NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
3 3433 08230346 6
CHILDREN'S RHYMES, GAMES,
SONGS, & STORIES
-
JiNGO-KlNG.
DRAWN BY KATE T. HILL.
Children's Rhymes
Children's Games
Children's Songs
Children's
R Book Tor Bairns and Bia folk
By ROBERT FORD
Author of " Thistledown," and Editor of
" Ballads of Bairnhood," " Vagabond Songs
and Ballads of Scotland" < & Etc., etc.
"Auld rhymes and auld chii,
Id times
Proverb
ul rymes and auld cliinie
Gar us think on auld times"
PAISLEY: ALEXANDER GARDNER
Publisher to the late Queen Victoria : 1904
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRA:
284188 II
ASTOR, LI
TILDEN FO
1944 I*
SECOND EDITION
PREFACE.
IN offering to the public this collection of Children'^
Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, and
Children's Stories the multitudinous items of which,
or such, at least, as were not living in my own memory,
have been gathered with patient industry, albeit with
much genuine delight, from wide and varied sourer-
I anticipate for the work a hearty and general welcome,
alike from old and young. It is the first really sincere
effort to collect in anything like ample and exclusive
fashion the natural literature of the children of Scotland,
and meets what has long appealed to me as decidedly
a felt want. The earlier pages are occupied with a
commentary, textually illustrated, on the generally
puerile, but regularly fascinating Rhymes of the Nur-
sery, the vitality and universal use of which have been
\ at once the wonder and the puzzle of the ages. This is
\followed in turn by a chapter on Counting-out Rhymes,
^v
with numerous examples, home and foreign ; which is
. succeeded, appropriately, by a section of the work
embracing description of all the well-known out-door
and in-door Rhyme-Games in each case the Rhyme
n
being given, the action being portrayed. The remain-
ing contents the title may be left to suggest. I may
() PREFACE.
only add that the Stories including " Blue Beard/'
and "Jack the Giant Killer/' and their fellow-narratives
-ten in all are printed verbatim from the old chap-
books once so common in the country, but now so rare
as to be almost unobtainable.
Essentially a book about children and their pictur-
esque and innocent, though often apparently meaning-
less, frolics, by the young in the land, I am assured, it
will be received with open arms. From the " children
of larger growth ' -those who were once young and
have delight in remembering the fact the welcome, if
less boisterous, should be not less sincere. Commend
to me on all occasions the man or woman who, " with
lyart haflfets thin and bare," can sing with the poet
" Och bey ! gin I were young again,
Ochone ! gin I were young again ;
For chasin' bumbees owre the plain
Is just an auld sang sung again."
ROBERT FORD.
287 ONSLOW DRIVE,
DENNISTOUN,
GLASGOW.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
RHYMES OF THE NURSEKY, !)
COUNTING-OUT RHYMES, 38
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES, 55
" Merry-ma-Tanzie," .~>li
"The Mulberry Hush," .~>7
" A Dis, a Dis, a Green Grass, " 58
" Looby Looby, " 59
"I Dree I Droppit it," <iO
" Bab at the Bowster," 61
"The Wadds," 63
"The Wadds and the Wears," 65
"The Widow of Babylon," 68
"London Bridge," 69
"The Jolly Miller," 70
"Willie Wastle," 70
" Oats and Beans and Barley," 71
"Hornie Holes," 72
"The Craw,"
' Neevie-neevie-nick-Dack," 73
"Blind Man's Buff," 74
'Water Wallflower," 7.",
"The Emperor Napoleon," 7">
"A* the Birdies i' the Air," 76
"Through the Needle-e'e, Boys," 7(5
" King Henry," 77
"The Blue Bird," 78
" When I was a Young Thing,"
"Carry ray Lady to London," 79
"A, B, C 80
"My Theerie and my Thorie," 80
"Glasgow Ships," 81
" Airlie's Green,"
"Het Rowes and Butter Cakes," 83
"Queen Mary," 84
" Whuppity Scoorie,"
" Hinkumbooby,"
' ' Three Brethren come f rom Spain, "
"Here Comes a Poor Sailor from Botany Bay 9<i
"Janet Jo," 01
"The Goloshans," 94
8 CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS, 101
Cock Robin, 101
The Marriage of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren, 104
The North Wind 109
Little Bo-Peep, 110
The House that Jack Builf, Ill
Simple Simon, 114
Old Mother Hubhard, 114
Old Mother Goose, 115
The Old Woman and her Pig, 117
A Frog he would a- wooing go, ,. 122
The Carrion Crow, 126
My Pretty Mail, 127
Can ye Sew Cushions ? 127
Hush-a-ba Birdie, Croon, 129
Dance to your Daddie, 1 29
Katie Beardie 132
The Miller's Dochter 133
Hap and Row, 133
How Dan, Dilly Dow, 134
Crowdie, 135
Whistle, whistle, Auld Wife, 136
The Three Little Pigs, 137
Cowe the Nettle early, 138
The Wren's Nest, 140
Robin Redbreast's Testament, 141
CHILDREN'S HUMOUR AND QUAINT SAYINGS, 143
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES, 163
CHILDREN'S STORIES, 182
Blue Beard, 184
Jack and the Bean-Stalk, 191
The Babes in the Wood, 205
Jack the Giant Killer. 210
Little Red Riding Hood, 229
Cinderella; or, the Little Glass Slipper, 233
Puss in Boots, 243
Whittington and his Cat, 249
Beauty and the Beast, 259
The Sleeping Beauty, 274
RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
WRITING on the subject of nursery rhymes more than
half a century ago, the late Dr. Robert Chambers
expressed regret because., as he said, "Nothing had of
late been revolutionised so much as the nursery." But
harking back on the period of his own childhood, he
was able to say, with a feeling of satisfaction, that the
young mind was then " cradled amidst the simplicities
of the uninstructed intellect ; and she was held to be
the best nurse who had the most copious supply of song,
and tale, and drollery, at all times ready to soothe and
amuse her young; charges. There were, it is true,
* o o
some disadvantages in the system ; for sometimes super-
stitious terrors were implanted, and little pains were
taken to distinguish between what tended to foster the
evil and what tended to elicit the better feelings of
infantile nature. Yet the ideas which presided over
the scene," he continues, "and rung through it all the
day in light gabble and jocund song, were simple, often
beautiful ideas, generally well expressed, and unques-
tionably suitable to the capacities of children.
There was no philosophy about these gentle dames ; but
there was generally endless kindness, and a wonderful
power of keeping their little flock in good humour. It
never occurred to them that children were anything but
children ' Bairns are just bairns,' my old nurse would
2
io RHYMP:S OF THE NURSERY.
say and they never once thought of beginning to
make them men and women while still little more than
able to speak." They did not ; and, in the common
homes of Scotland, they do not to this hour. The self-
same rhymes and drollery which amused Dr. Chambers
as a child are amusing and engaging the minds and
exercising; the faculties of children over all the land
O
even now. I question if there is a child anywhere
north of the Tweed who has not been entertained by
Brow, brow, brinkie,
Ee, ee, winkle,
Nose, nose, nebbie,
Cheek, cheek, cherrie,
Mou, mou, merry,
Chin, chin, chuckie,
Curry-wurry ! Curry-wurry ! etc.
Or the briefer formula, referring only to the brow, the
eye, the nose, and the mouth, which runs :
Chap at the door,
Keek in,
Lift the sneck,
Walk in.
And it was only the other evening that I saw a father
with his infant son on his knee, having a little hand
spread out, and entertaining its owner by travelling
from thumb to little finger, and repeating the old
catch :
This is the man that broke the barn,
This is the man that stole the corn,
This is the man that ran awa',
This is the man that tell't a',
And puir Pirly Winkie paid for a', paid for a'.
RHYMES OF THK M KSKRY. li
As well as its fellow-rhyme :
This little pig went to the market,
This little pig stayed at home ;
This little pig got roast beef,
This little pig got none ;
This little pig cried, Squeak ! squeak !
I can't find my way home.
Than the nonsense rhymes and capers that have
delighted the nursery life of Scotland for many genera-
tions, none, of course, could be more delectable none
more suitable. While charming the sense, they have
awakened imagination and developed poetic fancy in
thousands who otherwise might have blundered into
old age proving stolid and uninteresting men and
women. They are, for this reason, part and parcel of
every properly-balanced life, and the healthy and happy
mind can never let them go.
Johnny Smith, my fallow fine,
Can you shoe this horse o' mine ?
Yes, indeed, and that I can,
Just as weel as ony man.
Ca' a nail into the tae,
To gar the pownie climb the brae ;
Ca' a nail into the heel,
To gar the pownie trot w r eel ;
There's a nail, and there's a brod,
There's a pownie weel shod,
Weel shod, weel shod, weel shod pownie.
What pleasing recollections of his own early child-
hood many a father has had when, sitting with his
child on his knee, he has demonstrated and chanted
that rude rhyme by the fireside o' nights far, as often
12 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
has been the case,, from the scene where he learned it !
To know such is to realise one,, at least, of the various
reasons why the old delight in the frolics of the young.
Hush-a-by baby on the the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock ;
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
And down w r ill come cradle and baby and all.
This is a rhyme which " every child has joyed to
hear." Its origin, as told in the records of the Boston
(U.S.) Historical Society, is not more curious than
beautiful and significant. " Shortly after our forefathers
landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (I am quoting), a
party were out in the fields where the Indian women
were picking strawberries. Several of the women, or
squaws as they were called, had papooses that is
babies and, having no cradle, they had them tied up
in Indian fashion and hung from the limbs of the sur-
rounding trees. Sure enough, when the wind blew
these cradles would rock ! A young man of the party
observing this, pulled off a piece of bark and wrote off
the above w r ords, which is believed to be the first poetry
written in America." Several have curious histories.
Little Jack Homer
Sat in a corner
Eating his Christmas pie ;
He put in his thumb
And pulled out a plum,
And said, What a good boy am I !
Master Homer, it appears, was not a myth, but a
real personage. Tradition tells that when Henry VIII.
suppressed the monasteries, and drove the poor old
monks from their nests, the title-deeds of the Abbey of
RHYMES OF THE NUKSKKV. I.;
Mells, including the sumptuous grange built In Abbot
Bellwoodj were demanded by the Commissioners. Tin-
Abbot of Glastonbury determined instead that he would
/
send them to London ; and, as the documents were verv
valuable, and the road was infested by thieves, to get
*
them to the metropolis safely he ordered a pie to be
made, as fine as ever smoked on a refectory table, inside
of which the precious documents were placed, and this
dainty he entrusted to a lad named Horner to carry up
to London and deliver into the hands of the party for
whom it was intended. But the journey was long, the
day was cold, the boy was hungry, the pie was tempting,
and the chances of detection, the youth presumed, were
small. So he broke the crust of the pie, and behold the
parchment ! He pulled it forth innocently enough,
wondering by what chance it could have reached there,
and arrived in town. The parcel was delivered, but
the title-deeds of Mells Abbey estate were missing.
Jack had them in his pocket, and now learning their
value he kept them there. These were the juiciest
plums in the pie. Great was the rage of the Commis-
sioners, heavy the vengeance they dealt out to the monks.
But Jack kept his secret and the documents, and when
peaceful times were restored he claimed the estates and
received them. So goes the story ; and it may be true.
But, then, in the light of its truth, whether Master
Horner deserved the title of "good boy " bestowed on
him by the rhyme" will be more than doubtful.
We all know the lines,
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece w r as white as snow ;
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.
14 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
It followed her to school one day,,
It was against the rule,
And made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.
These verses were founded, it appears, on an actual
circumstance, and the heroine Mary may be still living.
Less than eighty years ago she was a little girl, the
daughter of a farmer in Worcester County, Massachu-
setts, U.S. One spring her father brought a feeble
lamb into the house, and Mary adopted it as her especial
pet. It became so fond of her that it would follow her
everywhere. One day it followed her to the village
school, and, not knowing well what to do with it there,
the girl put it under her desk and covered it over with
her shawl. There it stayed until Mary was called up
with her class to the teacher's desk to say her lesson ;
but then the lamb went quietly after her, and the whole
school burst out laughing. Soon after, John Rollstone,
a fellow-student with Mary, wrote a little rhyme com-
memorating the incident, and the verses went rapidly
from lip to lip, giving the greatest delight to all. The
lamb grew up to be a sheep, and lived many years ; and
when it died Mary grieved so much that her mother
took some of its wool, which was l< white as snow," and
knitted for her a pair of stockings to wear in remem-
brance of her pet. Some years after, Mrs. Sarah Hall
composed additional verses to those of John Rollstone,
making the complete rhyme as we know it.* Mary
*The following are the added lines referred to :
.And so the teacher turned him out,
But still he lingered near,
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear.
RHYMES OF THE NURSERY. i ;,
took such good care of the stockings made from her
lamb's fleece that when she was a grown-up woman sin-
was able to give one of them to a church baxaar in
Boston. As soon as it became known that the stoekin"
o
was from the fleece of "' Mary's little lamb," every one
wanted a piece of it. So the stocking was unravelled,
and the yarn cut into short pieces. Each piece was
fastened to a card on which Mary wrote her full name,
ti
and those cards sold so well that they brought the hand-
* o
some sum of <28 to the Old South Church in Boston.
Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall ;
Not all the King's horses, nor all the King's men,
Could set Humpty-Dumpty up again.
Attempts have been made to show how that was
suggested by the fall of a bold bad baron who lived in
the days of King John ; but every child more than ten
years old kiiow r s that the lines present a conundrum,
the answer to which is an egg. And yet, were it no
conundrum, but only a nonsense rhyme, its fascination
for the budding intellect would be no less. It is enough
when, with the jingle of rhyme, the imagination, is
tickled, as in
And thenjie ran to her, and laid
His head upon her arm.
As if he said, " I'm not afraid,
You'll shield me from all harm."
" What makes the lamb love Mary so ? "
The eager children cry.
" Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"
The teacher did reply.
16 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
Hey diddle dur "in John,
Went to his b< .^vvsers on ;
One shoe off a die other shoe on,
Hey diddle duiupKb'j my son John ;
or
Cripple Dick upon a stick,
And Sandy on a soo,
Ride away to Galloway
To buy a pimd o' woo' ;
or yet again in
Sing a sang o' saxpence,
A baggie fu' o' rye,
Four-and-twe^ty blackbirds,
Bakit in a pie.
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing ;
And wasna that a dainty dish
To set before the King ?
The King was in his counting-house
Counting out his money,
The Queen was in the parlour
Eating bread and honey,
The maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes,
When by came a blackbird
And snapped aff her nose.
For such supreme nonsense 110 historical origin need be
sought, surely. Yet part of the latter has been at
least applied to a historical personage in a way that is
worth recalling. Dr. H. J. Pye, who was created Poet
Laureate in succession to Thomas Warton, in 1 790, was,
RHYMKS OF THK Xl'KSKHV. 17
as a poet, regularly made tu of. In his \i-ir }' rat-
Odes there were perpetual r. ( renccs to the coining
spring : and, in the dearth o:; lore important topics,
each tree and field-flower we/e described : and the lark,
and every other bird that eoul be brought into rhynn-.
were sure to appear ; and his poetical and patriotic
olla pod rid a ultimately provoked the adaptation :
When the Pye was opened,
The birds began to sing,
And w r as not that a dainty dish,
To set before a king ?
But to take the rhymes only by themselves. Action
rhymes, by reason of their practical drollery, never fail
to amuse. And among the very earliest practised is
the followm v . The nurse, with the child on her knee,
take" v *-.tle foot in cipher hand, and, making them go
memiy id down, she sings :
This is Willie Walker, and that's Tarn Sim,
He ca'd him to a feast, and he ca'd him ;
He sticket him on the spit, and he sticket him ;
And he owre him, and he owre him,
And he owre him, and he owre him, etc.
Then, to keep up the diversion, may follow in the same
manner :
Twa little doggies gaed to the mill,
This way and that way, and this way and that way ;
They took a lick out o' this wife's poke,
And a lick they took out o' that wife's poke.
And a loup in the lade, and a dip in the dam,
And hame they cam' wallopin', wallopin', walloping
etc.
18 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
Or:
Feetikin, feetikin,
When will ye gang ?
When the nights turn short,
And the days turn lang,
I'll toddle and gang, toddle and gang.
Should more active entertainment be demanded, the
child will be set bold upright on one knee, and, suiting
the action to the line, the rhyme will be :
This is the way the ladies ride,
Jimp and sma', jimp and sma' ;
This is the way the gentlemen ride,
Trotting a', trotting a' ;
This is the w r av the cadgers ride,
/ O
Creels and a' ! creels and a' ! !
Creels and a' ! ! !
For variety's sake, on an easier swing, may follow :
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,
O /
The cock is hollow within ;
But there's nae deceit in a puddiii',
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.
Or:
And:-
RHYMES OF THE NURSERY. 19
Poussie, poussie, baudrons,
What gat ye there ?
I gat a good fat mousikie,
Riniiing up a stair.
Poussie, poussie, baudrons,
What did ye wi't ?
I put it in my meal-poke
To eat it wi' my bread.
Hushie-ba, birdie beeton,
Your mammie's gane to Seaton,
For to buy a lammie's skin
To row your bonnie boukie in.
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 w r as alive,
Come to the burialie
Between four and five.
20 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
Again
Eezy ozy moolin's o' bread,,
Kens na whaur to lav 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.
v
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 :
RHYMKS OF THK NURSKKV. <JI
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 :
Boutin'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 :
I got a little manikin, I set him on my thoomiken ;
I saddled him, I bridled him, I sent him to the toonikcn :
I coffed a pair o' garters to tie his little hosiken ;
I coffed a pocket-napkin to dight his little nosiken ;
I sent him to the garden to fetch a pund o' sage
And found him in the kitchen-neuk kissing little Madge.
22 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
While dandling the child on her knee the mother or
nurse may sing :
I had a little pony,
Its name was Dapple Grey :
I lent it to a lady,
To ride a mile away.
She whipped it, she lashed it,
She ca'd it owre the brae ;
I winna lend my pony mair,
Though a' the ladies pray.
In the same manner the above may be followed by
Chick ! my naigie,
Chick ! my naigie,
How many miles to Aberdaigy ?
