CCXLVII.

[The two following are fragments of a game called The Lady of the Land,' a complete version of which has not fallen in my way.]

HERE comes a poor woman from baby-land,
With three small children in her hand:
One can brew, the other can bake,

The other can make a pretty round cake.
One can sit in the garden and spin,
Another can make a fine bed for the king;
Pray ma'am will you take one in?

CCXLVIII.

I CAN make diet bread,

Thick and thin;

I can make diet bread,
Fit for the king.

CCXLIX.

HERE we come a piping,

First in spring, and then in May;
The queen she sits upon the sand,
Fair as a lily, white as a wand:
King John has sent you letters three,
And begs you'll read them unto me.-
We can't read one without them all,
So pray, Miss Bridget, deliver the ball!

CCL.

THE first day of Christmas
My mother sent to me

A partridge in a pear-tree.

The second day of Christmas

My mother sent to me

Two turtle-doves and a partridge in a pear-tree. The third, &c.

Three French hens, two turtle-doves, and a partridge, &c.

The fourth, &c.

Four canary birds, three French hens, two turtle, &c.

The fifth, &c.

Five gold rings, &c.

The sixth, &c.

Six geese a laying, &c.

The seventh, &c.

Seven swans a swimming, &c.

The eighth, &c.

Eight ladies dancing, &c.

The ninth, &c.

Nine lords a leaping, &c.

The tenth, &c.

Ten ships a sailing, &c.
The eleventh, &c.

Eleven ladies spinning, &c.
The twelfth, &c.

Twelve bells ringing, &c.

[Each child in succession repeats the gifts of the day, and forfeits for each mistake. This accumulative process is a favorite with children; in early writers, such as Homer, the repetition of messages, &c. pleases on the same principle.]

CCLI.

[This game begins thus: Take this-What's this?—A gaping, widemouthed, waddling frog, &c.]

TWELVE huntsmen with horns and hounds,
Hunting over other men's grounds!

Eleven ships sailing o'er the main,

Some bound for France and some for Spain :

I wish them all safe home again :

Ten comets in the sky,

Some low and some high;

Nine peacocks in the air,

I wonder how they all came there,
I do not know and I do not care;
Eight joiners in joiner's hall,
Working with the tools and all;
Seven lobsters in a dish,

As fresh as any heart could wish
Six beetles against the wall,

;

Close by an old woman's apple-stall;
Five puppies by our dog Ball,

Who daily for their breakfast call;

Four horses stuck in a bog,

Three monkeys tied to a clog;

Two pudding-ends would choke a dog,

With a gaping, wide-mouthed, waddling frog.

But Foreman, he can dance alone,

Foreman, he can dance alone.

[And so on with the others-naming the 2d finger Longman—the 3d finger Ringman-and the 4th finger Littleman. Littleman cannot dance alone.]

CCLIII.

The following is used by schoolboys, when two are starting to run a race.]

ONE to make ready,

And two to prepare;

God bless the rider,

And away goes the mare.

PARADOR

ELEVENTH CLASS-PARADOXES.

CCLIV.

[The following is quoted in Parkin's reply to Dr. Stukeley's second number of Origines Roystonianæ,' 4to, London, 1748, p. vi.]

PETER WHITE will ne'er go right,

Would you

know the reason why?

He follows his nose where'er he

And that stands all awry.

CCLV.

goes,

O THAT I was where I would be,
Then would I be where I am not!
But where I am I must be,

And where I would be I cannot.