There was a little man who woo'd a little maid, And he said: "Little maid, will you wed, wed, wed? I have little more to say, will you? Aye or nay? For little said is soonest mended, ded, ded." (1799, p. 46.) Halliwell's collection includes only the first and the fourth verse of this piece. (1842, p. 24.) In the estimation of Chappell this song was a very popular ballad, which was sung to the tune of _I am the Duke of Norfolk_, or _Paul's Steeple_.[14] It appears also in the _Fairing or Golden Toy for Children of all Sizes and Denominations_ of 1781, where it is designated as "a new love song by the poets of Great Britain." Its words form a variation of the song called _The Dumb Maid_, which is extant in a broadside of about 1678,[15] and which is also included in the early collection of _Pills to Purge Melancholy_ of 1698-1719. The likeness between the pieces depends on their peculiar repeat:-- There was a bonny blade had married a country maid, And safely conducted her home, home, home; She was neat in every part, and she pleased him to the heart, But alas, and alas, she was dumb, dumb, dumb. [14] Chappell, loc. cit., p. 770. [15] _Roxburgh Collection of Ballads_, IV, p. 355. The same form of verse was used in another nursery song which stands as follows:-- There was a little man, and he had a little gun, And the ball was made of lead, lead, lead. And he went to a brook to shoot at a duck, And he hit her upon the head, head, head. Then he went home unto his wife Joan, To bid her a good fire to make, make, make, To roast the duck that swam in the brook, And he would go fetch her the drake, drake, drake. (1744, p. 43; with repeat, 1810, p. 45.) Again, a song which appears in several early nursery collections is as follows:-- There was an old woman toss'd in a blanket, Seventeen times as high as the moon; But where she was going no mortal could tell, For under her arm she carried a broom. "Old woman, old woman, old woman," said I, "Whither, ah whither, ah whither, so high?" To sweep the cobwebs from the sky, And I'll be with you by and by. (_c._ 1783, p. 22.) This song was a favourite with Goldsmith, who sang it to his friends at dinner on the day when his play _The Good-natured Man_ was produced.[16] It was one of the numerous songs that were sung to the tune of Lilliburlero, which goes back at least to the time of Purcell.[17] A Scottish version of this piece was printed by Chambers, which presents some interesting variations:-- There was a wee wifie row't up in a blanket, Nineteen times as hie as the moon; And what did she there I canna declare, For in her oxter she bure the sun. "Wee wifie, wee wifie, wee wifie," quo' I, "O what are ye doin' up there sae hie?" "I'm blowin' the cauld cluds out o' the sky." "Weel dune, weel dune, wee wifie!" quo' I. (1870, p. 34.)