Eight and eight, and other eight ;
Try to win there by candlelight.
Or:
Cam' ye by the kirk ?
Cam' ye by the steeple ?
Saw ye our gudemaii,
Riding on a ladle ?
Foul fa' the bodie,
Winna buy a saddle,
Wearing; a' his breeks,
Riding; on a ladle !
l o
Or again
The cattie rade to Passelet,
To Passelet, to Passelet,
The cattie rade to Passelet,
Upon a harrow-tine, O.
RHYMKS OF THK M RSKRY.
'Twas on a wectie Wednesday,
Wednesday, Wednesday :
*
'Twas on a wee tic \\Ydnrsdav.
I missed it ave sin svne, ().
Lighting a stick, and making it wave to and'tro/so as
to form a semi-circle of red fire before the child's eyes,
the nurse will sing or croon :
Dingle, dingle dousy,
The cat's at the well,
The dog's awa' to Musselbro'
To buy the bairn a bell.
Greet, greet bairnie,
And ye'se get a bell ;
If ye dinna greet faster,
I'll keep it to mysel'.
Or again, dandling the child, the entertainment may be
what some Perthshire children know well :
Riding on a horsie, never standing still,
Doun by St. Martins, and owre by Xewmill,
In bv Guildtowii and round by Carmll,
/ . O
Richt up Burstbane, and owre by Gallowhill,
Yoiit by the Harelaw, and doim to Wolfhill,
And that's the way to ride a horse and never
stand still.
Or the universal favourite may ensue :
Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross,
To see an old woman ride on a white horse ;
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.
24 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
Or:
Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon ;
The little dog laughed,
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
In a reposeful attitude, such rhymes as follow may be
employed :
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water ;
Jack fell down
And broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Shoo shuggie, owre the glen,
Mammie's pet, and daddie's hen.
Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool ?
Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full ;
One for the master, one for the dame,
One for the little boy that lives in the lane.
Goosey, Goosey Gander,
Where shall I wander ?
Upstairs, downstairs,
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him downstairs.
RHYMES OF THE M KSKRV.
Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cupboard,
To fetch her poor doggie a bone ;
But when she got there, the cupboard was bare,
And so the poor doggie got none.
Little Polly Flinders
Sat among the cinders,,
Wanning her pretty little toes,
Her mother came and caught her,
r^
And whipped her little daughter
For spoiling her nice new clothes.
Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
Stole a pig and away he run ;
Pig was eat, and Tom was beat,
And Tom went roaring down the street.
Little Betty Blue
/
Has lost her holiday shoe,
Give her another
To match the other,
And then she will walk in two.
Three blind mice ; three blind mice ;
See how they run : see how they run ;
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did ever you see such fools in your life ?
Three blind mice !
Mary, Mary,
Quite coiitrairy,
How does your garden grow ?
Silver bells,
And cockle shells,
And pretty-maids all in a row.
26 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man !
Bake a cake as fast as you can ;
Prick it, and pat it, and mark it with T,
And put it in the oven for Tommy and me.
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey ;
There came a great spider
And sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean ;
And so, betwixt them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
Little Tom Tucker
Sang for his supper.
What shall we give him ?
Brown bread and butter.
How shall he cut it
Without any a knife ?
How shall he marry
Without any wife ?
See-saw, Margery Daw,
Jenny shall have a new master ;
She shall have but a penny a day,
Because she can't work any faster.
Roun', roun' rosie, cuppie, cuppie shell,
The dog's awa' to Hamilton, to buy a new bell ;
If you don't tak' it, I'll tak' it to mysel',
Roun', roun' rosie, cuppie, cuppie shell.
RHYMES OF THK XURSKRY. 07
There was a little man, and he had a little gun,
And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead ;
He shot Johnnie Twig through the middle of his wig.
And knocked it right off his head, head, head.
Hickety, pickety, my black hen,
Lays eggs for gentlemen,
Whiles ane, whiles twa,
Whiles a bonnie black craw.
For slightly more matured wits will be provided :
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do ;
She gave them some broth, without any bread,
And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.
Doctor Foster, went to Glo'ster
In a shower of rain ;
He stepped in a puddle,
Up to the middle,
And never went there again.
This is another version of one that has been given
earlier :
Ding, dong, bell, Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in ? Little Tommy Thin.
Who pulled her out ? Little Tommy Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
Thus to drown poor Pussy Cat.
Little Boy Blue, come, blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn ;
Where is the boy that looks after the sheep ?
He's under the haycock, fast asleep !
28 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
Taffy was a Welshman,, Taffy was a thief,
Taffy came to my house,, and stole a piece of beef;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not at home ;
Taffy came to my house, and stole a marrow-bone.
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,
I took up a broomstick and flung it at his head.
The lion and the unicorn
Fighting- for the crown ;
Up jumps a wee dog
And knocks them both down.
Some got white bread,
And some o;ot brown :
O
But the lion beat the unicorn
All round the town.
There was a wee wifie row'd up in a blanket,
Nineteen times as high as the moon ;
And what she did 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 so high ?
I'm blawin' the cauld clouds out o' the sky.
Weel dune, weel dune, wee wifie, quo' I.
What ca' they you ?
They ca' me Tarn Taits !
What do ye do ?
I feed sheep and gaits !
Where feed they ?
Doun in yon bog !
What eat they ?
/
Gerse and fog !
RHYMKS OF THH NUHSKKY. j<>
What gie they ?
Milk and whey !
Wha sups that ?
Tarn Taits and I !
The laverock and the lintie,
The robin and the wren ;
Gin ye harry their nests,
Ye'll never thrive again.
During a hail-storm country children sing :
Rainy, rainy rattle-stanes,
Dinna rain on me ;
But rain on Johnnie Groat's House,
Far owre the sea.
Again, when snow is falling :
Snaw, snaw, flee awa'
Owre the hills and far awa'.
Towards the yellow-hammer, or yellow-yite bird of
beautiful plumage though it be because it is the sub-
ject of an unaccountable superstitious notion, which
credits it with drinking a drop of the devil's blood
every May morning, the children of Scotland cherish
no inconsiderable contempt, which finds expression in
the rhyme :
Half a puddock, half a taed,
Half a yellow yorling ;
Drinks a drap o' the deil's blood
Every May morning.
On the East Coast, when the seagulls fly inland in
search of food, the children, not desiring their appear-
30 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
ance because probably of the old superstition that
they are prone to pick out the eyes of people cry to
them :
Seamaw, seamaw, my mither's awa'
For pouther an' lead, to shoot ye dead
Pit-oo ! pit-oo ! pit-oo !
To the lark's song the young mind gives language, in a
kindly way, thus :
Larikie, larikie, lee !
Wha'll gang up to heaven wi' me ?
No the lout that lies in his bed,
No the doolfu' that dreeps his head.
Interpreting similarly the lapwing's cry, they retaliate
with :
Peese-weep ! Peese-weep !
Harry my nest, and gar me greet !
Of the cuckoo they have this common rhyme :
The cuckoo is a bormie bird,
He sings as he flies ;
He brings us good tidings ;
He tells us no lies.
He drinks the cold water
To keep his voice clear ;
And he'll come again
In the Spring of the year.
The lady-bird, or " Leddy Lanners," is a favourite
insect with children, and is employed by them to dis-
cover their future partners in life. When a boy or girl
RHYMES OF THE NURSERY. :;i
finds one,, he, or she, as the case may be, places it on
the palm of his, or her, hand, and repeats, until it Hies
off", the lines :
Leddy, Leddy Lanners,
/ * /
Leddy, Leddy Lanners,
Tak' up yer cloak about yer head
An' flee awa' to Flann'ers ;
Flee ower firth, an' flee ower fell,
Flee ower pool, an' rinnin' well,
Flee ower hill, an' flee ower mead,
Flee ower livin', flee ower dead,
Flee ower corn, an' flee ower lea,
Flee ower river, flee ow r er sea,
Flee ye East, or flee ye West,
Flee to the ane that loves me best.
The following rhyme, old and curious, and still not
unknown to the young in Scotland and England alike,
has many varieties :
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on ;
Four posties to my bed,
Six angels are outspread :
Two to bottom, two to head,
One to watch me while I pray,
One to bear my soul away.
After the first two lines it goes sometimes :-
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels round my head ;
One to read and one to write,
Two to guard my bed at night,
32 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
And often the closing lines run :-
One to w r atch and two to
One to keep all fears away.
In an old MS. by Aubrey, in the British Museum, he
states that this was a prayer regularly used by people
when they went to bed. Then Ody, in his Candle in
the Dark, 1656, tells that it was frequently used by old
people as a charm, and w r as repeated three times before
going to bed. Launcelot Sharpe, in his Tonmeleij
Mysteries, 1838, relates that he had often, when a boy,
heard similar words used in Kent as a prayer.
Since about the time of the Crimean War and more
immediately after then than now the children of
Glasgow have shouted in the streets :
Saw ye the Forty-Second ?
Saw ye them gaun awa' ?
Saw ye the Forty-Second
Marching to the Broomielaw ?
Some o' them had boots an' stockin's,
Some o' them had nane ava ;
Some of them had tartan plaidies,
Marching to the Broomlielaw.
At an earlier period they had :
Wha saw the Cotton-spinners ?
Wha saw T them gaun awa' ?
Wha saw the Cotton-spinners
Sailing frae the Broomielaw ?
Some o' them had boots an' stockin's,
Some o' them had nane ava ;
Some o' them had umbrellas
For to keep the rain awa'.
RHYMKS OF THK NURSERY. 33
There are many similar entertainments which these
suggest. But to follow in extent the out-door rhymes
of the bairns would carry us beyond the prescribed
limits of this chapter. None have been cited, so f;ir.
that do not belong absolutely to the nursery ; and the
collection of these even., though fairly ample, is not so
full as it might be. We will conclude with a few, each
of which forms a puzzle or conundrum some of them.
in all conscience, gruesome enough, and full of terrible
mystery but, individually, well calculated to awaken
thought and stir imagination in any youthful circle.
As I gaed owre the Brig o' Perth
I met wi' George Bawhannaii ;
I took aff his head, and drank his bluid,
And left his bodv stannin'.
/
[A bottle of wine.]
As I looked owre my window at ten o'clock at nicht,
I saw the dead carrying the living.
[A ship sailing.]
Hair without and hair within,
A' hair, and nae skin. [A hair rope.]
Three feet up, cauld and dead,
Twa feet doun, flesh and bluid ;
The head o' the livin' in the mouth o' the dead :
An auld man wi' a pot on his head.
[Last line is the answer.]
There was a man o' Adam's race,
Wha had a certain dwellin' place ;
It was neither in heaven, earth, nor hell,
Tell me where this man did dwell.
[Jonah in the whale's belly.]
34 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
A ha'penny here, an' a ha'penny there,
Fourpeiice-ha'penny and a ha'penny mair ;
A ha'penny weet, an' a ha'penny dry,
Fourpeiice-ha'penny an' a ha'penny forby
How much is that ?
[A shilling.]
There was a prophet 011 this earth,
His age no man could tell ;
He was at his greatest height
Before e'en Adam fell.
His wives are very numerous,
Yet he maintaineth none ;
And at the day of reckoning
He bids them all begone.
He wears his boots when he should sleep,
His spurs are ever new ;
There's no a shoemaker 011 a' the earth
Can fit him wi' a shoe.
[A cock.]
Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tot,
A wee, wee man in a red, red coat ;
A staff in his hand and a stane in his throat,
Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tot.
[A cherry.]
There was a man made a thing,
And he that made it did it bring ;
But he 'twas made for did not know
Whether 'twas a thing or no.
[A coffin.]
RHYMES OF THK XL KSKRV. 35
Pease-porridge lu*t, pease-porridge can Id.
Pease-porridge in a pot ten days auld ;
Spell me that in four letters.
[T-H-A-T.]
I sat wi' my love, and I drank wi' my love,
And my love she gave me light ;
I'll give any man a pint o' wine
To read my riddle right.
[He sat in a chair made of his mistress's bones, drank
out of her skull,, and was lighted by a candle made of
the substance of her body.]
Mouth o' horn, and beard o' leather ;
Ye'll no guess that w r ere ye hanged in a tether.
[A cock.]
Bonnie Katie Brannie stands at the wa',
Gi'e her little, gi'e her muckle, she licks up a' :
Gi'e her stanes, she eats them but water, she'll dee,
Come, tell this bonnie riddleum to me.
[The fire.]
Down in yon meadow
There sails a boat ;
And in that boat
The King's son sat.
I'm aye telling ye,
But ye're no calling,
Hoo they ca' the King's son
In the boat sailing.
[Hoo, or Hugh.]
As I gaed owre Bottle-brig,
Bottle-brig brak' ;
Though ye guess a' day,
Ye winna guess that. [The ice.]
36 RHYMES OF THE NURSERY.
If Dick's father is John's son,
What relation is Dick to John ?
[His grandson.]
The brown bull o' Baverton,
Gaed owre the hill o' Haverton ;
He dashed his head atween twa stanes
*
And was brought milk-white hame.
[Corn sent to the mill and ground.]
A beautiful lady in a garden was laid,
Her beauty was fair as the sun ;
In the first hour of her life she was made a man's wife,
And she died before she was born.
[Eve.]
The minister, the dominie, and Mr. Andrew La. ,
Went to the garden where tf.ree pears hng :
Each one took a pear how many pears then ?
[Two : the three persons were one.]
Mou'd like the mill-door, luggit like the cat ;
Though ye guess a' day, ye'll no guess that.
[An old-fashioned kail-pot.]
There stands a tree at our house-end,
It's a' clad owre wi' leather bend :
It'll fecht a bull, it'll fecht a bear,
It'll fecht a thousand men o' wear.
[Death.]
Lang man legless,
Gaed to the door staffless :
Goodwife, put up your deuks and hens ;
For doses and cats I carena.
[A worm.]
'& 1 -
RHYMES OF THE NT'RSKRY.
- 1
As I gaed to Falkland to a feast,
I met me wi' an ugly beast :
Ten tails, a himder nails,
And no a fit but ane.
[A ship. |
As I cam' owre the tap o' Trine,
I met a drove o' Highland swine :
Some were black, and some were brawnet,
Some o' them was yellow tappit.
Sic a drove o' Highland swine
Ne'er cam' owre the tap o' Trine.
-
[A swarm of bees.]
Infir taris, iiioknoiiis ;
Iiiiiiudeelis, inclaynonis.
Canamaretots ?
[ r n fir tar is, m oak none is ;
In mud eel is, in clay none is.
Can a mare eat oats ?]
Wee man o' leather
Gaed through the heather,
Through a rock, through a reel,
Through an auld spinning-wheel,
Through a sheep-shank bane.
Sic a man was never seen.
Wha had he been ?
[A beetle.]
The robbers cam' to our house
When we were a' in ;
The house lap out at the windows,
And we were a' ta'en.
[Fish caught in a net.]
COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
THE use of doggerel rhymes by children in playing
their out-of-door games, to decide by the last word
which of their number shall be l< it ' or " takkie," in
games like " Hide and Seek ' and " I Spy/' must be
familiar to every reader who has had any youth worthy
of being so called. What is not w r ell known, however,
is the fact that some of them the rhymes. I mean
mf
that very common one in particular, beginning " One-
ery, two-ery, tickery, seven," and its fellow in like
respect, with the opening line " Eeny, meeny, manny,
mo " -have, in almost identical form, been in active use
by the wee folks for hundreds of years, as they are
still, in nearly every country of Europe, Asia, Africa,
and America. That the pastime has been common
among the children of civilized and semi-civilized races
alike is certainly of curious interest, and yet investiga-
tion has proved this to be the case. Not only so, but
the form of use is nearly always identical. A leader, as
a rule self-appointed, having engaged the attention of
the boys and girls about to join in a proposed game,
arranges them either in a row or in a circle around him.
He then repeats the rhyme, fast or slow, as he is
capable or disposed, pointing with the hand or fore-
finger to each child in succession, not forgetting himself,
COUNTING-OUT KIIYMKS. :;;i
and allotting to each one word of tin- mysterious formula.
It inav be, for example :
Eeny, meeny, manny, mo,
Catch a nigger by the toe ;
When he hollers, let him >(>,
* o >
Eenv, meenv. mannv, mo.
' *] * */ s
Having completed the verse, the child on whom the
last word falls is said to be " out/' and steps aside. At
each repetition one in like manner steps aside, and tin-
one who survives the ordeal until all the rest have
been " chapped " or " titted " out is declared " it ' or
" takkie," and the game proceeds forthwith. Some-
times the formula employed in certain parts of Scotland,
as I recollect, was for each boy to insert his finger into
the leader's cap, around which all the company stood.
The master of the ceremonies then with his finger
O
allotted a word to each " finger in the pie." It might
be:
Eenity, feenity, fickety, feg,
El, del, domeii, egg,
Irky, birky, story, rock,
Ann, Dan, Toosh, Jock.
With the pronouncement of the w r ord "Jock," the
M.C.'s finger came dow r n with a whack which made the
one "chapped out" be withdrawn in a "himder hurries."
In some parts of America a peculiar method obtains.
The alphabet is repeated by the leader, who assigns one
letter to each child in the group, and when a letter falls
to a child which is the same as the initial of his last
name, that child falls out, and this is continued, ob-
serving the same plan, until only one child remains,
who is " it." There are other forms, too, but none
40 COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
strikingly dissimilar. Where the little ones have been
in haste to proceed with the game, and in no mood to
waste time in counting out each one to the last, they
have taken the sharper process of saying-
Red, white, yellow, blue,
All out but you,
and by the first reading fixed the relationship of parties.
Now, a very important and interesting feature of
these rhymes and their application, as I have said, is
found in the fact that they prevail in a more or less
identical form all over the world. When this is so,
their common origin is placed almost beyond dispute.
