The Nursery Rhymes of England Part 44

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

FIFTEENTH CLa.s.s.

NATURAL HISTORY.

CCCCXCV.

The cuckoo's a fine bird, He sings as he flies; He brings us good tidings, He tells us no lies.

He sucks little birds' eggs, To make his voice clear; And when he sings "cuckoo!"

The summer is near.

CCCCXCVI. [A provincial version of the same.]

The cuckoo's a vine bird, A zengs as a vlies; A brengs us good tidins, And tells us no lies; A zucks th' smael birds' eggs, To make his voice clear; And the mwore a cries "cuckoo!"

The zummer draws near.

CCCCXCVII.

I had a little dog, and his name was Blue Bell, I gave him some work, and he did it very well; I sent him up stairs to pick up a pin, He stepped in the coal-scuttle up to the chin; I sent him to the garden to pick some sage, He tumbled down and fell in a rage; I sent him to the cellar to draw a pot of beer, He came up again and said there was none there.

CCCCXCVIII.

The cat sat asleep by the side of the fire, The mistress snored loud as a pig: Jack took up his fiddle, by Jenny's desire, And struck up a bit of a jig.

CCCCXCIX.

I had a little hobby-horse, and it was well shod, It carried me to the mill-door, trod, trod, trod; When I got there I gave a great shout, Down came the hobby-horse, and I cried out.

Fie upon the miller, he was a great beast, He would not come to my house, I made a little feast, I had but little, but I would give him some, For playing of his bag-pipes and beating his drum.

D.

Pit, Pat, well-a-day, Little Robin flew away; Where can little Robin be?

Gone into the cherry tree.

DI.

Little Poll Parrot Sat in his garret, Eating toast and tea; A little brown mouse, Jumped into the house, And stole it all away.

DII.

[The snail scoops out hollows, little rotund chambers, in limestone, for its residence. This habit of the animal is so important in its effects, as to have attracted the attention of geologists, and Dr. Buckland alluded to it at the meeting of the British a.s.sociation in 1841. See Chambers' 'Popular Rhymes,' p. 43. The following rhyme is a boy's invocation to the snail to come out of such holes.]

Snail, snail, come out of your hole, Or else I will beat you as black as a coal.

DIII.

Sneel, snaul, Robbers are coming to pull down your wall; Sneel, snaul, Put out your horn, Robbers are coming to steal your corn, Coming at four o'clock in the morn.

DIV.

Burnie bee, burnie bee, Tell me when your wedding be?

If it be to-morrow day, Take your wings and fly away.

DV.

Some little mice sat in a barn to spin; p.u.s.s.y came by, and popped her head in; "Shall I come in, and cut your threads off?"

"Oh! no, kind sir, you will snap our heads off!"

DVI.

The sow came in with the saddle, The little pig rock'd the cradle The dish jump'd over the table To see the pot with the ladle.

The broom behind the b.u.t.t Call'd the dish-clout a nasty s.l.u.t: Oh! Oh! says the gridiron, can't you agree?

I'm the head constable,--come along with me.

DVII.

"What do they call you?"

"Patchy Dolly."

"Where were you born?"

"In the cow's horn."

"Where were you bred?"

"In the cow's head."

"Where will you die?"

"In the cow's eye."

DVIII.

As I went over the water, The water went over me.