Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales Part 18

[Footnote 36: Observations, &c., 8vo. Lond. 1671, p. 160.]

We thus find this nursery romance descending in all its purity for nearly two centuries. It may be even older than the time of Charles II., for it does not appear as a novelty in the quotation we have just given.

Be this as it may, the oldest edition I know of was printed some half-century since by Marshall, in Aldermary Churchyard, ent.i.tled "The Tragical Death of A. Apple-pye, who was cut in pieces and eat by twenty-five gentlemen, with whom all little people ought to be very well acquainted," which runs as follows:

A. apple-pye, B. bit it, C. cut it, D, dealt it, E. eat it, F. fought for it, G. got it, H. had it,[37]

J. join'd for it, K. kept it, L. long'd for it, M. mourn'd for it, N. nodded at it, O. open'd it, P. peep'd in it, Q. quarter'd it, R. ran for it, S. stole it, T. took it, V. viewed it, W. wanted it; X. Y. Z. and Ampersy-and, They all wish'd for a piece in hand.

At last they every one agreed Upon the apple-pye to feed; But as there seem'd to be so many, Those who were last might not have any.

Unless some method there was taken, That every one might save their bacon.

They all agreed to stand in order Around the apple-pye's fine border.

Take turn as they in hornbook stand, From great A down to &, In equal parts the pye divide, As you may see on t'other side.

[Footnote 37: Some copies say "H. halv'd it, I.

ey'd it," and afterwards, "U. hew'd it, ... X.

crossed it, Y. yearn'd for it, and Z. put it in his pocket, and said, Well done!"]

Then follows a woodcut of the pie, surrounded by a square of the letters, though it is not very easy to perceive how the conditions of the problem are to be fulfilled. The remainder of the book, a small 32mo., is occupied with "A Curious Discourse that pa.s.sed between the twenty-five letters at dinner-time,"-

Says A, give me a good large slice.

Says B, a little bit, but nice.

Says C, cut me a piece of crust.

Take it, says D, it's dry as dust.

Says E, I'll eat now fast, who will.

Says F, I vow I'll have my fill.

Says G, give it me good and great.

Says H, a little bit I hate.

Says I, I love the juice the best, And K the very same confest.

Says L, there's nothing more I love, Says M, it makes your teeth to move.

N noticed what the others said; O others' plates with grief survey'd.

P praised the cook up to the life.

Q quarrel'd 'cause he'd a bad knife.

Says R, it runs short, I'm afraid.

S silent sat, and nothing said.

T thought that talking might lose time; U understood it at meals a crime.

W wish'd there had been a quince in; Says X, those cooks there's no convincing.

Says Y, I'll eat, let others wish.

Z sat as mute as any fish, While Ampersy-and he licked the dish.

The manner in which a practical moral good was to be inferred from this doggerel is not very apparent, but Mr. Marshall had a way of his own in settling the difficulty. The finale must not be omitted: "Having concluded their discourse and dinner together, I have nothing more to add, but that, if my little readers are pleased with what they have found in this book, they have nothing to do but to run to Mr. Marshall's at No. 4, in Aldermary Churchyard, where they may have several books, not less entertaining than this, of the same size and price. But that you may not think I leave you too abruptly, I here present you with the picture of the old woman who made the apple-pye you have been reading about. She has several more in her basket, and she promises, if you are good children, you shall never go supperless to bed while she has one left. But as good people always ask a blessing of G.o.d before meals, therefore, as a token that you are good, and deserve a pye, you must learn the two following graces, the one to be said before the meals, the other after; and the Lord's Prayer every night and morning." Two graces and the Lord's Prayer conclude the tract.

The following alphabet or literal rhyme refers to Carr, Earl of Somerset, the favorite of James I:

J. C. U. R.

Good Mounseir Car About to fall; U. R. A. K.

As most men say, Yet that's not all.

U. O. K. P.

With a nullytye, That shamelesse packe!

S. X. his yf (_wife_), Whos shamelesse lyfe Hath broke your backe.

_MS. Sloane 1489_, f. 9, vo.

A. B. C.

D. E. F. G.

H. I. J. K., if you look you'll see; L. M. N. O. P. Q.

R. S. T. U. V. W.

X. Y. Z.

Heigh ho! my heart is low, My mind is all on one; It's W for I know who, And T for my love, Tom!

V.-RIDDLE-RHYMES.

A very favorite cla.s.s of rhymes with children, though the solutions are often most difficult to guess. Nursery riddle-rhymes are extremely numerous, and a volume might be filled with them without much difficulty. Many of the most common ones are found in ma.n.u.script collections of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

I'm in every one's way, But no one I stop; My four horns every day In every way play, And my head is nailed on at the top!

-A turnstile.

There was a king met a king In a straight lane; Says the king to the king, Where have you been?

I've been in the wood, Hunting the doe: Pray lend me your dog, That I may do so.

Call him, call him!

What must I call him?

Call him as you and I, We've done both.

-The dog's name was _Been_, and the name of the persons who met each other was King. This riddle was obtained recently from oral tradition. I observe, however, a version of it in MS. Harl. 1962, of the seventeenth century.

The cuckoo and the gowk, The laverock and the lark, The twire-snipe, the weather-bleak; How many birds is that?

-Three, for the second name in each line is a synonyme. The cuckoo is called a _gowk_ in the North of England; the lark, a _laverock_; and the twire-snipe and weather-bleak, or weather-bleater, are the same birds.

Hoddy-doddy, With a round black body!

Three feet and a wooden hat; What's that?

-An iron pot. In the country, an iron pot with three legs, and a wooden cover, the latter raised or put on by means of a peg at the top, is used for suspending over a fire, or to place on the hearth with a wood fire.

Riddle me, riddle me, what is that Over the head and under the hat?

-Hair. From Kent.

The fiddler and his wife, The piper and his mother, Ate three half-cakes, three whole cakes, And three quarters of another.

How much did each get?

-The fiddler's wife was the piper's mother. Each one therefore got 1/2 + 1 + 1/4 or 1-3/4.

There was a little green house, And in the little green house There was a little brown house, And in the little brown house There was a little yellow house, And in the little yellow house There was a little white house, And in the little white house There was a little heart.

-A walnut.