The question only, which perhaps no one can answer,
is Whence come they ? It would not be hazarding
too much to say, I think, that Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in their turn as boys, with other boys of their time,
each used a form of counting-out rhyme in the manner
o /
and for the purpose for which they are still in vogue by
the boys and girls of the present day. Undoubtedly
they found a precedent, if they did not actually
themselves exercise a part, in the very ancient custom
of casting lots, which prevailed among the heathen as
well as among the chosen people of God in very early
times. From sacred history we learn that lots were
used to decide measures to be taken in battle; to select
champions in individual contests ; to determine the
partition of conquered or colonised lands ; in the divi-
sion of spoil ; in the appointment of Magistrates and
other functionaries; in the assignment of priestly offices;
and in criminal investigations, when doubt existed as to
the real culprit. Among the Israelites, indeed, the cast-
ing of lots was divinely ordained as a method of ascer-
taining the Holy will, and its use on many interesting
COUNTING-OUT IUIYMKS. n
occasions is described in the Holy Scriptures. The
simplicity of the process, and its unanswerable result,
were appreciated by Solomon, who savs : The lot
causeth contentions to cease, and partetli between the
mighty' (Prov. xviii. IS). In New Testament times,
again, Matthias was chosen by lot to "take the place
in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas tell
away" (Acts i. 24-26). The Babylonians, when about
to wage war against another nation, were wont to
determine which city should be attacked first by casting-
lots in a peculiar manner. The names of the cities
were written on arrows. These were shaken in a bag,
and the one drawn decided the matter (see Kzekiel xxi.
21-22), A like method of divination, called belomcun/,
was current among the Arabians before Mahomet's rise,
though it was afterwards prohibited by the Koran.
By imitation of their elders, to which children are con-
stantly prone in the making of ( ' housies," in nursing
of dolls, etc. etc. doubtless there came the counting-
out rhyme. What is not so easily understood is their
existence in so many identical forms in so many widely
/ tJ
distant lands. As an example of how cosmopolitan
some of them are, let us track a familiar enough one for
a fair distance and see how it appears in the national
garb of the various countries in which it has found bed,
board, and biding. All over Britain and America it
goes :
One, two, buckle my shoe,
Three, four, open the door,
Five, six, pick up the sticks,
Seven, eight, lay them straight,
Nine, ten, a good fat hen,
Eleven, tw T el', bake it well,
42 COUNTIXG-OUT RHYMES.
Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting,
Fifteen, sixteen, maids a-kissing,
Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting,
Nineteen, twenty, my stomach's empty.
In Germany it is found in various forms, but one will
*
suffice :
1, 2, Polizei,
3, 4, Offizier,
5, 6, Alte Hex,
7, 8, Gute Nacht,
9, 10, Auf Wiedersehen,
11, 12, Junge Wolf,
13, 14, Blaue Schiirzen,
15, 16, Alte Hexen,
17, 18, Madle Wachsen,
19, 20, Gott Verdanzig.
In France it also appears in various forms, and the
children of Paris, not disposed to waste time and
energy, cut it briefly, as follows :
Uii, deux, trois,
Tu ne 1'es pas,
Quatre, cinq, six,
Va t'en d'ici.
In Italy a form goes :-
Pan uno, pan duo,
Pan tre, pan quattro,
Pail cinque, pan sei,
Pan sette, pan otto,
Pancotto !
COUNTING-OUT RHYMKS. i:;
And versions, all revealing a connnon origin, might !>
quoted in the languages of many more countries, but
we ean employ our space to better purpose. With
regard to the rhyme already quoted, beginning,
" Eenity, feenity, fickety, feg," it has been asked
whether the second line, " El, del, domen, egg," would
not warrant the conclusion that it sprang into exist-
ence on the streets, and among the children, of
Ancient Rome. Perhaps it did ; for who may say it
did not ? There is that very common one all over
/
Scotland, which, it will be remembered, that wonder-
ful child, Marjorie Fleming, played off on Sir Walter
Scott :
One-ery, two-ery, tickery, seven,
/ * mi * m/ J
Alibi, crackaby, ten and eleven ;
Pin,. pan, musky dan ;
Tweedle-um, twoddle-um, twenty-one ;
Eerie, orie, ourie. You are out !
A similar formula, only in slightly varying words, is
found in the folk-lore of almost every country in the
world. Commenting on the opening line, the late Mr.
Charles G. Lelaiid, author of the Hans Brcitmann
ballads, and an acknowledged authority on the language
and customs of the Eastern Gypsies, sets against it a
Romany stanza, used as a spell, beginning :
Ekkeri, akai-ri, you kiar-an,
and remarks that " Ekkeri, akai-ri," literally translated,
just gives the familiar " One-ery, two-ery," which^is
etymologically analogous to "' Hickory, dickory," in the
all-pervading nursery rhyme :
44 COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock ;
The clock struck one, and down the mouse ran,
Hickory, dickory, dock.
An American version of which, by the bye, sroes :
J J ' O
Hiddlety, diddlety, dumpty,
The cat ran up the plum tree ;
Half-a-crown to fetch her down,
Hiddlety, diddlety, dumpty.
But still, before leaving the familiar chapping-out
rhyme of Marjorie Fleming, let us see how it occurs
again in Scotland and among the children of some of
the other English-speaking nations, to go no further.
Charles Taylor, in the Magpie; or Chattcrings of the Pica,
published at Glasgow in 1 820, gives it thus :
n^ twaerv, duckerv, seven,
/ x * ^ +, -*
Alama, crack, ten am eleven ;
Peem, pom, it must be done,
Come teetle, come total, come twenty-one ;
and remarks : " This is reported to have originated
with the Druids ; the total number of words is twenty-
one, and it seems to be a mixture of words put into
rhyme." In the streets and lanes and open spaces of
Aberdeen it runs :
Enery, twa-ery, tuckery, taven,
Halaba, crackery, ten or eleven ;
Peen, pan, musky dan,
Feedelam, Fadelam, twenty-one.
COUNTING-OUT HHYMKS.
In the county of Wexford, in Ireland, it goes :-
One-ery, two-ery, diekery, Davy,
Hallabone, crackabone, tenery, Navy ;
Discome, dandy, merry-come-tine,
Humbledy, bumbledy, twenty-nine,
O-U-T, out. You must go out !
In the Midlands of England :
~
One-ery, two-cry, dickerv, dee,
V * , ^ */ '
Halibo, crackibo, dandilee ;
Pin, pan, muskee dan,
Twiddledum, twaddledum, twenty-one ;
Black fish, white trout,
Eeny, meeny, you go out.
In Massachusetts,, U.S., America :
Ena, deena, dina, dust,
Catler, wheeler, whiler, whust ;
Spin, spoil, must be done,
Twiddleum, twaddleum, twenty-one.
In the island of Guernsey :
Eena, deena, dina, duss,
Catalaweena, wina, wuss ;
Tittle, tattle, what a rattle,
O-U-T spells out !
Another Scotch version :
One-ery, two-ery, tickery, ten,
Bobs of vinegar, gentlemen ;
A bird in the air, a fish in the sea ;
A bonnie wee lassie come singing to thee.
One, two, three !
46 COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
Of the "Eeny, feenity, fickety, feg " rhyme, we find
these evident varieties. This,, said to be used in the
West of Scotland :
Zeeiiy, meeny, fickety, fick,
Deal, doll, dominick ;
Zarity-paiity, on a rock, toosh !
This in Cumberland :
Eeny, pheeny, figgery, fegg,
Deely, dyly, ham and egg.
Calico back, and stony rock,
Arlum, barium, bash !
In the United States :
Inty, minty, tippity, fig,
Dinah, donah, norma, nig,
Oats, floats, country notes ;
Dinah, donah, tiz,
Hulla-ballop-bulloo,
Out goes you !
This curious one in Edinburgh :
Inty, tiiity, tethery, methery,
Bank for over, Dover, ding,
Aut, taut, toosh ;
Up the Causey, down the Cross,
There stands a bonnie white horse
It can gallop, it can trot,
It can carry the mustard pot.
One, two, three, out goes she !
COUNTING-OUT RHYMKS. IT
Again,, in Scotland :
Inky, pinky, peerie-winkie,
Hi domin I.
Arky, parky, tarry rope,
Ann, tan, toozy Jock.
This is truly American the first line of which, by the
bye, is derived from, or is borrowed by, the College
song, " King of the Cannibal Islands " :-
Hoky poky, winky wum,
How do you like your 'taters done ?
Snip, snap, snorum,
High popolorum,
Kate go scratch it,
You are out !
That this also is from beyond the " pond " is evident :
As I was walking down the lake,
I met a little rattlesnake.
I gave him so much jelly-cake,
It made his little belly ache.
One, two, three, out goes she !
In the West of Scotland they sometimes say :
Ease, ose, man's nose ;
Cauld parritch, pease brose.
Forfarshire bairns say :
9t
Eemer-awmer, Kirsty Gawmer,
Doon i' Carnoustie, merchant-dale.
Leddy Celestie, Sandy Testie,
Bonnie poppy-show.
You -are out !
48 COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
And elsewhere, but still in Scotland :
Eatum, peat um, potum, pie,
Babylonie, stickling stie,
Dog's tail, hog's snout,
I'm in, you're out.
Or:
Eerie, orie, owre the dam,
Fill your poke and let us gang ;
Black fish and white trout,
Eerie, orie, you are out.
Another goes :
A ha'penny puddin', a ha'penny pie,
Stand you there, you're out by.
The last appears in Chambers' Popular Rhymes of
Scotland, which interesting collection embraces also the
next two. First :
My grandfather's man and me fell out.
How will we bring the matter about ?
We'll bring it about as weel as we can,
And a' for the sake o' my grandfather's man.
Second :
Master Foster, very good man,
Sweeps his college now and than,
After that he takes a dance
Up from London down to France,
With a black bonnet and a white snout,
Stand you there, you are out.
COUNTING-OUT RHYMKS.
In Glasgow, I am told, the next one used to !><
common :
As I gaed up the apple tree
A' the apples fell on me ;
Bake a puddin', hake a pie,
Send it up to John Mackay ;
John Mackay is no in,
Send it up to the man i' the mime ;
The man i' the mime's mendin' his shoon,
Three bawbees and a farden in.
Also this :
As I w r ent up the apple tree,
All the apples fell on me ;
Bake a puddin', bake a pie,
Did you ever tell a lie ?
Yes I did, and many times.
O-U-T, out goes she
Right in the middle of the deep blue sea.
And this :
Eerie, orie, ickery, am,
Pick ma nick, and slick ma slam.
Oram, scoram, pick ma noram,
Shee, show, sham, shutter,
You are out !
In England and Scotland alike this has been used,
with slight variations, for at least a hundred years :-
As I went up the brandy hill,
I met my father, wi' gude will ;
He had jewels, he had rings,
He had mony braw things ;
50 COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
He'd a cat and nine tails,
He'd a hammer wantin' nails.
Up Jock, domi Tarn,
Blaw the bellows,, auld man.
The auld man took a dance,
First to London, then to France.
Another :
Queen, Queen Caroline,
Dipped her hair in turpentine ;
Turpentine made it shine,
Queen, Queen Caroline.
And yet another :
Tit, tat, toe,
Here I go,
And if I miss,
I pitch on this.
The following have long been in active use all over
Scotland, if not also elsewhere :
Zeenty, teenty, halligo him,
Pitchin' tawties doun the him.
Wha's there ? Johnnie Blair.
What d'ye want ? A bottle o' beer.
Where's your money ? In my purse.
Where's your purse ? In my pocket.
Where's your pocket ? I forgot it.
Go down the stair, you silly blockhead.
You are out.
Zeenty, teenty, alligo, dan,
Bobs o' vinegar, gentleman,
Kiss, toss, mouse, fat,
Bore a needle, bum a fiddle,
COUNTING-OUT HIIVMKS. ;,i
Jink ma jeerie, jink ma j\ c,
Stand you there, you're out bye.
One, two, three, four,
Jenny at the cottage door,
Eating cherries aff a plate,
Fiye, six, seven, eight.
Zeenty, teenty, feggerie fell,
Pompaleerie jig.
Every man who has no hair
Generally wears a wig.
Mistress Mason broke a basin,
How much will it be ?
Half-a-crown. Lay it down.
Out goes she !
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
All good children go to heaven ;
When they die their sin's forgiven,
<->
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
All good children go to heaven :
A penny by the water,
Tuppence by the sea,
Threepence by the railway,
Out goes she !
Me and the minister's wife coost out.
Guess ye what it was about ?
Black puddin', dish-clout,
Eerie, orrie, you are out !
COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
Master Monday, how's your wife ?
Very sick^ and like to die.
Can she eat ? O yes,,
As much as I can buy.
She makes the porridge very thin,
A pound of butter she puts in,
Black puddin', w T hite clout,
Eerie, orrie, you are out !
Inky pinky, my black hen
Lays eggs for gentlemen ;
Whiles ane, whiles twa,
Whiles a bonnie black craw.
One two three,
You are out !
Eeriy, meeny, clean peeny,
If you want a piece and jeely,
Just \valk out !
John says to John,
How much are your geese ?
John says to John,
Twenty cents a-piece.
John says to John,
That's too dear ;
John says to John,
Get out of here !
Ching, Ching, Chinaman,
How do you sell your fish ?
Ching, Ching, Chinaman,
Six bits a dish.
COUNTING-OUT HHYMKS. :,;
Ching, Chin*)'. Chinaman,
Oh ! that's too dear ;
Ching, Chin^, Chinaman,
Clear out of here !
Lemons and oranges,, two for a penny,
I'm a good scholar that counts so mam.
The rose is red, the leaves are green,
The days are past that I have seen.
I doot, I doot,
Mv fire is out,
wt
And my little dog's not at home :
I'll saddle my cat, and I'll bridle my dog,
And send my little boy home.
Home, home again, home !
Jenny, good spinner,
Come down to your dinner,
/
And taste the leg of a roasted frog !
o o
I pray ye, good people,
Look owre the kirk steeple,
And see the cat play wi' the dog !
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
Hand the horse till I win on ;
Hand him siccar, hand him fair,
Hand him by a pickle hair.
One, two, three,
You are out !
Around the house, arickitv-rarv.
. j '
I hope ye'll meet the green canary :
You say ay, I say no,
Hold fast let go !
54 COUNTING-OUT RHYMES.
Scottie Malottie, the king o' the Jews,
Sell't his wife for a pair o' shoes ;
When the shoes began to wear
Scottie Malottie began to swear.
In Dundee these lines are added to the " Eenity
feenity " rhyme :
Jock out, Jock in,
Jock through a hickle-pin.
Eetle-ottle, black bottle ;
Eetle-ottle, out !
This, more commonly used as a test of truth-telling
(little fingers being linked while it is uttered),, is also
used on the East Coast as a counting-out rhyme :
I ring, I ring, a pinky !
If I tell a lie
I'll go to the bad place
Whenever I die.
White pan, black pan,
Burn me to death,
Tak' a muckle gully
And cut my breath.
Ten miles below the earth.
Amen !
But these all, of course, as already stated, have been
delivered and acted, as they are still, rather as a pre-
lude to the more elaborate games designed to follow
than as a part of them, and to afford designedly the
opportunity of deciding emphatically who shall be "it"
or "takkie."
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
WHEN by the aid of the " chapping-out " rhyme it has
been decided who should be " it," the game to follow
may be " Single Tig/' " Cross Tig/' " Burly Bracks
Round the Stacks/' " Pussie in the Corner/' " Bonnety,"
" The Tod and the Hounds/' " I Spy/' " Smuggle the
Keg/' "Booly Horn," "Dock/' "Loup the Frog/' "Foot
and a Half/' " Bools/' " Pitch and Toss/' or any one of
another dozen,, all of which are essentially boys' games,
and have no rhymes to enliven their action. But if it
is to be a game in which both sexes may equally engage,
or a game for girls alone,, then almost certainly there is
a rhyme with it. Somehow girls have always been
more musical than boys, even as in their maturer years
they are more frequently the subject of song than their
confreres of the sterner sex. " Peever/' " Tig/' and
" Skipping Rope/' are indeed, so far as I can recall at
the moment, about all of the girls' commoner games
which are played without the musical accompaniment
of line and verse. Their rhyme-games, on the other
hand, are legion, and embrace " A Dis, a Dis, a Green
Grass," "The Merry-Ma-Tanzie," "The Mulberry Bush. '
"Carry My Lady to London," "I Dree I Droppit It."
" Looby-Looby," and ever so many more.
Like the counting-out rhymes, the game-rhymes are
found in only slightly differing forms in widely divided
56 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
countries and places. But ever alike, they are never
quite the same. The " Merry-Ma-Tanzie," for instance,
though always the same in name,, will be found with
varying lines in almost every town and village in Scot-
land even. There are variants equally, I suppose, of
all.
" MERRV-MA-TANZIE ' is solely a girls' game, of
which boys, however, may be interested spectators.
The counting-out rhyme having put one in the centre,
the rest join hands in a ring about her, and moving
slowly round, they sing :
Here we go round the jingo-ring,
The jingo-ring, the jingo-ring,
Here we go round the jingo-ring,
About the merrv-ma-tanzie.
Twice about and then ' fa',
Then we fa', then fa',
Twice about and men we fa,',,
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
Choose your maidens all around,
All around, all around,
Choose your maidens all around,
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
mf
Replying to this invitation, the one in the centre
chooses two from the circle, and retires with them a
short distance away. During their absence the ring-
band proceeds as before, and sing with imitating
gesture
Sweep the house ere the bride comes in,
The bride comes in, the bride comes in,
Sweep the house ere the bride comes in,
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES. :>:
When those who left return, the one who was in tin-
centre takes up her original position, as also do tin-
others., and the ring moves on again with :
Here's a bride new come hame,
New come hame, new come hame ;
Here's a bride new come hame,
About the merry-ma-tanzie.
Then follow r s " Mary Anderson is her name/' with the
usual repeats., and " Guess ye wha is her true love/'
" A bottle o' wine to tell his name," " Andrew Wilson
is his name," ''Honey is sweet and so is he," (or
"Apples are sour and so is he/') " He's married her wi'
a gay gold ring," " A gay gold ring's a cank'rous thing,"
"But now they're married w r e wish them joy/' " Father
and mother they me ' obey," " Loving each other like
sister and Brother/' ' pray this couple may kiss
together," all, uf course, sung w r ith their repeats as
a^^ve ; and the game may be played until every little
girl ,. revealed her little sweetheart's name, which., to
be sure,, is the motif of the play.
