The Nursery Rhymes of England Part 46

DXXV.

Hickety, pickety, my black hen, She lays eggs for gentlemen; Gentlemen come every day To see what my black hen doth lay.

DXXVI.

p.u.s.s.y sat by the fire-side In a basket full of coal-dust; Bas- ket, Coal- dust, In a basket full of coal-dust!

DXXVII.

Little Robin Red-breast Sat upon a rail: Niddle naddle went his head, Wiggle waggle went his tail.

DXXVIII.

Little Robin Red-breast, Sat upon a hirdle; With a pair of speckled legs, And a green girdle.

DXXIX.

Johnny Armstrong kill'd a calf, Peter Henderson got the half; w.i.l.l.y Wilkinson got the head, Ring the bell, the calf is dead!

Dx.x.x.

Hie hie, says Anthony, Puss in the pantry Gnawing, gnawing A mutton mutton-bone; See now she tumbles it, See now she mumbles it, See how she tosses The mutton mutton-bone.

Dx.x.xI.

A long-tail'd pig, or a short-tail'd pig, Or a pig without e'er a tail, A sow-pig, or a boar-pig, Or a pig with a curly tail.

Dx.x.xII.

Once I saw a little bird, Come hop, hop, hop; So I cried, little bird, Will you stop, stop, stop?

And was going to the window, To say how do you do?

But he shook his little tail, And far away he flew.

Dx.x.xIII.

[The following stanza is of very considerable antiquity, and is common in Yorkshire. See Hunter's 'Hallamshire Glossary,'

p. 56.]

Lady-cow, lady-cow, fly thy way home, Thy house is on fire, thy children all gone, All but one that ligs under a stone, Fly thee home, lady-cow, ere it be gone.

Dx.x.xIV.

Riddle me, riddle me, ree, A hawk sate upon a tree; And he says to himself, says he, Oh dear! what a fine bird I be.

Dx.x.xV. [Bird boy's song.]

Eat, Birds, eat, and make no waste, I lie here and make no haste; If my master chance to come, You must fly, and I must run.

Dx.x.xVI.

p.u.s.s.y cat Mole, Jump'd over a coal, And in her best petticoat burnt a great hole.

Poor p.u.s.s.y's weeping, she'll have no more milk, Until her best petticoat's mended with silk.

Dx.x.xVII.

As I went to Bonner, I met a pig Without a wig, Upon my word and honour.

Dx.x.xVIII.

There was a little one-eyed gunner Who kill'd all the birds that died last summer.

Dx.x.xIX.

There was a piper, he'd a cow, And he'd no hay to give her He took his pipes and played a tune, Consider, old cow, consider!

The cow considered very well, For she gave the piper a penny, That he might play the tune again, Of corn rigs are bonnie!

DXL.

As t.i.tty mouse sat in the witty to spin, p.u.s.s.y came to her and bid her good ev'n, "Oh, what are you doing, my little 'oman?"

"A spinning a doublet for my gude man."

"Then shall I come to thee and wind up thy thread,"

"Oh no, Mrs. Puss, you'll bite off my head."

DXLI.

Shoe the colt, Shoe the colt, Shoe the wild mare, Here a nail, There a nail, Yet she goes bare.

DXLII.

Betty Pringle had a little pig, Not very little and not very big, When he was alive he lived in clover, But now he's dead, and that's all over.