"One a penny, two a penny, hot-cross buns, If your daughters do not like them give them to your sons; But if you should have none of these pretty little elves You cannot do much better if you eat them all yourselves." Written about 1608:-- "There's never a maiden in the town but she knows that malt's come down; Malt's come down, malt's come down from an old angel to a French crown. The greatest drunkards in the town are very, very glad that malt's come down." In New York the children have a common saying when making a swop or change of one toy for another, and no bargain is supposed to be concluded between boys and girls unless they interlock fingers--the little finger on the right hand--and repeat the following doggerel:-- "Pinky, pinky bow-bell, Whoever tells a lie Will sink down to the bad place, And never rise up again." NUMERICAL NURSERY RHYME. "One, two, buckle my shoe; Three, four, shut the door; Five, six, pick up sticks; Seven, eight, lay them straight; Nine, ten, a good fat hen; Eleven, twelve, who will delve? Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting; Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen; Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting; Nineteen, twenty, my stomach's empty." BAKER'S MAN. "Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man. Yes, I will, master, as fast as I can. Prick it and prick it, and mark it with B, And toss it in the oven for baby and me." CHAPTER X. SCRAPS. "Oh, slumber, my darling, thy sire is a knight; Thy mother a lady so lovely and bright. The hills and the dales and the towers which you see, They all shall belong, my dear baby, to thee." * * * * * "Bye, baby bumpkin, where's Tony Lumpkin? My lady's on her death-bed, with eating half a pumpkin." * * * * * "Nose, nose, jolly red nose. And who gave thee this jolly red nose? Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, And they gave me this jolly red nose." * * * * * Story-telling in the Reformation period was so prevalent that the wonderful tales were satirised in the following rhyme, dated 1588:-- "I saw a man in the moon. Fie, man, fie. I saw a hare chase a hound. Fie, man, fie. Twenty miles above the ground. Fie, man, fie. Who's the fool now?" "I saw a goose ring a hog, And a snail bite a dog! I saw a mouse catch a cat, And a cheese eat a rat. Fie, man, fie. Who's the fool now?" * * * * * A Henry VIII. rhyme:-- "My pretty little one, my pretty honey one, She is a jolly one, and as gentle as can be; With a beck she comes anon, With a wink and she is gone." * * * * *