did any work except to play the pipes, and he played
so badly that few pennies ever found their way into his pouch. It was
whispered around that old Barney was not very honest, but he was so sly
and cautious that no one had ever caught him in the act of stealing,
although a good many things had been missed after they had fallen into
the old man's way.
Barney had one son, named Tom; and they lived all alone in a little hut
away at the end of the village street, for Tom's mother had died when
he was a baby. You may not suppose that Tom was a very good boy, since
he had such a queer father; but neither was he very bad, and the worst
fault he had was in obeying his father's wishes when Barney wanted him
to steal a chicken for their supper or a pot of potatoes for their
breakfast. Tom did not like to steal, but he had no one to teach him to
be honest, and so, under his father's guidance, he fell into bad ways.
[Illustration: Tom, the Piper's Son]