The Nursery Rhymes of England Part 37

What a naughty boy was that To drown poor p.u.s.s.y-cat, Who never did any harm, But kill'd the mice in his father's barn.

CCCCVII.

Hey ding a ding, what shall I sing?

How many holes in a skimmer?

Four and twenty,--my stomach is empty; Pray, mamma, give me some dinner.

CCCCVIII.

c.o.c.k a doodle doo!

My dame has lost her shoe; My master's lost his fiddling stick, And don't know what to do.

c.o.c.k a doodle doo!

What is my dame to do?

Till master finds his fiddling stick, She'll dance without her shoe.

c.o.c.k a doodle doo!

My dame has lost her shoe, And master's found his fiddling stick, Sing doodle doodle doo!

c.o.c.k a doodle doo!

My dame will dance with you, While master fiddles his fiddling stick.

For dame and doodle doo.

c.o.c.k a doodle doo!

Dame has lost her shoe; Gone to bed and scratch'd her head, And can't tell what to do.

CCCCIX.

Diddledy, diddledy, dumpty; The cat ran up the plum-tree.

I'll lay you a crown I'll fetch you down; So diddledy, diddledy, dumpty.

CCCCX.

Little Tee Wee, He went to sea In an open boat; And while afloat The little boat bended, And my story's ended.

CCCCXI.

Sing, sing, what shall I sing?

The cat has eat the pudding-string; Do, do, what shall I do?

The cat has bit it quite in two.

CCCCXII.

[I do not know whether the following may have reference to the game of handy-dandy, mentioned in 'King Lear,' act iv, sc. 6, and in Florio's 'New World of Words,' 1611, p. 57.]

Handy Spandy, Jack-a-dandy, Loved plum-cake and sugar-candy; He bought some at a grocer's shop, And out he came, hop, hop, hop.

CCCCXIII.

Tiddle liddle lightum, Pitch and tar; Tiddle liddle lightum, What's that for?

CCCCXIV.

Sing jigmijole, the pudding-bowl, The table and the frame; My master he did cudgel me For speaking of my dame.

CCCCXV.

Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son John Went to bed with his trowsers on; One shoe off, the other shoe on, Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son John.

CCCCXVI.

Dibbity, dibbity, dibbity, doe.

Give me a pancake And I'll go.

Dibbity, dibbity, dibbity, ditter, Please to give me A bit of a fritter.

CCCCXVII.

Feedum, fiddledum fee, The cat's got into the tree.

p.u.s.s.y, come down, Or I'll crack your crown, And toss you into the sea.

CCCCXVIII.

Little Jack a Dandy Wanted sugar-candy, And fairly for it cried; But little Billy Cook Who always reads his book, Shall have a horse to ride.

CCCCXIX.

Hyder iddle diddle dell, A yard of pudding's not an ell; Not forgetting tweedle-dye, A tailor's goose will never fly.

CCCCXX.

Gilly Silly Jarter, Who has lost a garter?

In a shower of rain, The miller found it, The miller ground it, And the miller gave it to Silly again.

CCCCXXI.