"THE MULBERRY BUSH/' which goes to the same an-
as " Merry-Ma-Tanzie/' and is in some places called
"The Mulberry Tree/' and in others "The Gooseberry
Bush/' is yet more of an action game. The arrange-
ment is again in a ring, and, moving round hand-in-hand,
all sing :
Here w r e go round the mulberry bush.
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush ;
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
On a cold and frosty morning.
58 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
Stopping short with a curtsey at the conclusion and
disjoining hands, they stand, and imitating the process
of hand-washing;, they sing; :
c_* > / ^5
This is the way we wash our hands,
Wash our hands, wash our hands,
This is the way we wash our hands,
On a cold and frosty morning.
All joining hands again, they go round as before,
singing " Here we go round the mulberry bush," and
so on, which is repeated regularly after each action-
verse 011 to the end. The opening lines of the action-
verses alone may be given here to suggest the whole.
They are :
" This is the way we lace our stays."
" This is the way we comb our hair."
"This is the way we walk to school."
" This is the way we return from school."
" This is the way the ladies walk."
" This is the way the gentlemen walk."
"A Dis, A Dis, A GREEN GRASS," is so simple it is a
favourite generally with very little ladies. And there
are different forms of the game, both in Scotland and
England, if not also in other countries. The more
common way, however, is for the children to stand all
in a row, and, when the counting-out rhyme has been
applied once and again, the two who have been "hit
out ' face up together hand-in-hand in front, and,
advancing and retiring, sing :
A dis, a dis, a green grass,
A dis, a dis, a dis ;
Come all ye pretty fair maids,
And dance along with us.
CHILDREN'S RHYMK-CAMKS. ;,<>
For we arc going a-roving,
A-roving o'er the land ;
We'll take this pretty fair maid,
We'll take her by the hand.
This sung, they select a girl from the group, who join^
on either side, as she is directed, and the song con-
tinues, bearing now the comforting assurance to tin-
one chosen :
Ye shall have a duck, my dear,
And ye shall have a beau ;
And ye shall have a young prince
By chance to marry you.
And if this young prince he should die,
Then ye will get another ;
And the birds w T ill sing and the bells will ring,
And we'll all clap hands together.
Having all joined in the last two verses, all clap hands
together. And the same process is repeated again and
again until the last of the "pretty fair maids" is taken
over from the row, when the game is ended though
it may be but to begin again as the desire is expressed
and supported.
Some one, to be sure, may suggest " LOOBY-LOOBY,"
which has but to be named when all are ready and
eager. A ring is formed, when all join hands and
dance round singing :
Here we go looby-looby,
Here we go looby light ;
Here we go looby-looby
Every Saturday night.
60 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
Why on Saturday nights only I don't know, and it
*/ / CT .'
would be futile, I suppose, to inquire. Anyway, with
the expression of the last word they all instantly disjoin
hands, and, standing each in her place, they sing the
next verse, suiting the action to the word :
Put your right hand in,
Take your right hand out ;
Shake it, and shake it, and shake it,
And turn yourself about.
/
As the last line is being sung each one wheels rapidly
round by herself, then hands are joined again, and they
scurry round in a ring as before, singing :
Here we go looby-looby,
Here we go looby light ;
Here we go looby-looby
Every Saturday night,
/ / O
and so on, the " looby-looby ' coming in regularly
between each of the action-verses, which are varied by
"left hand in' and "out," and "right foot in' and
"out," and "left foot in" and "out," "noses," "ears,"
etc., etc., the game finishing only when the anatomy of
the players has been exhausted.
" I DREE I DROPPIT IT ' calls for a mixture of the
sexes, and when the numbers are even or as nearly
as chance affords the players are ranged in a ring,
a boy and girl alternately facing inwards with a space
between each. The one who is "chapped out' say
it is a girl goes tripping round the others' backs,
with a handkerchief dangling in her hand, singing the
while :
CHILDREN 7 'S RHYME-GAMES. (ii
I sent a letter to my love,
And by the way I droppit it,
I dree, I dree, I droppit it,
I dree, I dree, I droppit it ;
I sent a letter to my love,
And by the way I droppit it.
There's a wee, wee doggie in our cot-neuk,
He'll no bite you, he'll no bite you ;
There's a wee, wee doggie in our cot-neuk.
He'll no bite you nor you nor you nor you,
and so forth, until at length she drops the handker-
chief stealthily at the heel of one of the little boys,
saying "but you," and bolts round this player, round
that one, in here, out there, and away ! And the boy,
who has first to pick up the handkerchief, gives chase,
pursuing her exactly in the course which she may
choose to take. If he makes a wrong turn, by that
fact he is "out," and must take her place; but if he
pursues her correctly and overtakes her, he may claim
a kiss for his pains, for which heroism he will receive
the applause of the crowd ; and the girl suffused with
blushes, as it may be must try and try again indeed,
try until she proves herself more agile than her
pursuer, whom, of course, she is always free to choose.
When at length as come it will some time her effort
is successful, she takes her victim's place in the ring,
and he takes hers on the outside of it. And thus tin-
play may go on boy and girl about as long as time
and energy will permit.
As for "BAB AT THE BOWSTER ' (more generally
pronounced " Babbity Bowster "), I am not sure but
that grown people have engaged in it more than wee
62 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
folks have. Indeed, it is not improbable that the
young borrowed this originally from the old, by observ-
ation. Now-a-days, undoubtedly, we know it exclus-
ively as a child's play. But yet, within the memory
of living men,, it was the regular custom in country
places nearly over all Scotland to wind up every
dancing-ball with " Bab at the Bowster." No Aveddiiig
dance, no Handsel Monday ball, would have been
esteemed complete without it ; and I have seen it
performed at both, less than forty years ago. Per-
formed by old or young, however, the mode is the
same. The girls sit down on one side of the barn or
square, the boys on the other. A boy takes a handker-
chief it is regularly a male who starts this play
and while dancing up and down before the girls, all
sing
Wha learned you to dance,
/
Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster ;
Wha learned you to dance,
J
Bab at the bowster brawly ?
My mimiie learned me to dance,
Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster ;
My mimiie learned me to dance,
Bab at the bowster brawly.
Wha ga'e you the keys to keep,
Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster ;
Wha ga'e you the keys to keep,
Bab at the bowster brawly ?
My mimiie ga'e me the keys to keep,
Bab at the bowster, bab at the bowster ;
My mimiie ga'e me the keys to keep,
Bab at the bowster brawly.
CHILDREN'S RHYMK-(;.\MKS. 63
Kneel down and kiss the in-ound,
Kiss the ground, kiss the ground ;
Kneel down and kiss the ground,
Kiss the bonnie wee lassie.
By the time the last verse has been reached the 1><>\
has fixed on his partner, and at the command In
"kneel down and kiss the ground' he spreads tin-
handkerchief on the floor at the girl's feet, on which
both immediately kneel. A kiss ensues, even though
it should be obtained after a struggle ; then the !M>\
marches away round and round followed by the girl,
while all again sing the song. By the time the last
verse is again reached, the girl in turn has selected
the next boy, but does not kneel down before him.
She simply throws the handkerchief in his lap, and
immediately joins her own partner by taking his arm.
If, however, she can be overtaken before she joins her
partner, a penalty kiss may be enforced. Second b<>\
selects second girl as the first did the first girl, and
pair after pair is formed in the same fashion until all
are up and marching arm-in-arm round the room, or
square, when the game is finished. At adult assem-
blies, I should state, even as the company paired in this
dance, they departed for home.
" THE WADDS ' is another game in which grown
folks no less than children may engage, and which, like
" Bab at the Bowster," is essentially a house game.
Its mode is for the players to be seated round the
hearth, the lasses on one side and the lads on the
other. One of the lads first chants :
O, it's hame, and its name, it's hame, hame. hame,
I think this nicht I maun gang hame.
64 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
To which one of the opposite party responds :
Ye had better licht, and bide a' nicht,
And I'll choose ye a partner bonnie and bricht.
The first speaker again says :
Then wha wad ve choose an' I wad bide ?
/
Answer :
The fairest and best in a' the countryside.
At the same time presenting a female and mentioning
her name. If the choice is satisfactory,, the male
player will say :
I'll set her up on the bonnie pear tree,,
It's straucht and tall and sae is she ;
I wad wauk a' nicht her love to be.
If, however, the choice is not satisfactory, he may
reply :
I'll set her up on the auld fa el dyke,
Where she may rot ere I be ripe ;
The corbies her auld banes wadna pyke.
Or (if the maiden be of surly temper) :
I'll set her up on the high crab-tree,,
It's sour and dour,, and sae is she ;
She may gang to the mools unkissed for me.
But he may decline civilly, by saying :
She's for another, she's no for me,
I thank ye for your courtesie.
A similar ritual is gone through with respect to one of
the gentler sex, where such rhymes as the following
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES. 65
are used. In the case of acceptance the ladv will
sav :
I'll set him up at my table-head,
And feed him there wi' milk and bread.
Whereas, if the proposal is not agreeable, her rcplv
may be :
I'll put him on a riddle, and blaw him own- th
sea,
Wha will buy [Jamie Paterson] for me ?
Or :
I'll set him up on a high lum-heid.
And blaw 'im in the air wi' poother and lead.
A refusal on either side must, of course, be atoned for
by a " wadd," or forfeit which may consist of a piece
of money, a knife, a thimble, or any little article which
the owner finds convenient for the purpose. Then,
when a sufficient number of persons have made forfeits.
the business of redeeming them commences, which may
afford any amount of amusement. He, or she, as tin-
case happens, may be ordered to " kiss the four corners
of the room ; " " bite an inch off the poker : " kneel
to the prettiest, bow to the wittiest, and kiss the one
he (or she) loves best," or any one of a dozen similarly
silly ordeals, as the doomster proposes, may have to
be gone through. When the forfeits have all been
redeemed the game is ended.
Similar to the foregoing, in some respects, is " THE
WADDS AND THE WEARS," which John Mactaggart, tin-
writer of The Gallovidian Encyclopaedia, describes as
(in his day) "the most celebrated amusement of the
ingle-ring " in the south-west of Scotland. As in the
66 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
" Wadds," the players are seated round the hearth.
One in the ring (says Mactaggart), speaks as follows :
I hae been awa' at the wadds and the wears.
These seven lang years ;
And's come hame a puir broken ploughman ;
What will ye gie me to help me to my trade ?
He may either say he's a " puir broken ploughman/'
or any other trade ; but since he has chosen that trade,
some of the articles belonging to it must always be
given or offered, in order to recruit him. But the
article he most wants he privately tells one of the
party, who is not allowed, of course, to offer him any-
thing, as he knows the thing, which will throw the
offerer in a wadd, and must be avoided as much as
possible for to be in a wadd is a very serious matter,
as shall afterwards be explained. Now the one on the
left hand of the poor ploughman makes the first offer,
by way of answer to what above was said : " I'll gie ye
a coulter to help ye to your trade."
The ploughman answers, u I don't thank ye for your
coulter, I hae ane already." Then another offers him
another article belonging to the ploughman's business,
such as the mool-brod, but this also is refused ; another,
perhaps, gives the sock, another the stilts, another the
fipattlc, another the naigs, another the naig-grailk , and so
on ; until one gives the somn, which was the article he
most wanted, and was the thing secretly told to one,
and is the thing that throws the giver in a wadd, out of
which he is relieved in the following manner :
The ploughman says to the one in the wadd,
" Whether will ye hae three questions and twa com-
mands, or three commands and twa questions, to answer
or gang on wi', sae that ye may win oot o' the wadd ? '
CHILDREN'S RI1 VM !-( JAM I ,S. ii;
For the one so fixed has always the choice which of
these alternatives to take. Suppose he takes the first,
two commands and three questions, then a specimen of
these may run so :
"I command ye to kiss the rroo/-," says the plough-
man, which must be completely obeyed bv the one in
* .
the trfuM his naked lips must salute the .voo/// implc-
ment.
"Secondly,," saith the ploughman, "I connnand ye
to stand up in that neuk, and say-
1 Here stan' I, as stiffs a stake,,
Wha'll kiss me for pity's sake ? '
Which must also be done ; in a corner of the house
must he stand and repeat that couplet, till some tender-
hearted lass relieves him. Now for the questions which
are most deeply laid, or so touching to him,, that lie finds
much difficulty to answer them.
" Firstly, then, Suppose ye were sittin' aside Maggie
Lowden and Jennie Logan, your twa great sweethearts,
what ane o'm wad ye ding ower, and what ane wad ye
turn to and clap and cuddle ? ' He makes answer by
choosing Maggie Lowden, perhaps, to the great mirth
of the party.
"Secondly, then, Suppose you were standin' oot i'
the cauld, on the tap o' Cairnhattie, whether wad ye
cry on Peggie Kirtle or Nell o' Killimingie to come wi'
your plaid ? '
He answers again in a similar manner.
" Lastly, then, Suppose you were in a boat wi' Tibbie
Tait, Mary Kairnie, Sallie Snadrap, and Kate o Min-
nieive, and it was to cowp wi' ye, what ane o in wad
ye sink ? what ane wad ye sooni ? wha wad ye bring to
laii' ? and wha wad ye marry ? ' Then he answers
68 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
again, to the fun of the company, perhaps,, in this way,
" I wad sink Mary Kairnie, soom Tibbie Tait, bring
Sallie Snadrap aneath my oxter to Ian', and marry
sweet Kate o' Mirmieive."
And so ends that bout at the wadds and the wears.
But the games engaged in exclusively by the " wee
folks " are the really delightsome ones. Such is " THE
WIDOW OF BABYLON/' the ritual of which, less elaborate,
resembles that of " Merry-Ma-Tanzie," though the
rhymes are different. Girls only play here. One is
chosen for the centre. The others, with hands joined,
form a ring about her, and move round briskly, sing-
ing-
Here's a poor widow from Babylon,
With six poor children all alone ;
One can bake, and one can brew,
One can shape, and one can sew.
One can sit at the fire and spin.
One can bake a cake for the king ;
Come choose you east, come choose you west,
Come choose the one that you love best.
The girl in the middle chooses one from the ring,
naming her, and sings :
I choose the fairest that I do see,
[Jeaiiie Anderson] come to me.
The girl chosen enters the ring, communicating the
name of her sweetheart, w r hen those in the ring resume
their lightsome motion, and sing :
Now they are married, I wish them joy,
Every year a girl or boy ;
Loving each other like sister and brother,
I pray this couple may kiss together.
CHILDREN'S HHYMK-CAMKS. 69
The 'irls within the ring kiss. The <ui<- who lirst
occupied the circle then joins the ring, while tin last
to come in enacts the part of mistress ; and so on tin-
game goes until all have had their turn.
" LONDON BRIDGE ' is a well-known and widely
played game, though here and there with slightly
differing rhymes. Two children -the tallest and
strongest, as a rule standing face to face, hold up their
hands, making the form of an arch. The others form
a long line by holding on to each other's dresses, and
run under. Those running sing the first verse, while
the ones forming the arch sing the second, and alternate
verses, of the following rhyme :
London bridge is fallen down,
Fallen down, fallen down ;
London bridge is fallen down,
My fair lady.
/ /
Question. What will it take to build it up ?
(With repeats.)
Answer. Needles and preens will build it up.
Question. Needles and preens will rust and bend.
Answer. Silver and gold will build it up.
Question. Silver and gold will be stolen away.
Answer. Build it up with penny loaves.
Question. Penny loaves will tumble down.
Answer. Bricks and mortar will build it up.
Question. Bricks and mortar will wash away.
Answer. We w r ill set a dog to bark.
Question. Here's a prisoner we have got.
At the words " a prisoner," the two forming the arch
apprehend the passing one in the line, and, holding her
fast, the dialogue resumes :
70 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
Answer. Here's a prisoner we have got.
Question. What's the prisoner done to you ?
Answer. Stole my watch and broke my chain.
Question. What will you take to set him free ?
Answer. A hundred pounds will set him free.
Question. A hundred pounds I have not got.
Answer. Then off to prison you must go.
Following this declaration,, the prisoner is led a dis-
tance away from the rest by her jailers, where the
questions are put to her, whether she will choose "a
gold watch/' or " a diamond necklace." As she
decides she goes to the one side or the other. When,
in like manner, all in the line have chosen, a tug-of-war
ensues, and the game is ended.
"TnE JOLLY MILLER." -In this the players take
partners all except the miller, who takes his stand in
the middle, while his companions walk round him in
couples, singing :
There was a jolly miller, who lived by himself,
As the wheel went round he made his wealth ;
One hand in the hopper, and the other in the bag,
As the wheel went round he made his grab.
At the word "grab," every one must change partners.
The miller then has the opportunity of seizing one :
and if he succeeds in so doing, the one necessarily left
alone must take his place, and so on.
" WILLIE WASTLE " is essentially a boy's game. One
standing on a hillock or large boulder, from which
he defies the efforts of his companions to dislodge him,
exclaims, by way of challenge :
('HILI)RKN'S RIIVMK-CAMKS.
I, Willie Wastle,
Stand on my castle,
And a' the dogs o' your toun,
Will no dino- Willie Wastle doun.
The boy who succeeds in dislodging him takes his
place, and so on.
"OATS AND BEANS AND BARLEY/' a simple but pn-lt\
game, is played all over England, as well as in most
parts of Scotland, with varying rhymes. In Perthshire
the lines run :
Oats and beans and barley grows,
Oats and beans and barley grows ;
/ C*
But you nor I nor nobody knows
How oats and beans and barley grows.
First the farmer sows his seeds,
Then he stands and takes his ease ;
Stamps his feet, and claps his hands,
Then turns around to view his lands.
W 7 aiting for a partner,
W 7 aiting for a partner ;
Open the ring and take one in,
And kiss her in the centre.
The players form a ring by joining hands. One child
usually a boy stands in the middle. The ring
moving round, sing the first four lines. These com-
pleted, the ring stands, and still singing, each player
gives suitable action to the succeeding words ; showing
how the "farmer sows his seeds," and how he "stamU
and takes his ease," etc. At the tenth line all wheel
round. They then re-join hands, still singing, and at
72 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
the words,, " Open the ring and take one in/' the child
in the middle chooses from the ring a partner (a girl,
of course), whom he leads to the centre and kisses as
requested. The two stand there together, while the
ring, moving again, sing the marriage formula :
Xow you're married, you must obey,
Must be true to all you say ;
You must be kind, you must be good,
And help your wife to chop the wood.
