A Book of Nursery Rhymes/Part V
PART V
PLAYS, GAMES, RIDDLES, COUNTING-OUT
RHYMES, ETC.
CHILD PLAY
Here we go round the bramble-bush,
The bramble-bush, the bramble-bush;
Here we go round the bramble-bush,
On a cold and frosty morning!
101
This is the way we wash our clothes,
Wash our clothes, wash our clothes;
This is the way we wash our clothes,
On a cold and frosty morning!
This is the way we dry our clothes,
Dry our clothes, dry our clothes;
This is the way we dry our clothes
On a cold and frosty morning!
 |
This is the way we mend our |
This is the way the ladies walk, |
 |
 |
This is the way the gentlemen |
"Girls and boys, come out to play"
Girls and boys, come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day;
Leave your supper and leave your sleep,
And come with your playfellows into the
street.
Come with a whoop, come with a call,
Come with a good will or not at all
Up the ladder and down the wall,
A halfpenny roll will serve us all.
You find milk, and I'll find flour,
And we'll have a pudding in half an hour
A child hides something in one hand, and then places
both fists endways on each other, saying,—
Handy-dandy riddledy ro,
Which will you have, high or low?
Or sometimes the following,—
Handy-dandy, Jack-a-dandy,
Which good hand will you have?
The party addressed either touches one hand, or
guesses in which one the article (whatever it may be) is
placed. If he guesses rightly, he wins its contents; if
wrongly, he loses an equivalent.
Here comes a poor woman from Baby-land,
With three small children in her hand:
One can brew, the other can bake,
The other can make a pretty round cake;
One can sit in the garden and spin,
Another can make a fine bed for the King;
Pray, ma'am, will you take one in ?
Now we dance looby, looby, looby,
Now we dance looby, looby, light;
Shake your right hand a little,
And turn you round about.
Now we dance looby, looby, looby,
Shake your right hand a little,
Shake your left hand a little,
And turn you round about.
Now we dance looby, looby, looby,
Shake your right hand a little,
Shake your left hand a little,
Shake your right foot a little,
And turn you round about.
Now we dance looby, looby, looby,
Shake your right hand a little,
Shake your left hand a little,
Shake your right foot a little,
Shake your left foot a little,
And turn you round about.
Now we dance looby, looby, looby,
Shake your right hand a little,
Shake your left hand a little,
Shake your right foot a little,
Shake your left foot a little,
Shake your head a little,
And turn you round about.
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'rets.
"Brickbats and tiles,"
Say the bells of St. Giles'.
"Halfpence and farthings,"
Say the bells of St. Martin's.
"Orange 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.
"You owe me ten shillings"
Say the bells at St. Helen's.
"Pokers and tongs,"
Say the bells at St. John's.
"Kettles and pans,"
Say the bells at St. Ann's.
"When will you pay me?"
Say the bells of Old Bailey
"When I grow rich,"
Say the bells of Shoreditch
"Pray when will that be?"
Say the bells of Stepney.
"I am sure I don't know"
Says the great bell at Bow.
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
London bridge is broken down,
Dance over, my Lady Lee;
London bridge is broken down,
With a gay lady.
How shall we build it up again?
Dance over, my Lady Lee;
How shall we build it up again?
With a gay lady.
Build it up with silver and gold,
Dance over, my Lady Lee,
Build it up with silver and gold,
With a gay lady
Silver and gold will be stolen away.
Dance over, my Lady Lee;
Silver and gold may be stolen away,
With a gay lady.
Build it up again with iron and steel
Dance over, my Lady Lee;
Build it up with iron and steel,
With a gay lady.
Iron and steel will bend and bow,
Dance over, my Lady Lee:
Iron and steel will bend and bow
With a gay lady.
Build it up with wood and clay,
Dance over, my Lady Lee;
Build it up with wood and clay,
With a gay lady.
Wood and clay will wash away,
Dance over, my Lady Lee;
Wood and clay will wash away,
With a gay lady.
Build it up with stone so strong,
Dance over, my Lady Lee;
Huzza! 't will last for ages long,
With a gay lady.
When a twister a-twisting would twist him
a twist;
For twisting a twist, three twists he will
twist,
But if one of the twists untwists from the
twist,
The twist untwisting untwists the twist.
Untwirling the twine that untwisteth be-
tween,
He twirls with the twister the two in a
twine;
Then twice having twisted the twines of
the twine,
He twisteth the twine he had twined in
twain.
