If it be I, he'll wag his little tail,

And if it be not I, he'll loudly bark and wail."

Home went the little woman all in the dark,

Up got the little dog, and he began to bark;

He began to bark, so she began to cry, "Lauk a mercy on me, this is none of I!"

126

LITTLE BO-PEEP

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep,

And can't tell where to find them; Leave them alone, and they'll come home, And bring their tails behind them.

Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep,

And dreamt she heard them bleating; But when she awoke, she found it a joke, For they were still all fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook,

Determined for to find them;

She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,

For they'd left their tails behind them.

It happened one day, as Bo-peep did stray,

Unto a meadow hard by:

There she espied their tails side by side, All hung on a tree to dry.

127

COCK A DOODLE DOO

Cock a doodle doo!

My dame has lost her shoe;

My master's lost his fiddling stick, And don't know what to do.

Cock a doodle doo!

What is my dame to do?

Till master finds his fiddling stick, She'll dance without her shoe.

Cock a doodle doo!

My dame has found her shoe,

And master's found his fiddling stick, Sing doodle doodle doo!

Cock a doodle doo!

My dame will dance with you,
While master fiddles his fiddling stick,
For dame and doodle doo.

128

THREE JOVIAL HUNTSMEN
There were three jovial huntsmen,
As I have heard them say,
And they would go a-hunting
All on a summer's day.

All the day they hunted,

And nothing could they find But a ship a-sailing,

A-sailing with the wind.

One said it was a ship,

The other he said nay;
The third said it was a house

With the chimney blown away.

And all the night they hunted,
And nothing could they find,
But the moon a-gliding,
A-gliding with the wind.

One said it was the moon,

The other he said nay; The third said it was a cheese,

And half o't cut away.

129

THERE WAS A LITTLE MAN

There was a little man,

And he had a little gun,

And his bullets were made of lead, lead,

lead;

He went to a brook,

And fired at a duck,

And shot it through the head, head, head.

136

THE FOX AND HIS WIFE

The fox and his wife they had a great strife,

They never ate mustard in all their

whole life;

They ate their meat without fork or knife, And loved to be picking a bone, e-oh! The fox jumped up on a moonlight night; The stars they were shining, and all

things bright;

Oh, ho! said the fox, it's a very fine night | For me to go through the town, e-oh!

The fox when he came to yonder stile, He lifted his ears and he listened awhile! Oh, ho! said the fox, it's but a short mile From this unto yonder wee town, e-oh!

The fox when he came to the farmer's gate,

Who should he see but the farmer's

drake;

I love you well for your master's sake, And long to be picking your bone, e-oh!

The gray goose she ran round the haystack,

Oh, ho! said the fox, you are very fat; You'll grease my beard and ride on my back

From this into yonder wee town, e-oh!

The farmer's wife she jumped out of bed, And out of the window she popped her head:

Oh, husband! oh, husband! the geese are all dead,

For the fox has been through the town, e-oh!

The farmer he loaded his pistol with lead, And shot the old rogue of a fox through the head;

Ah, ha! said the farmer, I think you're quite dead;

And no more you'll trouble the town, e-oh!

137

FOR WANT OF A NAIL

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
For want of the shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of the horse, the rider was lost;
For want of the rider, the battle was lost;
For want of the battle, the kingdom was
lost;

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail!

138

A MAN OF WORDS

A man of words and not of deeds
Is like a garden full of weeds;
And when the weeds begin to grow,
It's like a garden full of snow;
And when the snow begins to fall,
It's like a bird upon the wall;
And when the bird away does fly,
It's like an eagle in the sky;
And when the sky begins to roar,
It's like a lion at the door;
And when the door begins to crack,
It's like a stick across your back;
And when your back begins to smart,
It's like a penknife in your heart;
And when your heart begins to bleed,
You're dead, and dead, and dead, indeed.

139

The first stanza of this jingle was long attributed to Longfellow as an impromptu made on one of his children. He took occasion to deny this, as well as the authorship of the almost equally famous "Mr. Finney had a turnip." The last two stanzas bear evidence of a more sophisticated origin than that of real nursery rhymes. Mr. Lucas, in his Book of Verses for Children, gives two different versions of these stanzas.

JEMIMA

There was a little girl, and she had a

little curl,

Right down the middle of her forehead, When she was good, she was very, very good,

But when she was bad, she was horrid.

One day she went upstairs, while her parents, unawares,

In the kitchen down below were occu

pied with meals,

And she stood upon her head, on her little truckle-bed,

And she then began hurraying with her heels.

Her mother heard the noise, and thought it was the boys,

A playing at a combat in the attic, But when she climbed the stair and saw Jemima there,

She took and she did whip her most emphatic!

140

The following was one of the favorite "toybook"texts of the eighteenth century. These little books generally had a crude woodcut and one stanza of text on a page. It can be seen how easily this story lends itself to illustration. Each stanza is a chapter, and the story-teller could continue as long as his inventiveness held out. In one edition there are these additional lines:

"Old Mother Hubbard sat down in a
chair,

And danced her dog to a delicate air;
She went to the garden to buy him a
pippin,

When she came back the dog was
a-skipping."

MOTHER HUBBARD AND

HER DOG

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard,

To get her poor dog a bone;
But when she came there,
The cupboard was bare,

And so the poor dog had none.

She went to the baker's

To buy him some bread; But when she came back,

The poor dog was dead.

She went to the joiner's

To buy him a coffin; But when she came back, The poor dog was laughing.

She took a clean dish,

To get him some tripe; But when she came back

He was smoking his pipe.

She went to the fishmonger's
To buy him some fish;
And when she came back
He was licking the dish.

She went to the ale-house To get him some beer; But when she came back The dog sat in a chair.

She went to the tavern

For white wine and red; But when she came back

The dog stood on his head.

She went to the hatter's

To buy him a hat;

But when she came back

He was feeding the cat.