A History of Nursery Rhymes Part 18

DAVID THE WELSHMAN.

"Taffy was a wicked Welshman, Taffy was a wicked thief, Taffy came to my house And stole a piece of beef.

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed, I got the poker And hit him on the head."

Sung in derision along the Welsh borders on St. David's Day. Formerly it was the custom of the London mob on this day to dress up a guy and carry him round the princ.i.p.al thoroughfares. The ragged urchins following sang the rhyme of "Taffy was a wicked Welshman."

"MY FATHER HE DIED."

The historical value of nursery rhymes is incapable of being better ill.u.s.trated than in the following old English doggerel:--

"My father he died, I cannot tell how, He left me six horses to drive out my plough, With a wimmy lo! wommy lo!

Jack Straw, blazey boys.

Wimmy lo! wimmy lo! wob, wob, wob."

Mr. Halliwell dates it as of Richard II.'s time, and this much may be said for this opinion, that there is no greater authority than he on the subject of early English rhymes and carols. Mr. Halliwell also believes that of British nursery rhymes it is the earliest extant. There are those, however, who dissent from this view, holding that many of the child's songs sung to-day were known to our Saxon forefathers. In 1835 Mr. Gowler, who wrote extensively on the archaeology of English phrases and nursery rhymes, ingeniously attempted to claim whole songs and tales, giving side by side the Saxon and the English versions. There certainly was a phonetic similarity between them, but the local value of the Saxon, when translated, reads in a strange way, being little more than a protest against the Church's teaching and influence.

"Who killed c.o.c.k Robin?" is given at length by Mr. Gowler, as well as many sc.r.a.ps of other nursery rhymes. Mr. Gowler seemed to claim that though the lettered language of each succeeding age fashions afresh, the Baby Kingdom knows no such vocal revolutions.

CHAPTER XII.

SCOTCH RHYMES.

The great and alluring exercise of "Through the needle-e'e, boys" has this immemorial rhyme:--

"As I went up the Brandy Hill I met my father wi' gude will; He had jewels, he had rings, He had many braw things, He'd a cat-and-nine-tails, He'd a hammer wantin' nails.

Up Jock, down Tam, Blaw the bellows, auld man, Through the needle-e'e, boys!

Brother Jock, if ye were mine, I would give you claret wine; Claret wine's gude and fine, Through the needle-e'e, boys!"

THE SCOTCH VERSION OF BRYAN O'LYNN.

"Tam o' the Lin and a' his bairns Fell n' i' the fire in other's arms!

Oh, quo' the bunemost, I ha'e a het skin!!

It's hetter below, quo' Tam o' the Lin."

"Cripple d.i.c.k upon a stick, Sand your soo, ride away To Galloway To buy a pound o' woo."

"Pan, pan, play, Pan, pan, play, And gi'e the bairn meal, It's gotten nane the day."

"The robin and the wren Are G.o.d's c.o.c.k and hen."

"Gi'e a thing, tak' a thing, Auld man's deid ring; Lie b.u.t.t, lie ben, Lie amang the dead men."

The above is said by Scotch children as a reproach to one who takes back what he gave.

A GRUESOME RIDDLE.

"I sat wi' my love and I drank wi' my love, And my love she gave me licht; I'll gi'e any mon a pint o' wine That'll read my riddle right."

A person sitting in a chair made of the bones of a relation, drinking out of the skull, and reading by the light of a candle made from the marrow-bones.

Street game rhyme, something like the well-known "How many miles to Wimbledon?":--

"King and Queen of Cantelon, How many miles to Babylon?

It's eight and eight and other eight, Try to win these wi' 'candle licht.'"

To discover a particular person in the company wearing a ring, Scotch children of last century used to say--

"Two before 1, and 3 before 5, Now 2, and then 2, and 4 come _belive_.

Now 1, and then 1, and 3 at a cast, Now 1, and _twise_ 2, and Jack up at last."

In the game of Hidee the laddies and la.s.sies cry--

"Keep in, keep in, where'ver ye be, The greedy gled's seekin' ye."

"WHA'S YOUR DADDIE?"

"Little wee laddie, Wha's your daddie?

I cam out o' a buskit, lady, A buskit, lady's owre fine; I cam out o' a bottle o' wine, A bottle o' wine's owre dear; I cam out o' a bottle o' beer, A bottle o' beer's owre thick; I cam out o' a gauger's stick, A gauger's stick's b.u.t.t and ben; I cam out o' a peac.o.c.k hen."

In Lancashire, where this rhyme is a popular one, the reading differs, "candlestick" being used for "gauger's stick."

"A candlestick is over-fat, I came out of a gentleman's hat; A gentleman's hat is over-tall, I came over the garden wall; The garden wall is over-high, An angel dropped me from the sky."

The Scotch "Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe" is a sad jumble of "Old Mother Hubbard" and "Little Blue Betty."

"There was a wee bit wifie Who lived in a shoe, She had so many bairns She kenn'd na what to do.

"She gaed to the market To buy a sheep's head, When she came back They were a' lying dead.

"She went to the wright To get them a coffin, When she came back They were a' lying laughin'.