moults all its feathers, and so I spill the milk; Oh! said the old man, then I'll tumble off the ladder and break my neck, so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck; and when the old man broke his neck, the great walnut tree fell down with a crash, and upset the old form and house, and the house falling knocked the window out, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the besom, the besom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried beneath the ruins. [Illustration] SEVENTEENTH CLASS--LOCAL. DXCVIII. There was a little nobby colt, His name was Nobby Gray; His head was made of pouce straw, His tail was made of hay; He could ramble, he could trot, He could carry a mustard-pot, Round the town of Woodstock, Hey, Jenny, hey! DXCIX. King's Sutton is a pretty town, And lies all in a valley; There is a pretty ring of bells, Besides a bowling-alley: Wine and liquor in good store, Pretty maidens plenty; Can a man desire more? There ain't such a town in twenty. DC. The little priest of Felton, The little priest of Felton, He kill'd a mouse within his house, And ne'er a one to help him. DCI. [The following verses are said by Aubrey to have been sung in his time by the girls of Oxfordshire in a sport called _Leap Candle_, which is now obsolete. See Thoms's 'Anecdotes and Traditions,' p. 96.] The tailor of Bicester, He has but one eye; He cannot cut a pair of green galagaskins, If he were to try. DCII. Dick and Tom, Will and John, Brought me from Nottingham. DCIII. At Brill on the Hill, The wind blows shrill, The cook no meat can dress; At Stow in the Wold The wind blows cold,-- I know no more than this. DCIV. A man went a hunting at Reigate, And wished to leap over a high gate; Says the owner, "Go round, With your gun and your hound, For you never shall leap over my gate." DCV. Driddlety drum, driddlety drum, There you see the beggars are come; Some are here, and some are there, And some are gone to Chidley fair. DCVI. Little boy, pretty boy, where was you born? In Lincolnshire, master: come blow the cow's horn. A half-penny pudding, a penny pie, A shoulder of mutton, and that love I. DCVII My father and mother, My uncle and aunt, Be all gone to Norton, But little Jack and I. A little bit of powdered beef, And a great net of cabbage, The best meal I have had to-day, Is a good bowl of porridge. DCVIII. I lost my mare in Lincoln lane, And couldn't tell where to find her, Till she came home both lame and blind, With never a tail behind her. DCIX. Cripple Dick upon a stick, And Sandy on a sow, Riding away to Galloway, To buy a pound o' woo. DCX. Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born? Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn. [Illustration]