The big book of NURSERY RHYMES
To the Youngest Baby of All with the Love of the Compiler and the Artist.
Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow
BLACKIE & SON LTD., 50 OLD BAILEY, LONDON, AND 17 STANHOPE STREET, GLASGOW
BLACKIE & SON (INDIA) LTD., BOMBAY; BLACKIE & SON (CANADA) LTD., TORONTO
CURLY LOCKS
Thou shalt sit on a
cushion and sew a
fine seam. And feed
upon strawberries
sugar and cream.
The big book of Nursery Rhymes
Edited by Walter Jerrold
Illustrated by Charles Robinson
Published by Blackie and Son, Ltd
London
INTRODUCTION
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. References to certain favourites may be found in the pages of the dramatists of Elizabeth's time.
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 concern with such profound interpretations, any more than have the little people who love the old jingles best.
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". Most of the Rhymes in this little Newbery collection, amongst them "There was a little Man and he wooed a little Maid" and "The Wise Men of Gotham", are repeated in the present volume so far as may be in accordance with that early text. 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.
CONTENTS
"Herebe!
ginsthe!!
bigbo !!!
okofnur!!!!
se!ryrh! ymes!"
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS
The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts,
All on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts called for those tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore.
The Knave of Hearts
brought back those tarts,
And vowed he'd steal no more.
SAINT SWITHIN'S DAY
St. Swithin's day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain;
St. Swithin's day, if thou be fair,
For forty days 't will rain no more.
DANCE TO YOUR DADDIE
Dance to your daddie,
My bonnie laddie,
Dance to your daddie, my bonnie lamb!
You shall get a fishie
On a little dishie,
You shall get a fishie when the boat comes hame!
Dance to your daddie,
My bonnie laddie,
Dance to your daddie, and to your mammie sing!
You shall get a coatie,
And a pair of breekies,
You shall get a coatie when the boat comes in!
THE MAN IN THE MOON
The man in the moon
Came tumbling down
And asked the way to Norwich;
He went by the south,
And burnt his mouth
With eating cold pease porridge.
SIMPLE SIMON
SIMPLE SIMON met a pie-man,
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pie-man,
"Let me taste your ware."
Says the pie-man unto Simon,
"First give me a penny."
Says Simple Simon to the pie-man,
"I have not got any."
He went to catch a dicky-bird,
And thought he could not fail,
Because he had got a little salt
To put upon his tail.
He went to ride a spotted cow,
That had got a little calf,
She threw him down upon the ground,
Which made the people laugh.
Then Simple Simon went a-hunting,
For to catch a hare,
He rode a goat about the street,
But could not find one there.
He went for to eat honey
Out of the mustard-pot,
He bit his tongue until he cried,
That was all the good he got.
SIMPLE SIMON went a-fishing
For to catch a whale;
And all the water he had got
Was in his mother's pail.
He went to take a bird's nest,
Was built upon a bough;
A branch gave way, and Simon fell
Into a dirty slough.
He went to shoot a wild duck,
But the wild duck flew away;
Says Simon, "I can't hit him,
Because he will not stay."
ONCE Simon made a great Snowball,
And brought it in to roast;
He laid it down before the fire,
And soon the ball was lost.
HE went to slide upon the ice,
Before the ice would bear;
Then he plunged in above his knees,
Which made poor Simon stare.
He went to try if cherries ripe
Grew upon a thistle;
He pricked his finger very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle.
He washed himself with blacking-ball,
Because he had no soap:
Then, then, said to his mother,
"I'm a beauty now, I hope."
He went for water in a sieve,
But soon it all ran through;
And now poor Simple Simon
Bids you all adieu.
TOAD AND FROG
"Croak," said the toad, "I'm hungry I think,
To-day I've had nothing to eat or to drink;
I'll crawl to a garden and jump through the pales,
And there I'll dine nicely on slugs and on snails."
"Ho, ho!" quoth the frog, "is that what you mean?
Then I'll hop away to the next meadow stream,
There I will drink, and eat worms and slugs too,
And then I shall have a good dinner like you."
LITTLE JACK HORNER
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner
Eating of Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And cried "What a good boy was I!"
THE WOOING
There was a little man,
Who wooed a little maid;
And he said: "Little maid, will you wed, wed, wed?
I have little more to say,
So will you ay or nay
For the least said is soonest mend-ed, ded, ded."
Then the little maid replied:
"Should I be your little bride,
Pray what must we have for to eat, eat, eat?
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
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
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.
BLOW WIND BLOW
Blow, wind, blow! and go, mill, go!
That the miller may grind his corn;
That the baker may take it, and into rolls make it,
And send us some hot in the morn.
ONE, TWO, THREE, AND FOUR LEGS
Two legs sat upon three legs,
With one leg in his lap;
In comes four legs,
And runs away with one leg.
Up jumps two legs,
Catches up three legs,
Throws it after four legs,
And makes him bring back one leg.
BLUE BELL BOY
I HAD a little boy,
And called him Blue Bell;
Gave him a little work,
He did it very well.
I bade him go upstairs
To bring me a gold pin;
In coal-scuttle fell he,
Up to his little chin.
He went to the garden
To pick a little sage;
He tumbled on his nose,
And fell into a rage.
He went to the cellar
To draw a little beer;
And quickly did return
To say there was none there.
COCK-A-DOODLE-DO
Cock-a-doodle-do!
My dame has lost her shoe;
My master's lost his fiddle-stick,
And don't know what to do.
Cock-a-doodle-do!
What is my dame to do?
Till master finds his fiddle-stick,
She'll dance without her shoe.
JOHN COOK'S GREY MARE
JOHN COOK had a little grey mare; he, haw, hum!
Her back stood up, and her bones they were bare; he, haw, hum!