" HORNIE HOLES' is a bovs' same in which four
/ C5
play, a principal and assistant on either side. A stands
with his assistant at one hole, and throws what is called
a "cat" (a piece of stick, or a sheep's horn), with the
design of making it alight into another hole at some
distance, at which B stands, with his assistant, to drive
it aside with his rod resembling a walking-stick. The
following unintelligible rhyme is repeated by a player
on the one side, while they on the other are gathering
in the "cats." This is attested by old people as of
great antiquity :
Jock, Speak, and Sandy,
Wi' a' their lousie train,
Round about by Edinbro',
Will never meet again.
Gae head 'im, gae hang 'im,
Gae lay him in the sea ;
A' the birds o' the air
Will bear 'im companie.
With a nig-nag, widdy (or worry) bag,
And an e'endown trail, trail,
Quo' he.
CHILDRKN'S RHYMK-CAM KS.
THE CHAW admits of a good deal of lively exercise,
involving, as Dr. Chambers remarks, no more than a
reasonable portion of violence. One boy is selected to
be craw. He sits down upon the ground, and he and
another boy then lay hold of the two ends of a Nui"
* *
strap or twisted handkerchief. The latter also takes
into his right hand another hard-twisted handkerchief,
called the Cout, and runs round the craw, and with the
cout defends him against the attack of the other bo\ s,
who, with similar couts, use all their agility to get a
slap at the craw. But, before beginning, the guard of
the craw must cry out :
Ane, twa, three my craw's free.
And the first whom he strikes becomes craw, the
former craw then becoming guard. When the guard
wants respite, he must cry :
Ane, twa, three my craw's no free.
" NEEVIE-NEEVIE-NICK-NACK." A lottery game, and
confined to boys, is of simple movement, but convenient
in this that only two players are required. They
stand facing each other, the leader whirling his two
closed fists, one containing a prize, the other empty,
while he cajoles his opponent with the rhyme
Neevie-iieevie-nick-nack,
Whilk hand will ye tak'-
The richt ane or the wrang.
I'll beguile ye gin I can ?
If he guesses correctly, he gains the pri/e. If he
misses, he has to equal the stake. Until success falls
/to the second, the original player continues the lead.
6
74 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
"BLIND MAN'S BUFF.," though not a rhyme-game, is
yet so well known it is worth mentioning for the mere
purpose of telling its story. Like many more such if
we only knew how it is based on fact. It is of French
origin,, and of very great antiquity, having been intro-
duced into Britain in the train of the Norman con-
querors. Its French name, "Colin Maillard," was that
of a brave warrior, the memory of whose exploits still
lives in the chronicles of the Middle Ages.
In the year 999 Liege reckoned among its valiant
chiefs one Jean Colin. He acquired the name Maillard
from his chosen weapon being a mallet, wherewith in
battle he used literally to crush his opponents.
In one of the feuds which were of perpetual recurrence
in those times, he encountered the Count de Lourain in
a pitched battle, and so runs the story in the first
onset Colin Maillard lost both his eyes.
He ordered his esquire to take him into the thickest
of the fight, and, furiously brandishing his mallet, did
such fearful execution that victory soon declared itself
for him.
When Robert of France heard of these feats of arms,
he lavished favour and honours upon Colin, and so
great was the fame of the exploit that it was com-
memorated in the pantomimic representations that
formed part of the rude dramatic performances of the
age. By degrees the children learned to act it for
themselves, and it took the form of a familiar sport.
The blindfold pursuer, as with bandaged eyes and
extended hands he gropes for a victim to pounce upon,
seems in some degree to repeat the action of Colin
Maillard, the tradition of which is also traceable in the
name, "blind man's buff."
CHILDREN'S RHYM K-CAM KS.
"WATER WALLHLOWKK." -All should know this
game, which is more commonly plaved l>\ verv small
misses.
Forming a ring, all join hands and dance, or mo\<
slowly round, singing :
Water, water wallflower, growing up so high.
We are all maidens, and we must all die.
Excepting [Nellie Newton], the youngest of us all,
She can dance and she can sing, and she can knock
us all down.
Here all clap hands, with the exception of the one
named, who stands looking abashed, while the others
sing :
Fie, fie, fie, for shame,
Turn your back to the wall again.
At the command, she who has been named turns, so
that she faces outwards now, with her back to the
centre of the ring ; though she still clasps hands with
those on either side, and continues in the movement,
singing with the others. When all in like manner
O <T*
have been chapped out, and are facing the open, the
game is finished.
" THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON ' is a little game which
affords, invariably, a good deal of fun. Again, as so
commonly, the form is in a ring, and all go round.
singing
The Emperor Napoleon has a hundred thousand men.
The Emperor Napoleon has a hundred thousand men.
The Emperor Napoleon has a hundred thousand men.
As he goes marching along.
76 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
In each successive singing of the verse, one syllable
after another in the main line, beerinnino; at the far
~ C7>
end, is left out or at least is not spoken the blank,
or blanks, as it happens latterly, having to be indicated
merely by nods of the head. As each player makes a
mistake, by speaking, instead of nodding, or vice versa,
she pays a forfeit and drops out. The play goes on
till all have fallen.
" A' THE BIRDIES i' THE AIR," purely Scotch, is a
simpler form merely of " London Bridge." Two
players, facing each other, hold up their hands to form
an arch, and call the formula :
A' the birdies i' the air
Tick-to to my tail.
The others, who may be running about indifferently,
decide in time which side they w r ill favour, and when
each and all have chosen which champion they will
support, and have taken their places at her back, a
tug-of-war ensues. Afterwards the victors chase the
o
vanquished, calling, " Rotten eggs ! rotten eggs ! ' and
the game is ended ; to be followed perhaps by
"THROUGH THE NEEDLE-E'E, BOYS," played also to
some extent in the form of " London Bridge," and
much resembling " Barley Break," a pastime of high-
born lords and ladies in the time of Sir Philip Sydney,
who describes it in his Arcadia. The boys first choose
sides. The two chosen leaders join both hands, and
raising them high enough to let the others pass through
below r , they sing :
/
i i
CHILDRKN'S RHYM K-CAM I .S.
Brother [John], if ye'll IK- mine,
I'll gie you a glass o' wine :
A glass o' wine is good and fine.
Through the needle-e'e. boys.
Letting their arms fall., they enclose a bov, and ask
him to which side he will belong, and he is disposed
according to his own decision. The parties being at
length formed., are separated by a real or imaginary
line, and place at some distance behind them, in a
heap,, their jackets., caps, etc. They stand opposite to
each other,, the object being to make a successful
incursion over the line into the enemy's country, and
%>
bring off part or whole of the heap of clothes. It
requires address and swiftness of foot to do so without
being taken prisoner by the foe. The winning of the
game is decided by which party first loses all its nun
or all its property. At Hawick, where this legendary
mimicry of old Border warfare peculiarly flourishes,
the boys are accustomed to use the following lines of
defiance :
King Covenanter,, come out if ye daur venture !
Set your feet on Scots ground., English,, if ye daur !
" KING HENRY ' somewhat resembles " I dree I
droppit it ; ' only, instead of standing, the girls
forming the ring sit, or rather crouch in a sort of
working-tailor attitude. One girl, occupying the centre,
is " it." A second girl is on the outside. Immediately
the ring begins singing the rhyme :
King Henry, King Henry,
Run,, boys, run ;
You, with the red coat.
Follow with the drum,
78 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
the one on the outside is pursued by the girl from the
centre. The rhyme may be repeated as often as the
ring decides ; but the object of the one who is " it ' is
to overtake and "tig' the other before the singing
ceases. Otherwise she remains unrelieved, and must
try,, and try, until she succeeds in getting out, and
putting another in her place ; and so on.
BLUE BIRD/' played by very small children, is
rather pretty. The rhyme is :
Here comes a [blue] bird through the window,
Here comes a [blue] bird through the door ;
Here comes a [blue] bird through the window,
Hey, diddle, hi dum, day.
Take a little dance and a hop in the corner,
Take a little dance and a hop in the floor ;
Take a little dance and a hop in the corner,
Hey, diddle, hi dum, day.
The players dance round in a ring. One previously,
by the process of a chapping-out rhyme, being made
"it," goes first outside, then into the centre. Her
business now is to decide who shall succeed her ; and
according as the colour-word in the rhyme red, blue,
green, or yellow, etc. corresponds with the dress of
all the individual players in the successive singing, the
ones spotted successively take their place in the centre,
and the process goes on, of course, until all have shared
alike in the game.
" WHEN I WAS A YOUNG THING," of simple though
pretty action, has had a wide vogue. Its rhyme goes :
When I was a young thing,
A young thing, a young thing ;
CHILDRKVS HHYMK-CAMKS. 79
When I was a young tiling,
How happy was I.
'Twas this way, and that wav.
*^ .
And this way, and that way ;
When I was a young thin"-,
. O r^
Oh, this wav went I.
. *.'
When I was a school-girl, etc.
When I was a teacher, etc.
When I had a sweetheart, etc.
When I had a husband, etc.
When I had a baby, etc.
When I had a donkey, etc.
When I took in washing, etc.
O- 7
When my baby died, oh died, etc.
/
When my husband died, etc.
The players, joining hands, form a ring, and dance or
walk round singing the words, and keeping the ring
form until the end of the fourth line in each successor
verse, when they unclasp, and stand still. Each child
then takes hold of her skirt and dances individually to
the right and left, making two or three steps. Thru
all walk round singly, singing the second four lines, and
making suitable action to the words as they sino- and
o
go: the same form being continued throughout.
Still simpler is "CARRY MY LADY TO LONDON.' In
this game two children cross hands grasping each
other's wrists and their own as well thus forming a
seat, on which a third child can be carried. Wlu-n
hoisted and in order,, the bearers step out singing :
80 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
Gie me a needle to stick i' my thoom
To carry my lady to London ;
London Bridge is broken down,
And I must let my lady down.
Each child is thus carried in turn.
"ABC" is a spirited game, admirably adapted for
indoor practice on a wet day, which is played by child-
ren seated round a table, or at the fireside. One sings
a S olo a verse of some nursery rhyme. For instance :
Hey, diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon ;
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
The chorus of voices takes up the tune, and the solo is
repeated ; after which the alphabet is sung through,
and the last letter, Z, is sustained and repeated again
and again, to bother the next child, whose turn it now
is to sing the next solo. The new solo must be a
nursery rhyme not hitherto sung by any of the com-
pany. If unable to supply a fresh rhyme within a
fixed limit, the player stands out of the game and
pays a forfeit. Less brain-taxing entertainments often
engage adult wits.
" MY THEERIE AND MY THORIE," w r ith a political
significance, is a game widely played. In one place it
is known as " Cam a teerie arrie ma torry ; ' in another,
"Come a theory, oary mathorie ; ' in yet another,,
"Come a theerie, Come a thorie ;" or it may be, as in
Perthshire, " My theerie and my thorie." And even as
CHILDREN'S RHYMK-GAMKS. g]
the refrain varies, so do the rhymes. Hut tin- ad inn is
generally the same. The players divide- into two sides
of about equal number, in lines facing each other.
Moving forwards and backwards the sides sing verse
about of the following rhvine :
Question. Have you any bread and wine.
Bread and wine, bread and wine :
Have you any bread and wine,
Mv theerie and mv thorie ?
* *
Answer.- -Yes, we have some bread and wine,
Bread and wine, bread and wine,
Yes, we have some bread and wine,
My theerie and my thorie.
Question. We shall have one glass of it, etc.
Answer. One glass of it you shall not get, etc.
Question. We are all King George's men. etc.
Answer. What care we for King George's men, etc.
Question. How many miles to Glasgow Lee ? etc.
Answer. Sixty, seventy, eighty-three, etc.
Question. Will I be there gin caiidle-licht ? etc.
Answer. Just if your feet be clean and slicht, etc.
Question. Open your gates and let me through, etc.
Answer. Not without a beck and a boo.
Reply. There's a beck and there's a boo.
Open your gates and let me through.
A struggle ensues to break through each other's lines.
and reach a fixed goal on either side the first t<>
arrive being the victors.
"GLASGOW SHIPS" is a simple but pretty game. All
join hands, forming a ring, and, moving round, sing :
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
Glasgow ships come sailing in,
Come sailing in, come sailing in ;
Glasgow ships come sailing in
On a fine summer morning.
You daurna set your fit upon,
Your fit upon, your fit upon ;
You daurna set your fit upon,
Or Gentle John will kiss you.
Three times will kiss you ;
Four times will bless you ;
Five times butter and bread
Upon a silver salver.
Who shall we send it to ?
Send it to, send it to ;
Who shall we send it to ?
To Mrs. [Thomson's] daughter
Take her by the lily-white hand,
*/ *.'
Lead her o'er the water ;
Give her kisses, one, two, three,
She's the favourite daughter.
Braw news is come to town,
Braw news is carried ;
Braw news is come to town,
[Maggie Thomson's] married.
First she got the kail-pot,
Syne she got the ladle ;
Syne she got a dainty wean,
And syne she got a cradle.
CHILDRKVS KIIYMK-CAMKS.
The girl named turns her back to the eentre nf tin-
ring, and the game is resinned. When all in like
manner have been named and have turned, the soo
race" ensues: a hurry-scurry round which continues
'
until some one falls, and the game ends bvall tumbling
in a confused heap.
" AIRLIE'S GREEN," played by boys and girls alike,
has perhaps had its greatest vogue in Strathmore. A
space is set apart for the " green," upon which he. or
she. who is " Airlie ' takes his, or her, stand. The
play begins by the crowd encroaching on the " green."
when all but " Airlie " sing :
I set my fit on Airlie's green,
And Airlie canna tak' me :
I canna get time to steer my brose
For Airlie trying to catch me.
"Airlie's" object is to "'tig'' one within the boundary.
The player touched takes his, or her, place, and the
game may proceed thus as long as desired.
" HET ROWES AND BUTTER CAKES," in some places
called " Rickety, Bickety," is a purely boy's game.
One stands with his eves bandaged, and his hands
m/
against a wall or post, with his head resting upon them.
One after another his fellows come up unnamed behind
him, laying hands on his back ; and the rhyme is
repeated by all in chorus :
Launchman, launchman, lo.
Where shall this poor Scotchman go ?
Will he gang east, or will he gang west.
Or will he gang to the hoodiecraw's nest?
84 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
The " hoodiecraw's nest ' : is the space between the
blindfolded one's feet and the wall. When all have
been sent to different places around, he who is " it "
removes the bandage from his eyes ; and when all are
ready he gives the call " Het rowes and butter
cakes ! " when all rush back to the spot w r heiice
despatched. The last to arrive is " it ; " and the game
goes on as before. Where played as " Hickety,
Bickety," the rhyme is :
Hickety, bickety, pease scone,
Where shall this poor Scotchman gang ?
Will he gang east, or will he gang west ;
Or will he gang to the craw's nest ?
QUEEN MARY.'' In this game the rhyme goes :
Queen Mary, Queen Mary, my age is sixteen,
My father's a farmer on yonder green,
With plenty of money to dress me fu' braw,
But nae bonnie laddie will tak' me awa'.
One morning I rose, and I looked in the glass,
Says I to myself I'm a handsome young lass ;
My hands by my side and I gave a ha ! ha !
there's nae bonnie laddie will tak' me awa'.
It is played by girls only, who stand in a row, with
one in front alone to begin with, who sings the verses,
and chooses another from the line. The two then join
hands and advance and retire, repeating together the
verses, with suitable action, as the one had done before
alone. At the close they select a third from the line ;
and the game proceeds thus until all are taken over.
CHILDRFA'S KIIYMK-CAMKS.
"WiiUPPlTY SrooHiK." though a game peculiar to
Lanark, and to the bovs of Lanark, and nlaved only
I
once a year, is yet worth mentioning. Its origin, like
so many of the Lanark celebrations, is lost in the mists
of antiquity, nevertheless, it is still regularly played,
and creates a sensation on its annual recurrence, affect-
ing the old scarcely less than the young in the com-
munity. From the month of October till the month of
February, inclusive, the bells in the Parish Church
steeple there cease to ring at six o'clock in the evening,
but resume on the first day of March. At the first
peal of the bell then the children start and march three
times round the church, after which a rush is made for
the Wellgate Head, where they engage in a stand-up
fight with the youth of New Lanark (who come that
length to meet them), the weapons used being their
bonnets attached to a long string. The fight over, the
victors (generally the boys of the Old Town) return,
marching in order, headed by one carrying a huge
stick in exalted attitude, with a flag or handkerchief
attached to it ; and thus arranged, they parade the
principal streets, singing, as their fathers and grand-
fathers sang before them :
Hooray,, boys^ hooray,
For we have won the day ;
We've met the bold New Lanark boys.
And chased them doun the brae !
i
In Chambers's Popular Rhymes of Scotland there is
description of " HINKUMBOOBY," which I have never
seen played. It is, however,, only an extended version
of " Looby-Looby." The party form a circle (says the
86 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
writer)., taking hold of each other's hands. One sings,
and the rest join,, to the tune of LuUibero :
Fal de ral la, fal de ral la ;
while doing so they move a little sideways and back
again, beating the time (which is slow) with their feet.
As soon as the line is concluded, each claps his hands
and wheels grotesquely round, singing at the same
time the second line of the verse :
Hinkumbooby, round about,
Then they sing, with the appropriate gesture that is,
throA
out :-
throwing their right hand into the circle and the left
Right hands in, and left hands out,
still beating the time ; then add as before, while
wheeling round, with a clap of the hands :
Hinkumbooby, round about,
Fal de ral la, fal de ral la ;
[Moving sideways as before, hand in kernel.']
Hinkumbooby, round about,
[Jrheeling round as before, with a clap of
the hands J
Left hands in and right hands out,
Hinkumbooby, round about,
Fal de ral la, fal de ral la,
Hinkumbooby, round about.
Right foot in, and left foot out,
[Right feet set into the centre.^
Hinkumbooby, round about,
Fal de ral la, fal de ral la,
Hinkumbooby, round about.
CHILDREN'S KHYMK-CAMKS.
