Of the cuckoo they have this common rhyme:-- The cuckoo is a bonnie bird, He sings as he flies; He brings us good tidings; He tells us no lies. He drinks the cold water To keep his voice clear; And he'll come again In the Spring of the year. The lady-bird, or "Leddy Lanners," is a favourite insect with children, and is employed by them to discover their future partners in life. When a boy or girl finds one, he, or she, as the case may be, places it on the palm of his, or her, hand, and repeats, until it flies off, the lines:-- Leddy, Leddy Lanners, Leddy, Leddy Lanners, Tak' up yer cloak about yer head An' flee awa' to Flann'ers; Flee ower firth, an' flee ower fell, Flee ower pool, an' rinnin' well, Flee ower hill, an' flee ower mead, Flee ower livin', flee ower dead, Flee ower corn, an' flee ower lea, Flee ower river, flee ower sea, Flee ye East, or flee ye West, Flee to the ane that loves me best. The following rhyme, old and curious, and still not unknown to the young in Scotland and England alike, has many varieties:-- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Bless the bed that I lie on; Four posties to my bed, Six angels are outspread: Two to bottom, two to head, One to watch me while I pray, One to bear my soul away. After the first two lines it goes sometimes:-- Four corners to my bed, Four angels round my head; One to read and one to write, Two to guard my bed at night. And often the closing lines run:-- One to watch and two to pray, One to keep all fears away. In an old MS. by Aubrey, in the British Museum, he states that this was a prayer regularly used by people when they went to bed. Then Ody, in his _Candle in the Dark_, 1656, tells that it was frequently used by old people as a charm, and was repeated three times before going to bed. Launcelot Sharpe, in his _Towneley Mysteries_, 1838, relates that he had often, when a boy, heard similar words used in Kent as a prayer. Since about the time of the Crimean War--and more immediately after then than now--the children of Glasgow have shouted in the streets:-- Saw ye the Forty-Second? Saw ye them gaun awa'? Saw ye the Forty-Second Marching to the Broomielaw? Some o' them had boots an' stockin's, Some o' them had nane ava; Some of them had tartan plaidies, Marching to the Broomielaw. At an earlier period they had:-- Wha saw the Cotton-spinners? Wha saw them gaun awa'? Wha saw the Cotton-spinners Sailing frae the Broomielaw? Some o' them had boots an' stockin's, Some o' them had nane ava; Some o' them had umbrellas For to keep the rain awa'.