Nursery rhymes, English; Oral tradition -- England
There was an old woman of Norwich,
Who lived upon nothing but porridge;
Parading the town,
She turned cloak into gown,
This thrifty old woman of Norwich.
CCLXXV.
A little old man of Derby,
How do you think he served me?
He took away my bread and cheese,
And that is how he served me.
CCLXXVI.
There was an old woman in Surrey,
Who, was morn, noon, and night in a hurry;
Call'd her husband a fool,
Drove the children to school,
The worrying old woman of Surrey.
[Illustration]
TENTH CLASS--GAMES.
CCLXXVII.
[Rhymes used by children to decide who is to begin a game.]
One-ery, two-ery,
Ziccary zan;
Hollow bone, crack a bone,
Ninery, ten:
Spittery spot,
It must be done;
Twiddleum twaddleum,
Twenty-one.
Hink spink, the puddings stink,
The fat begins to fry,
Nobody at home, but jumping Joan,
Father, mother, and I.
Stick, stock, stone dead,
Blind man can't see,
Every knave will have a slave,
You or I must be he.
CCLXXVIII.
[A game of the Fox. In a children's game, where all the little
actors are seated in a circle, the following stanza is used as
question and answer.]
Who goes round my house this night?
None but cruel Tom!
Who steals all the sheep at night?
None but this poor one.
CCLXXIX.
Dance, Thumbkin, dance,
[_Keep the thumb in motion._
Dance, ye merrymen, every one:
[_All the fingers in motion._
For Thumbkin, he can dance alone,
[_The thumb only moving_.
Thumbkin, he can dance alone,
[_Ditto._
Dance, Foreman, dance,
[_The first finger moving._
Dance, ye merrymen, every one;
[_The whole moving._
But Foreman, he can dance alone,
Foreman, he can dance alone.
[and So on With the Others--naming the 2d Finger Longman--the
3d Finger Ringman--and the 4th Finger Littleman. Littleman
Cannot Dance Alone.]
CCLXXX.
[The following is used by schoolboys, when two are starting to
run a race.]
One to make ready,
And two to prepare;
Good luck to the rider,
And away goes the mare.
CCLXXXI.
[At the conclusion, the captive is privately asked if he will
have oranges or lemons (the two leaders of the arch having
previously agreed which designation shall belong to each),
and he goes behind the one he may chance to name. When all
are thus divided into two parties, they conclude the game by
trying to pull each other beyond a certain line.]
Gay go up and gay go down,
To ring the bells of London town.
Bull's eyes and targets,
Say the bells of St. Marg'ret's.
Brickbats and tiles,
Say the bells of St. Giles'.
Halfpence and farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's.
Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement's.
Pancakes and fritters,
Say the bells of St. Peter's.
Two sticks and an apple,
Say the bells at Whitechapel.
Old Father Baldpate,
Say the slow bells at Aldgate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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