Left foot in, and right foot out,
Hinkumbooby, round about,
Fal de ral la, fal de ral la, etc.
Heads in, and backs out,,
Hinkimibooby, round about,
Fal de ral la., ete.
Backs in, and heads out,
Hinkumbooby. round about,
/ *
Fal de ral la, etc.
A' feet in, and nae feet out,
[On this occasion all sit doirn. iritli I heir led
stretched into the centre of the ring ; and
it is a great point to rise up pro*///)!///
enough to be ready for the wheel round. ]
Hinkumbooby, round about,
Fal de ral la, etc.
Shake hands a', shake hands a',
Hinkumbooby., round about,
Fal de ral la, etc.
Good-night a', good-night a',
^^1 [The boys bowing and lite misses curtseying
in an affected formal manner.]
Hinkumbooby, round about,
Fal de ral la, fal de ral la,
Hinkumbooby, round about.
More generally played and not in Scotland only
O / J. /
is " THREE BRETHREN COME FROM SPAIN." The player^
stand in two lines, slightly apart, facing each other
88 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
the boys on one side, the girls on the other. The
boys advance dancing, and singing the first verse.
The girls remain motionless, and only she who repre-
sents the mother speaks.
We are three brethren come from Spain,
All in French garlands ;
We are come to court your daughter, Jane,
And adieu to vou, mv darlings.
^^^^^^Hl^l * *
As they recede, the mother replies :
My daughter Jane she is too young,
All in French garlands ;
She cannot bide your flattering tongue,
And adieu to you, my darlings.
The boys advance again, singing :
Be she young, or be she old,
All in French garlands,
It's for a bride she must be sold,
And adieu to you, my darlings.
Answer :
A bride, a bride, she shall not be,
All in French garlands,
Till she go through the world with me,
And adieu to vou, mv darling's.
V f~J
Address :
Then fare ye well, my lady gay,
All in French garlands ;
We'll come again some other day,
And adieu to you, my darlings.
CHILDRKVS HHYMK-dAMKS.
Answer :
Come back, come back,, you scornful knight.
All in French garlands ;
Clear up your spurs, and make them bright.
And adieu to you, my darlings.
Address :
Of my spurs take you no thought,
All in French garlands ;
For in this town they were not bought,
And adieu to you, my darlings.
Answer :-
Smell my lilies, smell my roses,
All in French garlands :
Which of my daughters do you choose ?
/ /
And adieu to you, my darlings.
Address :-
Are all your daughters safe and sound ?
All in French garlands :
Are all your daughters safe and sound ?
/ O
And adieu to you, my darlings.
Answer :
In every pocket a thousand pounds,
All in French garlands ;
On every finger a gay, gold ring,
And adieu to you, my darlings.
The formula is repeated as above until every boy has
chosen a lady-mate, when all march round arm-in-arm
in pairs, and the game is ended.
7
90 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
" HERE COMES A POOR SAILOR FROM BOTANY BAY."
This is played as a preliminary game to decide who
shall join, and which side they will take, in a coming
tug-of-war. The chief delight derived is in putting
and answering questions. Two principals, standing as
rival chiefs, and acting together as catechists, begin the
play ; and all are warned before replying :
You must say neither " Yes/' "No/' nor "Nay/'
"Black/' "White/' nor Grey."
Then, as each child approaches, the formula pro-
ceeds :
Here comes a poor sailor from Botany Bay ;
Pray,, what are you going to give him to-day ?
A pair of boots [may be the answer].
What colour are they ?
/
Brown.
Have you anything else to give him ?
I think so.
What colour is it ?
Red.
W 7 hat is it made of?
Cloth.
And what colour ?
Blue.
Have you anything else to give him ?
I don't think so.
Would you like a sweet ?
Yes.
Now he is trapped. He has given one of the fatal
replies ; and the child who answered " Yes ' goes to a
den. After all have gone through a similar form, the
youngsters are divided into two classes those who
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES. ;H
avoided answering' in the prohibited terms, and tin-
little eulprits in the den, or prison, who had tailed in
the examination. The tug-of-war now begins, tin- out-
class being pitted against the other. No rope is used ;
but arms are entwined round waists, or skirts, or coat-
tails are taken hold of ; and the victors crow over the
vanquished.
<c
JANET Jo," widely played, has for dramatis persona-,
a Father, a Mother, Janet, and a Lover. Janet lies
stretched at full length behind the scenes. The father
and mother stand revealed to receive the visits of the
lover, who approaches singing, to an air somewhat like
"The Merry Masons" :
I'm come to court Janet jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo ;
I'm come to court Janet jo-
How is she the day ?
Parents reply together :
She's up the stair washin',
Washing washin' ;
She's up the stair washin'-
Ye canna see her the day.
The lover retires, and again, and yet again, advances
with the same announcement of his object and purpose,
to which he receives similar evasive answers from Janet's
parents, who successively represent her as up the stair
"bleaching," "drying," and "ironing clothes." At
last they reply :
Janet jo's dead and gane,
Dead and gane, dead and gane ;
Janet jo's dead and gane
Ye'll see her face nae mae 1
92 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
She is then carried off to be buried,, the lover and the
rest weeping. Sometimes she revives (to their great
joy), and sometimes not, ad libitum that is,, as Janet
herself chooses.
A south-country version (Dr. Chambers tells) differs
a little, and represents Janet as " at the Well," instead
of upstairs, and afterwards "at the Mill," and so on.
A Glasgow edition gives the whole in good west-
country prose, and the lover begins : (e I'm come to
court your dochter, Kate Mackleister ! '
In the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, " Janet Jo " used
to be a dramatic entertainment amongst young rustics.
Suppose a party have met on a winter evening round a
good peat fire, writes Chambers, and is resolved to
have "Janet Jo" performed. Two undertake to per-
sonate a goodman and a goodwife ; the rest a family of
marriageable daughters. One of the lads the best
singer of the party retires, and equips himself in a
dress proper for representing an old bachelor in search
of a wife. He comes in, bonnet in hand, bowing, and
sings :-
Gude e'en to ye, maidens a',
Maidens a', maidens a' ;
Gude e'en to ye, maidens a'
mi
Be ve or no.
d
I've come to court Janet jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo ;
I've come to court Janet jo,
Janet, my jo.
Gudewife sings :
What'll ye gie for Janet jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo ;
What'll ye gie for Janet jo,
Janet, my jo ?
CHILDRKN'S RHVM K-CAMKS.
The wooer replies :
I'll gie ye a peck o' siller,
A peek o' siller, peek o' siller ;
I'll gie ye a peek o' siller
For Janet,, my jo.
Gudewife exclaims, " Gae awa', ye auld carle!' then
sings :
Ye'se never get Janet jo,
Janet jo,, Janet jo ;
Ye'se never get Janet jo,
Janet, my jo.
The wooer hereupon retires, singing a verse expressive
of mortification, but soon re-enters with a re-assured
air, singing :
I'll gie ye a peck o' gowd,
A peck o' gowd, peck o' gowd ;
I'll gie ye a peck o' gowd,
For Janet, my jo.
The matron gives him a rebuff as before, and he again
enters, singing an offer of " twa pecks o' gowd," which.
however, is also refused. At his next entry he offei^
"three pecks o' gowd," at which the gudewife brightens
up, and sings :
Come ben beside Janet Jo,
Janet jo, Janet jo ;
Ye're welcome to Janet jo,
Janet, my jo.
The suitor then advances gaily to his sweetheart, and
the affair ends in a scramble for kisses.
94 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
GOLOSHANS." This is a Hogmanay play, and
not confined to children alone, which for that, as well as
other reasons, will not inaptly close this chapter. In
some parts it was called " The Galatians/' to be sure,
I say was, because one never sees it now-a-days, though
fifty years ago,, under the one designation or the other,
it was played annually by the Hogmanay guizards,
who, dressed for the occasion, set it forth with delici-
ously unsophisticated swagger and bluster in every
house they visited that had a kitchen floor broad and
wide enough for the operation. It formed the material
of a chap-book which was regularly on sale at the
" Johnnie-a' -thing " shops in the middle of last century,
though now, I suppose, a copy could scarcely be had
for love or money. Sir Walter Scott, who delighted to
keep up old customs, and could condescend to simple
things without losing genuine dignity, invariably had a
set of guizards to perform the play before his family
both at Ashestiel and at Abbotsford. The dramatis
persona? of " The Goloshans," after the character in the
title-role who was inevitable on all occasions differed
somewhat in the various districts. Chambers gives a
fairly adequate version in his Popular Rhymes of Scot-
land ; but the fullest and best I have seen is contained
in Proverbs and Proverbial Expressions, edited by "Andrew
Cheviot," and recently published by Mr. Alexander
Gardner, of Paisley, and which I take the liberty of
quoting mainly, though part also is taken from Cham-
bers' s version. The characters are Sir Alexander ;
Farmer's Son ; Goloshan ; Wallace ; Dr. Brown ; and
Beelzebub.
Enter Sir Alexander, and speaks :
Hand away rocks, and hand away reels,
Hand away stocks and spinning-wheels ;
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
Redd room for Gorland, and gi<- us room to si
And I will show you tin- prettiest thing
That ever was seen in Christmas time.
Muekle-head and Little-wit stand ahint the door
But sie a set as we are ne'er were seen before.
Enter next Farmer's Son :
Here come I, the farmer's son,
Although I be but young, sir,
I've got a spirit brave,
And I'll freely risk my life,
Mv country for to save.
*.
Goloshan appears :
Here come I, Goloshan Goloshan is my name,
With sword and pistol by my side, I hope to win the
game.
Farmer's Son :
The game, sir, the game, sir ! it is not in your power,
I'll cut YOU into inches in less than half-an-hour.
/
My head is made of iron, my heart is made of steel,
My sword is a Ferrara that can do its duty weel.
Goloshan :
Mv bodv is like rock, sir. mv head is like a stone,
/ .
And I will be Goloshan when you are dead and gone.
Enter Wallace :
Here come I, Sir William Wallace, wight,
Who shed his blood for Scotland's right ;
Without a right, without a reason,
Here I draw my bloody weapon.
(Fights with (Ho/o.shan the latter fall*.)
96 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
Farmer's Son :
Now that young man is dead; sir, and on the ground is
laid,
And you shall suffer for it., I'm very much afraid.
Wallace :
It was not me that did the deed,, nor me that did the
crime,,
'Twas this young man behind me who drew his sword
so fine.
Sir Alexander :
Oh,, you artful villain, to lay the blame on me !
For my two eyes were shut, sir, when this young man
did dee.
Wallace :
How could your eyes be shut, sir, when you were
looking on ?
How could your eyes be shut, sir, when both the
swords were draw r n ?
Farmer's Son (to Wallace) :
How can you thus deny the deed ? As I stood looking
on,
You drew your sword from out its sheath, and slashed
his body dow r n.
Wallace :
If I have slain Goloshan, Goloshan I will cure,
And I will make him rise and sing in less than half-an-
hour ;
Round the kitchen, round the town,
Haste and bring me Dr. Brown.
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES. !>7
Dr. Brown enters :
Here come I, old Dr. Brown, the foremost doctor in
the town.
Wallace :
What makes you so good, sir ?
Doctor :
Why., my travels.
Wallace :
And where have you travelled ?
Doctor :
From Hickerty-pickertv-hedgehog, three times round
the West Indies, and back to old Scotland.
Wallace :
Is that all ?
Doctor :
No sir. I have travelled from fireside to chairside,
from chairside to stoolside, from stoolside to table-
side, from tableside to bedside, from bedside to
press-side, and got many a lump of bread and
butter from my mother ; and that's the way mv
belly's so big.
Wallace :
Well, what can you cure ?
Doctor :
I can cure the rurvy-scurvy, and the rumble-gumption
of a man who has been seven years dead or more,
and can make ail old woman of sixty look like a
*/
girl of sixteen.
98 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
Wallace :-
How much would you take to cure this dead man ?
Would five pounds do ?
Doctor (turning away) :
Five pounds ! No, five pounds would not get a good
kit of brose.
Wallace :
Would ten pounds do ?
Doctor :
Yes, perhaps ten pounds would do that, and a pint of
wine. I have a bottle of inky-pinkie in my
pocket. (Approaches Goloshan.) By the hocus-
pocus and the magical touch of my little finger ;
heigh ho ! start up, Jack, and sing !
Goloshan (rises and sings) :
Oh, once I was dead, sir, but now I am alive^
And blessed be the doctor that made me revive ;
We'll all join hands, and never fight no more,
We'll all be good fellows, as we have been before.
All four :-
We'll all shake hands and agree, and never fight no
more,
We'll all be like brothers, as we were once before ;
God bless the master of this house, the mistress fair
likewise,
And all the pretty children that round the table rise.
Go down into your cellar and see what you can find,
Your barrels being not empty, we hope you will prove
kind ;
CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES. ')')
We hope you will prove kind, with whisky and \\illi
beer,
We wish vou a Merry Christinas, likewise a good New
Year.
Enter Beelzebub (for the collection) :
Here come I, Old Beelzebub,, over my shoulder I carry
a club,
And in my hand a frying-pan. Am not I a jolly old
man ?
It's money I want., and money I crave,
If ye don't give me money I'll sweep ye to your grave.
Old Beelzebub's appeal not being resisted (for who
might dare to resist such ?), the picturesque players
retire, and proceed from thence merrily to occupy
another stage.
Mr. Sandys, it may be noted, in his elegant volume
of Christmas Carols (1833), transcribes a play called " St.
George," which still is, or used to be, acted at the New
Year in Cornwall, exactly after the manner of our
Scottish play of " Goloshan," which it resembles as
much as various versions of " Goloshan ' in Scotland
resemble each other. The leading characters, besides
St. George himself and the Dragon, which is twice
killed, are a Turkish knight and the King of Egypt.
It is curious thus, as Dr. Chambers remarks, to find
one play, with unimportant variations, preserved tradi-
tionally by the common people in parts of the island so
distant from each other, and in many respects so
different.
It is curious further, and of much interest to note,
that in these singing-games, if nowhere else, the
100 CHILDREN'S RHYME-GAMES.
country and the city child, the children of the mansion
and the children of the alley,, meet all, beautifully., on
common ground. And, how the out-door ones lie dor-
mant for spaces, and spring simultaneously into action
in widely separated parts town and country alike is
a problem which may not be easily solved. It seems
to us that, like the songs of birds, they belong to
certain seasons, and are suggested, each in its turn, or
class by class, by the feeling in the air. But mark,
I say only seems, for who may dogmatize on such
matters !
CHILDREN'S
SONGS AND BALLADS.
XOT the more exalted songs of child life here not
"Willie Winkie," and "Cuddle Doon," and " Castles
in the Air/' and all that widely esteemed band, which,
collectively, would themselves tax the limits of a large
volume but some of the ruder ditties only which the
children for many generations have delighted to sing,,
and been no less charmed by hearing sung,, and which
of late have not been so frequently seen in print.
These rude old favourites, too, with slight comment-
little being required. And of such, surely " Cock
Robin ' may well be awarded the place of honour a
song which, together with the more elaborate tale of
k ' The Babes in the Wood," has done more to make its
pert and dapper red-waistcoated subject the general
favourite he is with old and young, than any virtue
/ O - *
that may be claimed for the little tyrant himself.
COCK ROBIN.
Who killed Cock Robin ?
I, said the Sparrow,
With my bow and arrow,
I killed Cock Robin.
102 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
Who saw him die ?
I; said the Fly,
With my little eye,
I saw him die.
Who caught his blood ?
I, said the Fish,,
W 7 ith my little dish,
I caught his blood.
Who'll make his shroud ?
I, said the Beetle,
With my thread and needle,,
I'll make his shroud.
Who'll carry him to his grave ?
I, said the Kite,
If it's not in the night,
I'll carry him to his grave.
Who'll dig his grave ?
I, said the Owl,
With my spade and shovel,
I'll dig his grave.
Who'll carry the link ?
I, said the Linnet,
I'll fetch it in a minute,
I'll carry the link.
Who'll be chief mourner ?
I, said the Dove,
I'll mourn for my love,
I'll be chief mourner.
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. 10:;
Who'll sing the psalm ?
I, said the Thrush,
As he sat on a bush,
I'll sing the psalm.
Who'll be the parson ?
I, said the Rook,
With my little book,
I'll be the parson.
Who'll be the clerk ?
I, said the Lark,
If it's not in the dark,
I'll be the clerk.
Who'll toll the bell ?
I, said the Bull,
Because I can pull,
I'll toll the bell.
And all the little birds
Fell a-sighing and a-sobbing,
When they heard the bell toll
For poor Cock Robin.
And of Cock Robin again, 110 less captivating has
been the ballad celebrating his wedding with little
Jenny Wren. Though why w r ith a lady of the Wren
family, must always strike naturalists as an absurdity ;
and, I suppose, w^e may not ask how it was the banns
were not forbidden, since the Messrs. Wren, with
the children, and the w r hole creation of birds with
the single exception of a blackguard cuckoo have
jubilantly acquiesced in the nuptials.
104 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
THE MARRIAGE OF COCK ROBIN AND
JENNY WREN.
It was a merry time,
When Jenny Wren was young,
So neatly as she dressed,
And so sweetly as she sung.
Robin Redbreast lost his heart,
He was a gallant bird ;
He doffed his hat to Jenny,
And thus to her he said :
" My dearest Jenny Wren,
If you will but be mine,
You shall dine on cherry pie
And drink nice currant wine.
" I'll dress you like a goldfinch,
/ o
Or like a peacock gay ;
So, if you'll have me, Jenny,
Let us appoint the day."
Jenny blushed behind her fan,
And thus declared her mind :
" Then let it be to-morrow, Bob
I take your offer kind.
" Cherry pie is very good,
So is currant wine ;
But I'll wear my russet gown
And never dress too fine."
CHILDREN'S SONGS AM) BALLADS. in:,
Robin rose up early,
At the break of day ;
He flew to Jenny Wren's house
To sing a roundelay.
He met the Cock and Hen,
And bade the Cock declare
This was his wedding day
With Jenny Wren the fair.
The Cock then blew his horn,
To let the neighbours know
This was Robin's wedding day,
And they might see the show.
* c7>
Then followed him the Lark,
For he could sweetly sing,
And he w r as to be the clerk
At Cock Robin's wedding.
