53.

THE lion and the unicorn

Were fighting for the crown; The lion beat the unicorn

All round about the town. Some gave them white bread, And some gave them brown; Some gave them plum-cake, And sent them out of town.

54.

THERE was a jolly miller
Lived on the river Dee,
He looked upon his pillow,
And there he saw a flea
Oh! Mr. Flea,

You have been biting me,

And you must die:

So he cracked his bones
Upon the stones,

And there he let him lie.

55.

I'LL tell you a story
About Jack a Nory,-

And now my story's begun :
I'll tell you another

About Jack his brother,

And now my story's done.

56.

[The "foles of Gotham" are mentioned as early as the fifteenth cenfury in the "Townley Mysteries; " and at the commencement of the sixteenth century, Dr. Andrew Borde made a collection of stories about them, not however including the following, which rests on the authority of nursery tradition.]

THREE wise men of Gotham

Went to sea in a bowl:

And if the bowl had been stronger,
My song would have been longer.

57.

[The following two stanzas, although they belong to the same piece, are often separated from each other.]

ROBIN and Richard were two pretty men; They laid in bed till the clock struck ten; Then up starts Robin and looks at the sky, Oh! brother Richard, the sun's very high:

The bull's in the barn threshing the corn,
The cock's on the dunghill blowing his horn,
The cat's at the fire, frying of fish,
The dog's in the pantry, breaking his dish.

58.

TOм, Tom, the piper's son,

Stole a pig, and away he run!

The pig was eat, and Tom was beat,

And Tom went roaring down the street.

[The tale of Simple Simon forms one of the chap-books, but the following verses are those generally sung in the nursery.]

SIMPLE SIMON met a pieman

Going to the fair:

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

"Let me taste your ware."

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
"Show me first your penny."
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
"Indeed I have not any."

Simple Simon went to town,
To buy a piece of meat:
He tied it to his horse's tail,

To keep it clean and sweet.
Simple Simon went a fishing
For to catch a whale:
All the water he had got
Was in his mother's pail.

Simple Simon went to look.
If plums grew on a thistle:
He pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle.

61.

ON Christmas eve I turn'd the spit,
I burnt my fingers, I feel it yet;
The cock-sparrow flew over the table;
The pot began to play with the ladle;
The ladle stood up, like a naked man,
And vow'd he'd fight the frying-pan;
The frying-pan, behind the door,
Said he never saw the like before;

And the kitchen clock, I was going to wind,
Said he never saw the like behind!

E

62.

THE Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts,

All on a summer's day:
The Knave of Hearts,

He stole the tarts,

And took them clean away.

The King of Hearts

Call'd for the tarts,

And beat the Knave full sore:

The Knave of Hearts

Brought back the tarts,

And vow'd he'd steal no more.

63.

ROBIN the Bobbin, the big-bellied Ben,

He eat more meat than fourscore men;
He eat a cow, he eat a calf,

He eat a butcher and a half;

He eat a church, he eat a steeple,

He eat the priest and all the people!

A cow and a calf,

An ox and a half,

A church and a steeple,

And all the good people,

And yet he complain'd that his stomach wasn't

full.