[A Christmas custom in Lancashire. The boys dress themselves up with ribands, and perform various pantomimes, after which one of them, who has a blackened face, a rough skin coat, and a broom in his hand, sings as follows.]

HERE come I,

Little David Doubt;

If you don't give me money,

I'll sweep you all out.

Money I want,

And money I crave;

If you don't give me money,

I'll sweep you all to the grave!

CCCCLXXXIV.

[Hours of sleep.]

NATURE requires five,
Custom gives seven!
Laziness takes nine,

And Wickedness eleven.

CCCCLXXXV.

[Mind your punctuation !]

I SAW a peacock with a fiery tail,
I saw a blazing comet drop down hail,
I saw a cloud wrapped with ivy round,
I saw an oak creep upon the ground,
I saw a pismire swallow up a whale,
I saw the sea brimful of ale,

I saw a Venice glass full fifteen feet deep,
I saw a well full of men's tears that weep,

I saw red eyes all of a flaming fire,

I saw a house bigger than the moon and higher,
I saw the sun at twelve o'clock at night,
I saw the man that saw this wondrous sight.

CCCCLXXXVI.

LITTLE Polly Flinders

Sate among the cinders,

Warming her pretty little toes;

Her mother came and caught her,
And whipp'd her little daughter

For spoiling her nice new clothes.

CCCCLXXXVII.

[An egg.]

As I was going över London Bridge,
I saw something under a hedge;
"Twas neither fish, flesh, feather nor bone,
And yet in three weeks it runned alone.

CCCCLXXXVIII.

O RARE Harry Parry,

When will you marry?
When apples and pears are ripe.
I'll come to your wedding,
Without any bidding,

And dance with your bride all night.

CCCCLXXXIX.

HICKUP, snicup,

Rise up, right up!

Three drops in the cup

Are good for the hiccup.

CCCCXC.

Up at Piccadilly oh!

The coachman takes his stand,
And when he meets a pretty girl,

He takes her by the hand;
Whip away for ever oh!
Drive away so clever oh!
All the way to Bristol oh!
He drives her four-in-hand.

CCCCXCI.

Ir a man who turnips cries
Cries not when his father dies,
It is proof that he would rather
Have a turnip than his father.

CCCCXCII.

Bow, wow, wow,

Whose dog art thou?
Little Tom Tinker's dog,
Bow, wow, wow.

CCCCXCIII.

WHEN little Sammy Soapsuds
Went out to take a ride e;
In looking over London Bridge
He fell into the tide.

His parents never having taught
Their double S to swim,
The tide soon got the mastery,
And made an end of him.

CCCCXCIV.

ONE a penny, two a penny, hot cross-buns; If your daughters do not like them give them to your sons.

But if you should have none of these pretty little elves,

You cannot do better than to eat them yourselves.

CCCCXCV.

Amo, amas, I love a lass,

As a cedar tall and slender;

Sweet cowslips grace her nominative case,
And she's of the feminine gender.

CCCCXCVI.

WHEN shall we be married,

My dear Nicholas Wood?
We will be married on Monday,

And will not that be very good?
What shall we be married no sooner?
Why sure the man's gone wood!*

What shall we have for our dinner,
My dear Nicholas Wood?
We will have bacon and pudding,

And will not that be very good?
What shall we have nothing more?
Why sure the man's gone wood!

Who shall we have at our wedding,
My dear Nicholas Wood?

We will have mammy and daddy,

And will not that be very good? What shall we have nobody else?

Why sure the man's gone wood!

* Mad. This sense of the word has long been obsolete; and exhibits, therefore, the antiquity of these lines.