weeps, and so I hop; then said the besom, I'll sweep, so the besom began to sweep; then said the door, Besom, why do you sweep? Oh! said the besom, Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and so I sweep; then said the door, I'll jar, so the door jarred; then said the window, Door, why do you jar? Oh! said the door, Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the besom sweeps, and so I jar; then said the window, I'll creak, so the window creaked; now there was an old form outside the house, and when the window creaked, the form said, Window, why do you creak? Oh! said the window, Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the besom sweeps, the door jars, and so I creak; then said the old form, I'll run round the house, then the old form ran round the house; now there was a fine large walnut tree growing by the cottage, and the tree said to the form, Form, why do you run round the house? Oh! said the form, Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the besom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, and so I run round the house; then said the walnut tree, I'll shed my leaves, so the walnut tree shed all its beautiful green leaves; now there was a little bird perched on one of the boughs of the tree, and when all the leaves fell, it said, Walnut tree, why do you shed your leaves? Oh! said the tree, Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the besom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, and so I shed my leaves; then said the little bird, I'll moult all my feathers, so he moulted all his pretty feathers; now there was a little girl walking below, carrying a jug of milk for her brothers' and sisters' supper, and when she saw the poor little bird moult all its feathers, she said, Little bird, why do you moult all your feathers? Oh! said the little bird, Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the besom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, the walnut tree sheds its leaves, and so I moult all my feathers; then said the little girl, I'll spill the milk, so she dropt the pitcher and spilt the milk; now there was an old man just by on the top of a ladder thatching a rick, and when he saw the little girl spill the milk, he said, Little girl, what do you mean by spilling the milk, your little brothers and sisters must go without their supper; then said the little girl, Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the besom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, the walnut tree sheds all its leaves, the little bird moults all its feathers, and so I spill the milk; Oh! said the old man, then I'll tumble off the ladder and break my neck, so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck; and when the old man broke his neck, the great walnut tree fell down with a crash, and upset the old form and house, and the house falling knocked the window out, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the besom, the besom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried beneath the ruins. THERE was a little nobby_colt, His head was made of pouce straw, He could ramble, he could trot, DXCIX. KING'S SUTTON is a pretty town, Can a man desire more? There ain't such a town in twenty. DC. THE little priest of Felton, The little priest of Felton, He kill'd a mouse within his house, DCI. [The following verses are said by Aubrey to have been sung in his time by the girls of Oxfordshire in a sport called Leap Candle, which is now obsolete See Thoms's 'Anecdotes and Traditions,' p. 96.] THE tailor of Bicester, He has but one eye; He cannot cut a pair of green galagaskins, If he were to try. DCII. DICK and Tom, Will and John, |