A STRANGE TALE.

There was an old woman tossed in a blanket,

Seventeen times as high as the moon; But where she was going no mortal could tell,

For under her arm she carried a broom. “ Old woman, old woman, old woman,” said I,

Whither, ah whither, ah whither so high ?”
“ To sweep the cobwebs from the sky,
And I'll be with you by and by.”

FOUR-AND-TWENTY-TAILORS.

Four-and-twenty-tailors

Went to kill a snail ;
The best man among them

Durst not touch her tail;
She put out her horns

Like a little Kyloe cow;
Run, tailors, run, or

She'll kill you all just now.

A NEEDLE AND THREAD.

Old Mother Twichett had but one eye,
And a long tail which she let fly;
And every time she went through a gap,
A bit of her tail she left in a trap.

0, LOOK AT THE MOON!

0, look at the moon,

She is shining up there
O, mother, she looks

Like a lamp in the air.

Last week she was smaller,

And shaped like a bow,
But now she's grown bigger,

And round like an O.

THE SUN.

Who am I, with noble face,
Shining in a clear blue place?
If to look at me you try,
I shall blind your little eye.

When my noble face I show
Over yonder mountain blue,
All the clouds away do ride
And the dusky night beside.

Then the clear wet dews I dry,
With the look of my bright eye;
And the little birds awake,
Many a merry tune to make.

Then the busy people go,
Every one his work unto;
Little girl, when yours is done,
Guess if I am not the Sun.

THE SUN AND THE NORTH WIND.

A dispute once arose between the Sun and the North Wind as to which was the stronger of the two. Seeing a traveller on his way, they agreed to try which could the sooner make him throw off his cloak.

The North Wind began, and sent a fierce blast which, at the outset, nearly tore the cloak from its fastenings; but the traveller took hold of the garment with a firm grip, and held it round his body so tightly that the North Wind put out all the rest of his force in vain.

Then the Sun, driving away the clouds that had gathered, darted his most sultry beams on the traveller's head. The man, growing faint with the heat, flung off his cloak, and ran for protection to the nearest shade.

A SONG OF THE WIND.

Arthur O'Bower has broken his band,
He comes roaring up the land;
The King of Scots, with all his power,
Cannot turn Arthur of the Bower.

THREE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM.

Three wise men of Gotham
Went to sea in a bowl ;
And if the bowl had been stronger,
My song had been longer.

I SAW A SHIP A-SAILING.

I saw a ship a-sailing,

A-sailing on the sea, And, oh! it was all laden

With pretty things for thee! There were comfits in the cabin,

And apples in the hold; The sails were made of silk,

And the masts were made of gold.

The four-and-twenty sailors

That stood between the decks, Were four-and-twenty white mice,

With chains about their necks.

The captain was a duck,

With a packet on his back; And when the ship began to move, The captain said, “Quack! Quack!”

,

JINGLE.

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