He sang of Robin's love
For little Jenny Wren ;
And when he came unto the end,
Then he began again.
At first came Parson Rook,
With his spectacles and band ;
And one of Mother Hubbard's books
He held within his hand.
The Goldfinch came 011 next,
To give away the bride ;
The Linnet, being bridesmaid,
Walked by Jenny's side ;
8
106 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
And as she was a-walking,
Said; " Upon my word,,
I think that your Cock Robin
/
Is a very pretty bird."
The Blackbird and the Thrush,
And charming Nightingale,
Whose sweet songs sweetly echo
Through every grove and dale ;
The Sparrow and the Tomtit,
And many more were there ;
/
All came to see the wedding
Of Jenny Wren the fair.
The Bullfinch walked by Robin,
And thus to him did say :
" Pray mark, friend Robin Redbreast,
That Goldfinch dressed so gay ;
" That though her gay apparel
Becomes her very well,
Yet Jenny's modest dress and look
Must bear away the bell."
/
Then came the bride and bridegroom ;
Quite plainly was she dressed,
And blushed so much, her cheeks were
As red as Robin's breast.
But Robin cheered her up ;
" My pretty Jen," says he,
" We're going to be married,
And happy we shall be."
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. 107
"Oh," then savs Parson Rook,
"Who gives this maid away ? '
"I do," says the Goldfinch,
mi
"And her fortune I will pay :
1 /
"
Here's a bag of grain of many sorts,
And other things beside ;
Now happy be the bridegroom,
And happy be the bride ! '
" And you will have her, Robin,
To be your wedded wife ? '
"Yes, I will," says Robin,
" And love her all my life ! '
" And you will have him Jenny,
Your husband now to be ? '
"Yes, I will," says Jenny,
"And love him heartily."
Then on her finger fair
Cock Robin put the ring ;
" You're married now/' says Parson Rook,
While the lark aloud did sing :
" Happy be the bridegroom,
And happy be the bride !
And may not man, nor bird, nor beast,
This happy pair divide ! '
The birds were asked to dine ;
Not Jenny's friends alone,
But every pretty songster
That had Cock Robin known.
108 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS
They had a cherry pie,
Besides some currant wine,
And every guest brought something,
That sumptuous they might dine.
Now they all sat or stood,
To eat and to drink ;
And every one said what
He happened to think.
They each took a bumper,
And drank to the pair ;
Cock Robin the bridegroom,
And Jenny the fair.
The dinner-things removed,
They all began to sing ;
And soon they made the place
For a mile around to ring.
The concert it was fine,
And every birdie tried
Who best should sing for Robin
And Jenny Wren the bride.
When in came the Cuckoo,
And made a great rout ;
He caught hold of Jenny,
And pulled her about.
Cock Robin was angry,
And so was the Sparrow,
W r ho fetched in a hurry
His bow and his arrow.
CHILDREN'S SON(iS AND BALLADS. in;,
His aim then he took,
Hut he took it not right,
His skill was not good,
Or he shot in a fright ;
For the Cuckoo he missed,
But Cock Robin he killed !-
And all the birds mourned
That his blood was so spilled.
Yet another song of the Robin which has moistened
the eyes of many a youthful vocalist. I don't know
that it ever had a title, but we will call it
THE NORTH WIND.
The North wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will the Robin do then, poor thing ?
He will sit in the barn,
And keep himself warm,
With his little head under his wing, poor thing !
It is not claimed for these pieces that they belong to
any high order of verse though really, in more senses
than one, they belong to the very first. In point of
popularity alone, they are not surpassed by " Paradise
Lost," nor by the plays of Shakespeare, or the songs of
Burns. Then, they have so thoroughly commanded
the interest and engaged the affections of the wee folks,
that, with old and young alike for the young so soon
grow into the old, alas ! there are no compositions in
110 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
the world better secured for the honour and glory of
immortal fame. They have not been very often printed,
1 have said not often in recent years, at least and
the reason, I suppose, is because it was not deemed
necessary to set out in print what everybody knows so
well by heart. It must be refreshing for the eye,
however, to scan what is so familiar to the ear, and I
make no apology yea, I hope to be thanked for their
appearance in this little book for bairns and big folk.
Let the next be
LITTLE BO-PEEP.
Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep,
And doesn't know where to find them ;
Let them alone, and they'll come home,
Bringing their tails behind them.
Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep.
And dreamt she heard them bleating ;
But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
For still they all were fleeting.
Then up she took her little crook,
Determined for to find them ;
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
For they'd left their tails behind them.
It happen'd one day, as Bo-peep did stray
Under a meadow hard by,
That she espied their tails, side by side,
All hung on a tree to dry.
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. Ill
She heaved a sigh, and wiped her eye,
And over the hillocks went stump-o ;
And tried as she could, as a shepherdess should,
To tack again each to its ruinp-o.
The ballad lacks sadly in particulars, to be sure. How
the tails of the entire flock disappeared in one fell
swoop whether by malice aforethought, at the instance
of a lurking enemy, or in a miraculous accident, whilst
the young shepherdess slept at her charge has never
been told, though thousands of wondering pows, multi-
plied by ten, have wanted to know. Perhaps it is
better not explained. Mystery is so often just another
word for charm.
We will now have the curious tale of " The House
that Jack Built." In no sense a curious house, perhaps,
but famous because of the fortuitous events which
issued in regular sequence from the simple fact of the
builder having stored a quantity of malt within its
walls. It is told best with the accompaniment of
pictorial illustrations, but here these are not available.
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.
This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the rat
That ate the malt
That lav in the house
That Jack built.
112 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
This is the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
/
That Jack built.
This is the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog-
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built
This is the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
CHILDREN'S SONGS AM) BALLADS. II.;
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog-
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the cock that crowed in the morn
And waked the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
It has been a satisfaction to many a little boy, I
am sure,, to feel that he was not,, by many miles, so
simple as that most abject of all simpletons, familiar to
him as
1U CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
SIMPLE SIMON.
Simple Simon met a pie-man,
Going to the fair ;
Said Simple Simon to the pie-man,
" Let me taste your ware."
Says the pie-man, " Simple Simon,
Show me first your penny ; '
Said Simple Simon to the pie-man,
" Indeed, I have not any."
Simple Simon went a-fishing,
For to catch a whale ;
All the water he had got
Was in his mother's pail !
Some may follow without comment.
OLD MOTHER HUBBARD.
Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cupboard,
To get her poor doggie a bone ;
When she got there, the cupboard was bare,
And so the poor doggie had none.
She went to the baker's to buy him some bread,
mf
But when she came back the poor doggie was dead.
She went to the undertaker's to buy him a coffin,
mf
And when she came back the doggie was laughing.
She went to the butcher's to get him some tripe,
And when she came back he was smoking a pipe.
CHILDRKVS SONGS AND BALLADS.
She went to the fish-shop to buy him some fish,
And when she came back he was washing the dish.
She went to the tavern for white wine and red,
And when she came back dojurie stood on his head.
'no
She went to the hatter's to buy him a hat,
And when she came back he was feeding the cat.
She went to the tailor's to buy him a coat,
-'
And when she came back he was riding the goat.
She went to the barber's to buy him a wig,
And when she came back he was dancing a jig.
She went to the draper's to buy him some linen,
And when she came back the good dog was spinning.
She went to the hosier's to buy him some hose,
And when she came back he was dressed in his clothes.
The dame made a curtsey, the dog made a bow,
The dame said, " Your servant," the dog said, " Bow-
wow.'
OLD MOTHER GOOSE.
Old Mother Goose, when
She wanted to wander,
Would ride through the air
On a very fine gander.
116 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
Mother Goose had a house,
'Twas built in a wood,
Where an owl at the door
For a sentinel stood.
She had a son Jack,
A plain -looking lad,
Not very good,
Nor yet very bad.
She sent him to market,
A live goose he bought,
" Here, mother," says he,
" It won't go for nought."
Jack's goose and the gander
Grew very fond,
They'd both eat together,
Or swim in one pond.
Jack found, one fine morning,
As I have been told,
His goose had laid him
o
An egg of pure gold.
Jack rode to his mother
The news for to tell ;
She called him a good boy,
And said it was well.
Jack sold his gold egg
To a rascally Jew r ,
Who cheated him out of
The half of his due.
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. II?
Then Jack went a-courting
A lady so gay,
As fair as the lily,
And sweet as the May.
V
The Jew and the Squire
Came behind his back
And began to belabour
The sides of poor Jack.
And then the gold egg
Was thrown in the sea,
When Jack he jumped in
And got it presently.
The Jew got the goose,
Which he vowed he would kill,
Resolving at once
His pockets to fill.
Jack's mother came in
And caught the goose soon,
And mounting its back,
Flew up to the moon.
THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG.
An old woman was sweeping her house, and she
found a little crooked sixpence. "What," she said,
" shall I do with this little sixpence ? I will go to
market and buy a little pig." As she was coming home
she came to a stile. The piggy would not go over the
stile. She went a little farther, and she met a dog, so
she said to the dog :
118 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
" Dog, dog, bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
But the dog would not.
She went a little farther, and she met a stick. So
she said :
" Stick, stick, beat dog ;
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
But the stick would not.
She went a little farther, and she met a fire. So she
said :
" Fire, fire, burn stick ;
Stick won't beat dog ;
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile ;
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
But the fire would not.
She went a little farther, and she met some water.
So she said :
" Water, water, quench fire ;
Fire won't burn stick ;
Stick won't beat dog ;
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! "
o ~
But the water would not.
CHILDRFA'S SONGS AND BALLADS. ll<>
She went a little farther, and she met an ox. So she
said :
" Ox, ox, drink water ;
Water won't quench fire ;
Fire won't burn stiek ;
Stick won't beat dog ;
Do won't bite i ;
Piggv won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
But the ox would not.
She went a little farther, and she met a butcher. So
she said :
" Butcher, butcher, kill ox ;
Ox w r on't drink water ;
Water won't quench fire ;
Fire won't burn stick ;
Stick won't beat dog ;
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
But the butcher would not.
She went a little farther, and she met a rope. So
she said :
" Rope, rope, hang butcher ;
Butcher won't kill ox ;
Ox won't drink water ;
Water won't quench fire ;
Fire won't burn stick ;
Stick won't beat dog ;
UO CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
But the rope would not.
She went a little farther, and she met a rat. So she
said :
" Rat, rat, gnaw rope ;
Rope won't hang butcher ;
Butcher won't kill ox ;
Ox won't drink water ;
Water won't quench fire ;
Fire won't burn stick ;
Stick won't beat dog ;
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
But the rat would not.
She went a little farther, and she met a cat, So she
said :
" Cat, cat, kill rat ;
Rat won't gnaw rope ;
Rope won't hang butcher ;
Butcher won't kill ox ;
Ox won't drink water ;
Water won't quench fire ;
Fire won't burn stick ;
Stick won't beat bog ;
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! "
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. K>|
But the cat said to her, " If you will go to vonder
cow. and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill the rat."
So away went the old woman to the cow, and said :
" Cow, cow, give me a saucer of milk ;
Cat won't kill rat ;
Rat won't gnaw rope :
Rope won't hang butcher ;
Butcher won't kill ox ;
Ox won't drink water ;
Water won't quench fire ;
Fire won't burn stick ;
Stick won't beat dog ;
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
cj f_j
But the cow said to her, " If you will go to yonder
haymakers, and fetch me a wisp of hay, I'll give you
the milk." So away went the old woman to the hay-
makers, and said :
" Haymakers, give me a wisp of hay ;
Cow won't give milk ;
Cat won't kill rat ;
Rat won't gnaw rope ;
Rope won't hang butcher ;
Butcher won't kill ox ;
Ox won't drink water ;
W T ater won't quench fire ;
Fire won't burn stick ;
Stick won't beat dog ;
Dog won't bite pig ;
Piggy won't get over the stile,
And I shan't get home to-night ! '
122 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
But the haymakers said to her., " If you will go to
yonder stream,, and fetch us a bucket of water., we'll
give you the hay." So away the old woman went.
But when she got to the stream,, she found the bucket
was full of holes. So she covered the bottom with
pebbles,, and then filled the bucket with water, and she
went back with it to the haymakers, and they gave her
a wisp of hay.
As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the
old woman the milk ; and away she went with it in a
saucer to the cat. As soon as the cat had lapped up
the milk
The cat began to kill the rat ;
The rat began to gnaw the rope ;
The rope began to hang the butcher ;
The butcher began to kill the ox ;
The ox began to drink the w r ater ;
The water began to quench the fire ;
The fire began to burn the stick ;
The stick began to beat the dog ;
The dog began to bite the pig ;
The little pig in a fright jumped over the stile ;
So the old woman got home that night !
A FROG HE WOULD A-WOOING GO.
A Frog he would a-wooing go,
Heigho, says Roly !
Whether his mother would let him or 110,
With a roly-poly,, gammon and spinach,,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. i^:;
So oft' he set in his coat and hat,
Heigho, says Roly !
And on the way he met a Rat,
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
" Please, Mr. Rat, will you go with me ? '
Heigho, says Roly !
" Good Mrs. Mousie for to see ? '
With a roly-poly,, gammon and spinach,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
When they came to the door of Mousie's hole,
Heigho, says Roly !
They gave a loud knock, and they gave a loud call,
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
" Please, Mrs. Mouse, are you within ? '
Heigho, says Roly !
" Oh yes, dear sirs, I am sitting to spin,"
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
"Please, Mrs. Mouse, will you give us some beer?"
Heigho, says Roly !
" For Froggy and I are fond of good cheer,"
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
" Please, Mr. Frog, will you give us a song ? '
Heigho, says Roly !
"But let it be something that's not very long,"
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
124 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
But while they were making a terrible din,
Heigho, says Roly !
The cat and her kittens came tumbling in,
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Hei<>-ho, says Anthony Roly !
" J *'
The cat she seized Mr. Rat by the crown,
Heigho, says Roly !
The kittens they pulled Mrs. Mousie down,
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
This put Mr. Frog in a terrible fright,
Heigho, says Roly !
O J J
He took up his hat and he wished them good-night,
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Heigho. savs Anthony Roly !
O - *J
But as Froggy was crossing over a brook,
Heigho, says Roly !
A lily-white duck came and swallowed him up,
With a roly-poly, gammon and spinach,
Heigho, says Anthony Roly !
There are various versions of the above narrative of a
^adly disastrous expedition, in English and in Scotch
alike. The Ballad Book, a curious collection, of which
thirty copies only were printed, in 1824-, embraces one
beginning :
There lived a Puddy in a w r ell,
Cuddy alone, Cuddy alone ;
There lived a Puddy in a well,
Cuddy alone and I.
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. 1^:>
There lived a Puddv in a well,
And a Mousie in a mill ;
Kiekmaleerie, cowden down,
Cuddy alone and I.
Puddv he'd a-wooin' ride,,
Cuddy alone, Cuddy alone ;
Sword and pistol by his side,
Cuddy alone and I.
Puddv came to the Mousie's home ;
" Mistress Mouse, are you within ? '
Kiekmaleerie, cowden down,
Cuddy alone and I.
And which goes forward narrating the almost iden-
tically same story : which story, homely and simple
as it appears, is of surprising antiquity. In 1580, the
Stationers' Company licensed " a ballad of a most
strange wedding of the frogge and the mouse ; " and
that same ballad Dr. Robert Chambers printed from a
small quarto manuscript of poems formerly in the
possession of Sir Walter Scott, dated 1 630. This very
old version begins :
Itt was ye frog in ye wall,
Humble doune, humble doune ;
And ye mirrie mouse in ye mill,
Tweidle, tweidle, twino.
And the closing lines tell that
Quhen ye supper they war at,
The frog, mouse, and evin ye ratt.
There com in Gib our cat,
And chaught ye mouse evin by ye back.
126 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
Then did they all seperat,
And ye frog lap on ye floor so flat.
Then in com Dick our drack,
And drew ye frog evin to ye lack.
Ye rat ran up ye wall,
A goodlie companie, ye devall goe with all.
Of meaner antiquity,, perhaps, but no less a favourite
with the young, is the amusing ditty of
THE CARRION CROW.
A Carrion Crow sat on an oak,
Fol de riddle,, lol de riddle,, eye ding do,
Watching a tailor shape his coat ;
Sing he, sing ho, the old carrion crow,
Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, eye ding do !
Wife, bring me my old bent bow,
Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, eye ding do,
That I may shoot yon carrion crow ;
Sing he, sing ho, the old carrion crow,
Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, eye ding do !
The tailor shot, and missed his mark,
Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, eve dins; do,
/ O
But shot the pig right through the heart ;
Sing he, sing ho, the old carrion crow,
Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, eye ding do.
The next, though it has engaged the attention of
the adult population, is a prime old-time favourite with
the children as well.
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. l'J7
MY PRETTY MAID.
ff Where are you going to, my pretty maid ? '
I am going a-milking, sir," she said.
(C
" May I go with you, my pretty maid ? '
" You're kindly welcome, sir," she said.
" What is your father, my pretty maid ? '
" My father's a farmer, sir," she said.
" What is your fortune, my pretty maid ? '
" My face is my fortune, sir," she said.
" Then I won't marry you, my pretty maid."
Nobody asked you, sir," she said.
"
The original of the following, which has delighted
particularly the children of Scotland for many genera-
tions, appears with its pleasing air in Johnson's
Musical Museum :
CAN Y T OU SEW CUSHIONS?
O can ye sew cushions ?
Or can ye sew sheets ?
An' can ye sing ba-la-loo
When the bairnie greets ?
An' hee an' ba, birdie,
An' hee an' ba, lamb,
Ah' hee an' ba, birdie,
My bonnie wee man.
Hee O, w^ee O, what'll I do wi' ye ?
Black is the life that I lead wi' ye ;
Owre moiiy o' ye, little to gie ye,
Hee O, wee O, what'll I do wi' ye ?
128 CHILDREN'S SOXGS AND BALLADS.
Now hush-a-ba, lammie.,
An' hnsh-a-ba, dear ;
Xow hush-a-ba, lammie,
Thy minnie is here,,
The wild wind is ravin',
Thy miiinie's heart's sair ;
The wild wind is raving
An' ye dinna care.
