"I have twentie mo songs yet, A fond woman to my mother; As I war wont in her lappe to sit, She taught me these and many other. "I can sing a song of 'Robin Redbreast,' And 'My litle pretie Nightingale,' 'There dwelleth a Jolly Fisher here by the west,' Also, 'I com to drink som of you Christmas ale.' "Whan I walke by myselfe alone, It doth me good my songs to render; Such pretie thinges would soone be gon If I should not sometime them remembre." To get back again to the true nursery lyrics, one more marriage game of this period is given, entitled-- "WE'LL HAVE A WEDDING AT OUR HOUSE." "A cat came fiddling out of a barn With a pair of bagpipes under her arm; She could pipe nothing but fiddle-cum-fee, The mouse hath married the bumble-bee. Pipe, cat; dance, mouse; We'll have a wedding at our house." CHAPTER V. CAT RHYMES. The old saying of "A cat may look at the queen" is thus expressed in a dialogue between a ward nurse of Elizabeth's time and a truant tom on its return to the nursery. "_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been? "_Cat_: I've been to London to see the queen. "_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there? "_Cat_: I frightened a little mouse from under her chair." No doubt the incident giving rise to this verse had to do with the terrible fright Queen Bess is supposed to have had on discovering a mouse in the folds of her dress--for it was she of virgin fame to whom pussy-cat paid the visit. It has been asked again and again, "Why are old maids so fond of cats?" and "Why are their lives so linked together?" Maybe it is to scare, as did the cat in the rhyme, "a little mouse from under her chair." * * * * * "Ten little mice sat down to spin, Pussy looked down, and she looked in. What are you doing, my little men? We're making some clothes for gentlemen. Shall I come in to cut your threads? No, kind sir, you'll bite off our heads." * * * * * One more rhyme of Queen Elizabeth's time begins-- "The rose is red, the grass is green, Serve Queen Bess, our noble queen." * * * * * "Kitty, the spinner, Will sit down to dinner, And eat the leg of a frog. All the good people Will look o'er the steeple And see a cat play with a dog." * * * * * "I love little pussy, her coat is so warm, And if I don't hurt her she'll do me no harm; I won't pull her tail, nor drive her away, But pussy and I together will play." * * * * *