John Cook was riding up Shuter's bank; he, haw, hum!
And there his nag did kick and prank; he, haw, hum!
John Cook was riding up Shuter's hill; he, haw, hum!
His mare fell down, and she made her will; he, haw, hum!
The bridle and saddle were laid on the shelf; he, haw, hum!
If you want any more you may sing it yourself; he, haw, hum!
BUZ AND HUM
BUZ, quoth the blue fly,
Hum, quoth the bee,
Buz and hum they cry,
And so do we.
In his ear, in his nose,
Thus, do you see?
He ate the dormouse,
Else it was he.
TOMMY TITTLEMOUSE
Little Tommy Tittlemouse
Lived in a little house;
He caught fishes
In other men's ditches.
A AND B AND SEE
Great A, little a, bouncing B,
The cat's in the cupboard and she can't see.
DOCTOR FOSTER
DOCTOR Foster went to Glo'ster,
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle right up to his middle,
And never went there again.
DAFFY DOWN DILLY
Daffy-down-dilly has come to town,
In a yellow petticoat, and a green gown.
QUEEN ANNE
Queen Anne, Queen Anne,
you sit in the sun,
As fair as a lily,
as white as a wand.
I send you three letters,
and pray read one,
You must read one, if you can't read all
So pray Miss or Master throw up the ball.
HO MY KITTEN
HO my kitten, a kitten,
And ho! my kitten, my deary!
Such a sweet pet as this
Was neither far nor neary.
Here we go up, up, up,
Here we go down, down, down;
Here we go backwards and forwards,
And here we go round, round, round.
LAVENDER BLUE
Lavender blue and rosemary green,
When I am king you shall be queen;
Call up my maids at four o'clock,
Some to the wheel and some to the rock,
Some to make hay and some to shear corn,
And you and I will keep ourselves warm.
THE QUARRELSOME KITTENS
TWO little kittens one stormy night,
They began to quarrel and they began to fight;
One had a mouse and the other had none,
And that's the way the quarrel begun.
"I'll have that mouse," said the biggest cat.
"You'll have that mouse? we'll see about that!"
"I will have that mouse," said the eldest son.
"You sha'n't have the mouse," said the little one.
I told you before 't was a stormy night
When these two little kittens began to fight;
The old woman seized her sweeping broom,
And swept the two kittens right out of the room.
The ground was covered with frost and snow,
And the two little kittens had nowhere to go;
So they laid them down on the mat at the door,
While the old woman finished sweeping the floor.
Then they crept in, as quiet as mice,
All wet with the snow, and as cold as ice,
For they found it was better, that stormy night,
To lie down and sleep than to quarrel and fight.
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?"
"Thank you, thank you, little dog,
I'm very well just now."
BOBBY SHAFT
Bobby Shaft is gone to sea,
With silver buckles at his knee;
When he'll come home he'll marry me,
Pretty Bobby Shaft!
Bobby Shaft is fat and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair;
He's my love for evermore!
Pretty Bobby Shaft!
THE LITTLE CLOCK
There's a neat little clock,
In the schoolroom it stands,
And it points to the time
With its two little hands.
And may we, like the clock,
Keep a face clean and bright,
With hands ever ready
To do what is right.
LITTLE MAID
"Little maid, pretty maid, whither goest thou?"
"Down in the forest to milk my cow."
"Shall I go with thee?" "No, not now;
When I send for thee, then come thou."
BAT, BAT
Bat, bat,
Come under my hat,
And I'll give you a slice of bacon;
And when I bake,
I'll give you a cake,
If I am not mistaken.
CHRISTMAS
Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat,
Please to put a penny in an old man's hat;
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny, God bless you.
PETER WHITE
Peter White will ne'er go right,
And would you know the reason why?
He follows his nose where'er he goes,
And that stands all awry.
SLEEP BABY SLEEP
SLEEP, baby, sleep,
Our cottage vale is deep;
The little lamb is on the green,
With woolly fleece so soft and clean—
Sleep, baby, sleep!
Sleep, baby, sleep,
Down where the woodbines creep;
Be always like the lamb so mild,
A kind, and sweet, and gentle child—
Sleep, baby, sleep!
UP PIPPEN HILL
As I was going up Pippen Hill,
Pippen Hill was dirty;
There I met a pretty miss,
And she dropped me a curtsey.
Little miss, pretty miss,
Blessings light upon you!
If I had half a crown a day,
I'd spend it all upon you.
A FALLING OUT
A LITTLE old man and I fell out;
How shall we bring this matter about?
Bring it about as well as you can;
Get you gone, you little old man.
TOM, THE PIPER'S SON
Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
Stole a pig and away he run!
The pig was eat and Tom was beat,
And Tom went howling down the street.
PEG
Peg, Peg, with a wooden leg,
Her father was a miller;
He tossed the dumpling at her head,
And said he could not kill her.
A DIFFICULT RHYME
What is the rhyme for porringer?
The king he had a daughter fair,
And gave the Prince of Orange her.
THE OLD WOMAN TOSSED IN A BASKET
There was an old woman tossed up in a basket
Seventeen times as high as the moon;
Where she was going I couldn't but ask it,
For in her hand she carried a broom.
"Old woman, old woman, old woman," quoth I,
"Where are you going to up so high?"
"To brush the cobwebs off the sky!"
"May I go with thee?" "Aye, by-and-by."
POOR OLD ROBINSON CRUSOE
POOR old Robinson Crusoe!
Poor old Robinson Crusoe!
They made him a coat
Of an old nanny goat,
I wonder why they could do so!
With a ring a ting tang,
And a ring a ting tang,
Poor old Robinson Crusoe!
TWO LITTLE DOGS
Two little dogs sat by the fire,
Over a fender of coal-dust;
When one said to the other dog,
"If Pompey won't talk, why, I must."