The twain that, in twining, before in the
twine,
As twines were intwisted, he now doth
untwine;
'Twixt the twain intertwisting a twine more
between,
He, twirling his twister, makes a twist of
the twine.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper
picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers,
Where 's the peck of pickled peppers Peter
Piper picked?
Apple-Pie, pudding, and pancake,
All begin with A.
Thirty white horses upon a red hill,
Now they tramp, now they champ, now
Teeth and gums,
Black within and red without;
Four corners round about.
A chimney
 |
Little Nancy Etticoat, A candle, |
As round as an apple, as deep as a cup,
And all the King's horses can't pull it up,
A well.
Long legs, crooked thighs,
Little head, and no eyes.
Pair of tongs.
What shoemaker makes shoes without
leather,
With all the four elements put together?
Fire and water, earth and air,
Every customer takes two pair.
Blacksmith.
"There was a man who had no eyes"
There was a man who had no eyes,
He went abroad to view the skies;
He saw a tree with apples on it,
He took no apples off, yet left no apples
on it.
Pease-Porridge hot, pease-porridge cold,
Pease-porridge in the pot, nine days old.
Spell me that without a P,
And a clever scholar you will be.
Thomas A'Tattamus took two T's,
To tie two tups to two tall trees,
To frighten the terrible Thomas A
Tattamus—
Tell me how many T's are in that?
In marble walls as white as milk,
Lined with a skin as soft as silk;
Within a fountain crystal clear,
A golden apple doth appear.
No doors there are to this stronghold,
Yet thieves break in and steal the gold
Egg.
Black we are, but much admired,
Men seek for us till they are tired,
We tire the horse but comfort man ;
Tell me this riddle if you can.
Coal.
Higher than a house, higher than a tree
Oh, whatever can that be?
A star.
Formed long ago, yet made to-day,
Employed while others sleep ;
What few would like to give away,
Nor any wish to keep.
A bed.
Down in a dark dungeon I saw a brave
knight,
All saddled, all bridled, all fit for the fight.
Gilt was his saddle, and bent was his bow;
Thrice I've told you his name, and yet you
don't know.
 |
Humpty Dumpty sat on a |
Could set Humpty An egg. |
 |
[Mind your stops.]
Every lady in this land
Has twenty nails, upon each hand
Five, and twenty on hands and feet.
All this is true without deceit.
 |
Elizabeth, Elspeth, |
As soft as silk, as white as milk,
As bitter as gall, a thick wall,
And a green coat covers me all.
A walnut.
As I went through the garden gap,
Who should I meet but Dick Red-cap!
A stick in his hand, a stone in his throat:
If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a
groat.
A cherry.
Old Mother Twitchett had but one
eye,
And a long tail which she
let fly;
And every time she went through a gap,
A bit of her tail she left in a trap.
A needle and thread.
If you touch Hitty Pitty,
Hitty Pitty will bite you.
A nettle.
Twelve pears hanging high,
Twelve knights riding by;
Each knight took a pear,
And left eleven hanging there.
[To start a race.]
One to make ready,
And two to prepare;
Good luck to the rider,
And away goes the mare.
 |
Two legs sat upon |
|
Up jumps two |
 |
One leg is a leg of mutton; two legs, a man;
three legs, a stool; four legs, a dog.
My true love lives far from me,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixie, Dominie.
Many a rich present he sends to me,
Petrum, Partrum, Paradise, Temporie,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixie, Dominie.
He sent me a goose without a bone;
He sent me a cherry without a stone.
Petrum, &c.
He sent me a Bible no man could read;
He sent me a blanket without a thread,
Petrum, &c.
How could there be a goose without a
bone?
How could there be a cherry without a
stone?
Petrum, &c.
How could there be a Bible no man could
read?
How could there be a blanket without a
thread?
Petrum, &c.
When the goose is in the egg-shell, there
is no bone;
When the cherry is in the blossom, there is
no stone.
Petrum, &c.
When the Bible is in the press, no man it
can read;
When the wool is on the sheep's back, there
is no thread.
Petrum, &c.
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits:
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?
Hinks minks, the old witch winks,
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.
Intery, mintery, cutery-corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn;
Wire, brier, limber-lock,
Five geese in a flock,
Sit and sing by a spring,
O-u-t, and in again.
Eenie, meenie, minie, mo,
Catch a nigger by the toe,
If he hollers let him go,
Eenie, meenie, minie, mo
Old Mother Goose.