Hey diddle dumplin' my son John, Went to his bed with his trowsers on; One shoe off and the other shoe on, Hey diddle dumplin', my son John; or-- Cripple Dick upon a stick, And Sandy on a soo, Ride away to Galloway To buy a pund o' woo'; or yet again in-- Sing a sang o' saxpence, A baggie fu' o' rye, Four-and-twenty blackbirds, Bakit in a pie. When the pie was opened The birds began to sing; And wasna that a dainty dish To set before the King? The King was in his counting-house Counting out his money, The Queen was in the parlour Eating bread and honey, The maid was in the garden Hanging out the clothes, When by came a blackbird And snapped aff her nose. For such supreme nonsense no historical origin need be sought, surely. Yet part of the latter has been at least applied to a historical personage in a way that is worth recalling. Dr. H. J. Pye, who was created Poet Laureate in succession to Thomas Warton, in 1790, was, as a poet, regularly made fun of. In his _New Year Odes_ there were perpetual references to the coming spring: and, in the dearth of more important topics, each tree and field-flower were described: and the lark, and every other bird that could be brought into rhyme, were sure to appear; and his poetical and patriotic _olla podrida_ ultimately provoked the adaptation:-- When the Pye was opened, The birds began to sing, And was not that a dainty dish, To set before a king? But to take the rhymes only by themselves. Action rhymes, by reason of their practical drollery, never fail to amuse. And among the very earliest practised is the following. The nurse, with the child on her knee, takes a little foot in either hand, and, making them go merrily up and down, she sings:-- This is Willie Walker, and that's Tam Sim, He ca'd him to a feast, and he ca'd him; He sticket him on the spit, and he sticket him; And he owre him, and he owre him, And he owre him, and he owre him, etc. Then, to keep up the diversion, may follow in the same manner:-- Twa little doggies gaed to the mill, This way and that way, and this way and that way; They took a lick out o' this wife's poke, And a lick they took out o' that wife's poke, And a loup in the lade, and a dip in the dam, And hame they cam' wallopin', wallopin', wallopin', etc. Or:-- Feetikin, feetikin, When will ye gang? When the nights turn short, And the days turn lang, I'll toddle and gang, toddle and gang. Should more active entertainment be demanded, the child will be set bold upright on one knee, and, suiting the action to the line, the rhyme will be:-- This is the way the ladies ride, Jimp and sma' jimp and sma'; This is the way the gentlemen ride, Trotting a', trotting a'; This is the way the cadgers ride, Creels and a'! creels and a'!! Creels and a'!!! For variety's sake, on an easier swing, may follow:--