The Nursery Rhymes of England Part 51

The father, by whom it was purchased, is Jehovah, who represents himself as sustaining this relation to the Hebrew nation. The two pieces of money signify Moses and Aaron, through whose mediation the Hebrews were brought out of Egypt.

2. The cat denotes the a.s.syrians, by whom the ten tribes were carried into captivity.

3. The dog is symbolical of the Babylonians.

4. The staff signifies the Persians.

5. The fire indicates the Grecian empire under Alexander the Great.

6. The water betokens the Roman, or the fourth of the great monarchies to whose dominions the Jews were subjected.

7. The ox is a symbol of the Saracens, who subdued Palestine, and brought it under the caliphate.

8. The butcher that killed the ox denotes the crusaders, by whom the Holy Land was wrested out of the hands of the Saracens.

9. The angel of death signifies the Turkish power, by which the land of Palestine was taken from the Franks, and to which it is still subject.

10. The commencement of the tenth stanza is designed to show that G.o.d will take signal vengeance on the Turks, immediately after whose overthrow the Jews are to be restored to their own land, and live under the government of their long-expected Messiah.

DXCVI.

"An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked sixpence. 'What,' said she, 'shall I do with this little sixpence? I will go to market, and buy a little pig.' As she was coming home, she came to a stile: the piggy would not go over the stile.

"She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog, 'Dog! bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.' But the dog would not.

"She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said, 'Stick!

stick! beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.' But the stick would not.

"She went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said, 'Fire!

fire! burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig,' (_and so forth, always repeating the foregoing words_.) But the fire would not.

"She went a little further, and she met some water. So she said, 'Water! water! quench fire; fire won't burn stick,' &c. But the water would not.

"She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said, 'Ox! ox!

drink water; water won't quench fire' &c. But the ox would not.

"She went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said, 'Butcher! butcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water,' &c. But the butcher would not.

"She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said, 'Rope!

rope! hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox,' &c. But the rope would not.

"She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said, 'Rat! rat!

gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher,' &c. But the rat would not.

"She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said, 'Cat! cat!

kill rat; rat won't gnaw rope,' &c. But the cat said to her, 'If you will go to yonder cow, and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill the rat.' So away went the old woman to the cow.

"But the cow said to her, 'If you will go to yonder haystack,[*] and fetch me a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk.' So away went the old woman to the haystack; and she brought the hay to the cow.

"As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk; and away she went with it in a saucer to the cat.

"As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; the butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little pig in a fright jumped over the stile; and so the old woman got home that night."

[Footnote *: Or haymakers, proceeding thus in the stead of the rest of this paragraph:--"And fetch me a wisp of hay, I'll give you the milk.--So away the old woman went, but the haymakers said to her,--If you will go to yonder stream, and fetch us a bucket of water, we'll give you the hay. So away the old woman went, but when she got to the stream, she found the bucket was full of holes. So she covered the bottom with pebbles, and then filled the bucket with water, and away she went back with it to the haymakers; and they gave her a wisp of hay."]

DXCVII.

t.i.tty Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house, t.i.tty Mouse went a leasing, and Tatty Mouse went a leasing, So they both went a leasing.

t.i.tty Mouse leased an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse leased an ear of corn, So they both leased an ear of corn.

t.i.tty Mouse made a pudding, and Tatty Mouse made a pudding, So they both made a pudding.

And Tatty Mouse put her pudding into the pot to boil, But when t.i.tty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over, and scalded her to death.

Then Tatty sat down and wept; then a three legged stool said, Tatty why do you weep? t.i.tty's dead, said Tatty, and so I weep; then said the stool, I'll hop, so the stool hopped; then a besom in the corner of the room said, Stool, why do you hop? Oh! said the stool, t.i.tty's dead, and Tatty 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, t.i.tty'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, t.i.tty'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, t.i.tty'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, t.i.tty'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, t.i.tty'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, t.i.tty'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, t.i.tty'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.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

SEVENTEENTH CLa.s.s--LOCAL.

DXCVIII.

There was a little n.o.bby colt, His name was n.o.bby Gray; His head was made of pouce straw, His tail was made of hay; He could ramble, he could trot, He could carry a mustard-pot, Round the town of Woodstock, Hey, Jenny, hey!

DXCIX.

King's Sutton is a pretty town, And lies all in a valley; There is a pretty ring of bells, Besides a bowling-alley: Wine and liquor in good store, Pretty maidens plenty; 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, And ne'er a one to help him.

DCI.

[The following verses are said by Aubrey to have been sung in his time by the girls of Oxfords.h.i.+re in a sport called _Leap Candle_, which is now obsolete. See Thoms's 'Anecdotes and Traditions,' p. 96.]