A' the nicht owre and owre, And a' the nicht owre again; A' the nicht owre and owre The peacock followed the hen. The hen's a hungry beast, The cock is hollow within; But there's nae deceit in a puddin', A pie's a dainty thing. A' the nicht owre and owre.--_Da Capo._ Or, yet more to engage the intellect may come:-- Poussie, poussie, baudrons, Whaur ha'e ye been? I've been to London Seeing the Queen. Poussie, poussie, baudrons, What gat ye there? I gat a good fat mousikie, Rinning up a stair. Poussie, poussie, baudrons, What did ye wi't? I put it in my meal-poke To eat it wi' my bread. Or:-- Hushie-ba, birdie beeton, Your mammie's gane to Seaton, For to buy a lammie's skin To row your bonnie boukie in. And:-- Bye baby, buntin', Daddie's gane a-huntin':-- Mammie's gane to buy a skin, To row the baby buntin' in. East Coast mothers sing:-- Ding dang, bell rang, Cattie's in the well, man. Fa' dang her in, man? Jean and Sandy Din, man. Fa' took her out, man? Me and Willie Cout, man. A' them that kent her When she was alive, Come to the burialie Between four and five. Again:-- Eezy ozy moolin's o' bread, Kens na whaur to lay her head, Atween the Kirkgate and the Cross There stands a bonnie white horse, It can gallop, it can trot, It can carry the mustard-pot. And yet again:-- Willie Warstle, auld Carle, Dottered, dune, and doited bodie, Feeds his weans on calfs' lugs, Sowps o' brose, and draps o' crowdie. In Arbroath and district, mothers, indicating the various parts of the child's anatomy as they proceed, sing:-- Brow o' knowledge, Eye o' life, Scent bottle, Penknife. Cheek cherry, Neck o' grace, Chin o' pluck-- That's your face. Shoulder o' mutton, Breast o' fat, Vinegar-bottle, Mustard-pot-- That's my laddie. Touching severally the various buttons on the child's dress during its repetition, this sort of fortune-telling rhyme is common:-- A laird, a lord, A rich man, a thief, A tailor, a drummer, A stealer o' beef. Or supposing for the nonce that the child is a piece of cooper-work, requiring to be mended, the following, accompanied by the supposed process, may be sung:-- Donald Cooper, Carle, quo' she, Can ye gird my coggie? Couthie Carline, that I can, As weel as ony bodie. There's ane about the mou' o't, And ane about the body o't, And ane about the leggen o't, And that's a girded coggie! The next is lilted as an accompaniment to a pretended game of thumps:-- Bontin's man To the town ran; He coffed and sold, And a penny down told; The kirk was ane, and the choir was twa, And a great muckle thump doon aboon a', Doon aboon a', doon aboon a'. The following (as Dr. Chambers remarks) explains its own theatrical character:--