Hee O, wee O, etc.
Sing ba-la-loo, lammie,
Sing bo-la-loo, clear ;
Does wee lammie ken
That his daddie's no here ?
Ye're rockin' fii' sweetly
/
On mammie's warm knee^
But daddie's a-rockin'
Upon the saut sea.
Hee O, wee O, etc.
O I hung thy cradle
/
On yon holly top,
An' aye as the wind blew
Thy cradle did rock.
An' hush-a-ba, baby,
O ba-lillv-loo ;
/
An' hee an' ba, birdie,
My bonnie wee doo !
Hee O, wee O, etc.
We see continually how dear to the songs of child-
Kfe are the mention of birds and all things sweet in the
c3
round of everyday life. Here now
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. I ,';
HUSH-A-BA BIRDIE, CROON.
Hush-a-ba birdie, croon, croon,
Hush-a-ba birdie, croon;
The sheep are gane to the silver wood,
And the coos are gane to the broom, broom,
And the coos are gane to the broom.
And it's braw milking the kye, kye,
It's braw milking the kye ;
The birds are singing, the bells are ringing,
The wild deer come galloping by, by,
The wild deer come galloping by.
And hush-a-ba birdie, croon, croon,
Hush-a-ba birdie, croon ;
The gaits are gane to the mountain hie,
And they 11 no be hame till noon,
And they'll no be hame till noon.
A prime favourite none excelling it has been
DANCE TO YOUR DADDIE.
Dance to your daddie,
My bonnie laddie,
Dance to your daddie, my bonnie lamb ;
And ye'll get a fishie,
In a little dishie,
Ye'll get a fishie when the boat comes hame !
Dance to your daddie,
My bonnie laddie,
Dance to your daddie, my bonnie lamb !
130 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
And ye'll get a coatie,
And a pair o' breekies-
Ye'll get a whippie and a supple Tain !
By the bye. as touching the lullaby order of these
- / Cf m/
songs, it is interesting to note that, no matter of what
age or nation they may be, they are all but regularly
made up on precisely the same plan. There is first the
appeal to the child to slumber, or to rest and be happy ;
then comes the statement that the father is away fol-
lowing some toilsome occupation ; and the promise
succeeds that he will soon return laden with the fruits
of his labour, and all will be well. We have been
seeing,, and will see again,, how the Scottish go. The
Norwegian mother sings :
Row, row to Baltnarock,
How many fish caught in the net ?
/ O
One for father and one for mother,
One for sister and one for brother.
Even the Hottentot mother promises her child that
its "dusky sire' shall bring it "shells from yonder
shore/' where he has probably been occupied in turning
turtles over on their broad backs. The Breton sons:
goes
Fais dado, pauvre, p'tit Pierrot,
Papa est sur 1'eau
Qui fait des bateaux
Pour le p'tit Pierrot.
The Swedish cradle song follows the almost universal
custom. It runs (in English) :
CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS. i:;i
Hush, hush, baby mine !
Pussy climbs the big green pine,
Ma turns the mill stone,
Pa to kill the pig has gone.
The Danish does not prove an exception :
Lullaby., sweet baby mine !
Mother spins the thread so fine ;
Father o'er the bridge has gone,
Shoes he'll buy for little John.
/
The North German cradle song is :
Schlaf Kindchen, schlaf !
Dein Vater hut't die schaf ;
Dein Mutter schuttelts Baumelien,
Da fallt herab ein Tramelein,
Schlaf, Kindchen, schlaf !
Which, being done into English, runs :
Sleep, baby, sleep !
Thy father guards the sheep ;
The mother shakes the dreamland tree,
And from it falls sweet dreams for thee.
Sleep, baby, sleep.
The simplest and crudest of these, we may be sure,
has lulled millions to sleep, and by virtue of that
association is worth more than many quartos of recent
verse deliberately composed with the view of engaging
the attention of the nursery circle. How many
volumes of the newer wares, for instance, might be
accepted in exchange for
132 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
KATIE BEARDIE.
Katie Beardie had a coo,
Black and white about the mou' ;
Wasna that a dentie coo ?
Dance, Katie Beardie !
Katie Beardie had a hen,
Cackled but an' cackled ben ;
Wasna that a dentie hen ?
Dance, Katie Beardie !
Katie Beardie had a cock
That could spin a gude tow rock ;
Wasna that a dentie cock ?
Dance, Katie Beardie !
Katie Beardie had a grice,
It could skate upon the ice ;
Wasna that a dentie grice ?
Dance, Katie Beardie !
Katie Beardie had a wean,
That was a' her lovin' ain ;
Wasna that a dentie wean ?
Dance, Katie Beardie !
Yet, there is tolerable proof extant that the above dates
from at least the beginning of the seventeenth century.
"Katharine Beardie,' an v way, is the name affixed to
*/ / -*
an air in a manuscript musical collection which be-
longed to the Scottish poet, Sir William Mure, of
Rowallan, written, presumably, between the years
1612 and 1628. The same tune, under the name of
CHILDREN'S SONGS AM) BALLADS. I.;:;
" Kette Bairdie," also appears in a similar collection
which belonged to Sir John Skenc of Hallyards, sup-
posed to have been written about 1 ()^9- Further,
so well did Sir Walter Scott know that this was a
popular dance during the reign of King James VI.,
as Mr. Dawney points out, that he introduces it in
the Fortunes of ^igcl, with this difference, that it is
there called " Chrichty Bairdie," a name not precisely
identical with that here given ; but as Kit is a diminu-
tive of Christopher, it is not difficult to perceive how
the two came to be confounded. Old as it certainly
is and older by a deal it may be than these presents
indicate it maintains yet the charm of youth delight-
ing all with its lightly tripping numbers. No less
does
THE MILLER'S DOCHTER.
There was a miller's doc-liter,
She wadna want a baby, O ;
She took her father's grey hound
C7 *.
An' row'd it in a plaidie, O.
Singing;, Hush-a-ba ! hush-a-ba !
o O- 7
Hush-a-ba, my baby, O !
An 'twere na for you lang beard,
I wad kiss your gabbie, O !
While bedding operations have been in progress no
song, surely, has been more welcome and effective than
HAP AND ROW.
Hap and row, hap and row,
Hap and row the feetie o't ;
I never keiit I had a bairn
Until I heard the greetie o't.
134 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
The wife put on the wee pan
To boil the bairn's meatie, O,
When down fell a cinder
And burn't a' its feetie, O.
Hap and row, hap and row,
Hap and row the feetie o't ;
I never kent I had a bairn
Until I heard the greetie o't.
Sandy's mither she came in
As sune's she heard the greetie o't,
She took the mutch frae aff her head
And rowed it round the feetie o't.
Hap and row, hap and row, etc.
In about equal favour stands
HOW DAN, DILLY DOW.
How dan, dilly dow,
Hey dow, dan,
Weel were ye're mimiie,
^^H An' ye w r ere a man.
Ye wad hunt an' hawk,
An' hand her o' game,
An' water your daddie's horse
When he cam' hame.
How dan, dillv dow,
mi
Hey dan, floors,
Ye'se lie i' your bed
Till eleven hours.
CHILDRKX'S SOXGS AXD BALLADS. 135
If at eleven hours
You list to rise,
Ye'se hae your dinner dight
In a new guise.
Laverocks' legs,
And titlins' taes,
And a' sic dainties
My mannie shall hae.
A cheery and comforting lilt, indeed, with its promise
of plenty. Much superior to the next, which bears in
its bosom the hollow and unwelcome ring of a " toom
girnal ' a sound no child should ever know. It is
yet a lilt familiar to the nursery :
CROWDIE.
Oh, that I had ne'er been married,
I wad never had nae care ;
Now I've gotten wife and bairns,
They cry Crowdie ! ever mair.
Crowdie ance, crowdie twice,
Three times crowdie in a day ;
Gin ye crowdie ony mair,
Ye'll crowdie a' my meal away.
Quoting the stanzas as an old ballad in a letter to
his friend, Mrs. Duiilop, in December, lT9->^ the poet
Burns wrote: "There had much need to be many
pleasures annexed to the states of husband and father,
for, God knows, they have many peculiar cares. I
cannot describe to you the anxious, sleepless hours
these ties frequently give me. I see a train of helpless
i.;(i CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
little folks ; me and my exertions all their stay ; and
on what a brittle thread does the life of man hang !
If 1 am nipt off at the command of Fate., even in all
the vigour of manhood,, as I am such things happen
every day Gracious God ! what would become of my
little flock ? Tis here that I envy your people of
fortune. A father on his death-bed, taking an ever-
lasting leave of his children,, has indeed woe enough ;
but the man of competent fortune leaves his sons and
daughters independency and friends ; while I but 1
shall run distracted if I think any longer on the
subject ! ' So might we all. Then, away with it, and
let us have a more lightsome spring.
WHISTLE. WHISTLE, AULD WIFE,
' Whistle, whistle, atild wife,
An' ve'se get a hen.'
*' O
" I wadna whistle," quo' the wife,
" Though ye wad gi'e me ten."
" Whistle, whistle, auld wife,
An' ye'se get a cock."
" I wadna whistle," quo' the wife,
" Though ye'd gi'e me a flock."
"Whistle, whistle, auld wife,
And ye'se get a goun."
" I wadna whistle," quo' the wife,
" For the best ane i' the toun."
" Whistle, whistle, auld wife,
An' ye'se get a coo."
" I wadna whistle," quo' the wife,
" Though ye wad gi'e me two."
CHILDRKVS SONGS AM) BALLADS. I'M
"Whistle, whistle, auld wife,
An' ye'se get a man."
" Wheeple-whauple" quo' the wife,
" I'll whistle as I can."
Sung with vocal mimicry, the above makes a strikingly
effective entertainment.
The sonar of (< The Three Little Pi<>-s ' embraces a
O C3
palpable moral, which not children alone would be the
better for taking to heart. I wish I could sing it for
you, my reader, as I have heard Mr. Tom Hunt, the
well-known animal painter, sing it in social circles in
Glasgow :
THE THREE LITTLE PIGS.
A jolly old sow once lived in a sty,
And three little piggies had she ;
And she waddled about saying, " grumph ! grumph !
grumph ! '
While the little ones said " wee ! wee ! '
And she waddled about saying, " grumph ! grumph !
grumph ! '
While the little ones said " wee ! wee ! '
" My dear little piggies," said one of the brats,
" My dear little brothers," said he,
" Let us all for the future say, f grumph ! grumph !
grumph ! '
'Tis so childish to say, f wee ! wee ! '
Let us all, etc.
10
1,-JS CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
These three little piggies grew skinny and lean,,
And lean they might very well be.
For somehow they couldn't say "grumph! grumph !:'
grumph ! '
And they wouldn't say " wee ! wee ! '
For somehow, etc.
So after a time these little pigs died,
They all died of fe-lo-de-see,
From trying too hard to say " grumph ! grumph !
grumph ! '
When they only could say ec wee ! wee ! '
From trying etc.
A moral there is to this little song,
A moral that's easy to see :
Don't try when you're young to say " grumph !
grumph ! grumph ! '
When you only can say " wee ! wee ! '
Don't try when you're young to say " grumph !
grumph ! grumph ! '
When you only can say " wee ! wee ! '
Another delectable song for children also of a subtly
didactic character is
COWE THE NETTLE EARLY
Gin ye be for lang kail,
Cowe the nettle,, stoo the nettle :
Gin ye be for lang kail,,
Cowe the nettle early.
CHILDREN'S SONCS AM) BALLADS. l:;)
Cowe it laich, cowc it smic,
Cowe it in the month <>' June :
Stoo it ere it's in the bloom,
Cowe the nc-ttle early.
Cowe it by the old wa's,
Cowe it where the sun ne'er fa's,
Stoo it when the day daws,
Cowe the nettle early.
Auld heuk wi' no ae tooth,
Cowe the nettle, stoo the nettle ;
Auld gluive wi' leather loof,
Cowe the nettle early.
The following curious song, which Mrs. Burns, the
wife of the poet, w r as fond of crooning to her children,
is not yet without some vogue outwith the printed
page though mainly in this verse, the place of which,
by the bye, would be difficult to fix in the song as
printed by Herd :
The robin cam' to the wren's door,
And keekit in, and keekit in :
O, blessings on your bonnie pow,
Wad ye be in, wad ye be in ?
I wadna let you lie thereout,
And I within, and I within,
As lang's I hae a warm clout,
To row ye in, to row r ye in.
To students of Burns it will ever be of prime interest
from the fact that its air, as played by Miss Jessie
Lewars to the poet only a few days before his death,
supplied the hint for his most tender and touching
140 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
lyric, " O Wert thou in the Cauld Blast." Herd prints
it thus :
THE WREN'S NEST.
The wren scho Ives in care's bed,
/
In care's bed, in care's bed :
The wren scho lyes in care's bed,,
Wi' meikle dule and pyne, O.
When in cam' Robin Redbreist,
Redbreist, Redbreist :
When in cam' Robin Redbreist,,
Wi' succar-saps and wine,, O.
Now., maiden, will ye taste o' this,,
Taste o' this., taste o' this ;
Now., maiden, will ye taste o' this,
It's succar saps and wine, O ?
Na, ne'er a drap, Robin,
Robin, Robin :
Na, ne'er a drap, Robin,
Though it were ne'er sae fiiie^ O.
And where's the ring that I gied ye,
That I gied ye, that I gied ye :
And where's the ring that I gied ye,
Ye little cutty-quean, O ?
1 gied it till an ox-ee,
An ox-ee, an ox-ee ;
I gied it till an ox-ee,
A true sweetheart o' mine, O.
CHILDRKX'S SONGS AM) BALLADS. in
We began with the robin in this, I hope, not \M-.-irisoiiir
but entertaining Melange of child-songs. We have
never, indeed, got at anv time far away from tin- lively
and interesting' little fellow ; and; that being- so. perha]>s
no item could more fittingly close the series than the
very old song of
ROBIN REDBREAST'S TESTAMENT.
Gude-day now, boiinie Robin,
How long have you been here ?
I've been bird about this bush
This mair than twenty year !
But now I am the sickest bird
That ever sat 011 brier ;
And I wad mak' my testament,,
Gudeman, if ye wad hear.
Gae tak' this boiinie neb o' mine,,
That picks upon the corn ;
And gie't to the Duke o' Hamilton
To be a hunting-horn.
Gae tak' these bonnie feathers o' mine,
The feathers o' my neb ;
And gi'e to the Lady o' Hamilton
To fill a feather-bed.
Gae tak' this glide richt leg o' mine,
And mend the brig o' Tay ;
It will be a post and pillar glide-
Will neither bow nor gae.
142 CHILDREN'S SONGS AND BALLADS.
And tak' this other leg o' mine,
And mend the brig o' Weir ;
It will be a post and pillar glide-
Will neither bow nor steer.
Gae tak' thae bonnie feathers o' mine,
The feathers o' my tail :
And gie to the lads o' Hamilton
To be a barn-flail.
And tak' thae bonnie feathers o' mine,
The feathers o' my breast :
/
And gie to ony bonnie lad
Will bring to me a priest.
Now in there came my Lady Wren
Wi' moiiy a sigh and groan : ^
O what care I for a' the lads
If my ain lad be gone !
Then Robin turned him roundabout,
E'en like a little king ;
Go, pack ye out o' my chamber-door,
Ye little cutty quean !
Robin made his testament
Upon a coll of hay ;
And by cam' a greedy g-led
O ~
And snapt him a' away.
CHILDREN'S HUMOUR AND
QUAINT SAYINGS.
-s-
THE humours of little folks, fresh and original, and
invariably of the unconscious variety, and their quaint
savings, unrehearsed and uttered regularly without
regard to effect though with merciless honesty oftt/n
O /
form a never-palling treat ; and every man and
woman who has reared a family, or has had joy in the
society of other people's children, has his and her own
budget, comprising tit-bits at once interesting, startling,
and amusing. When occasion has saved us from the
foolishly doting parent who is everlastingly prosing
about the very clever things his own little Johnnie has
said or done, I have seldom found greater enjoyment
of a mixed company than when the queer sayings of
children went round the board, and we had " recollec-
tions," by suggestion, of things which perhaps had
been better left unsaid, as also of things which had
been more agreeably expressed if differently worded ;
yet all so honestly set forth that even the " victims '
could not help but enjoy them in some measure.
Children accept all statements so implicitly, and, with
their quick-working wits, they reason so straight-
forwardly, that the application when voiced comes at
times with a bang sufficient to take one's breath away.
U4 CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
Given this and that, however, an application is un-
avoidable. As lief set fire behind powder in a gun and
expect there will be no report. A mite of five, thus,
will 011 occasion utter a syllogism that would not dis-
credit a professor of logic, or will put a question to
which a whole college of theologians might not venture
an answer. A little lady of my acquaintance w r ho had
not yet seen her fourth birthday, was one morning told
by her mother that she could not get out to play the
frost was too severe. " Who makes the frost, ma ? '
was asked. " God, dear." " What does He make
frost for?" "To kill the worms." "And why does
He make worms, and has to make frost to kill them ? "
This was a sufficient poser, but the mother continued,
"The worms have to be killed, else they would eat the
roots of all the plants and flowers." The little lady
reflected, then gravely asked, " But does God kill the
wee chicky worms that never eated any roots ? ' The
mother did not answer, but looked now even more
grave than the child. The same little miss was
listening one evening to a newspaper report being read,
which told how a man in a storm of wind had been
blown with a ladder from a house-top in Glasgow, and
was killed. " Who makes the wind ? ' she asked
sharply. She was told. "And does God make the
bad winds that kills the mans ? " was demanded.
There was no reply ; but she read the silence as
meaning "yes," and turning to leave the room she
muttered more to herself than otherwise, " When I die
and go to Heaven I'll not sit beside God." When
repeating the Pater-nosier one evening she stuck at the
first sentence, and wanted to know " If God is our
Father in Heaven who is our Mother in Heaven ? "
But the mother was saved this time bv the inter-
CHILDRFAS Ht MOl K. I I,,
position of the little ones elder brother, who, with
stern emphasis, exclaimed, " Stupid ! God's wife. <>!'
course.' A little bov-relative of that <nrl returned
fj
from school one dav, while he was but a pupil in the
infant department, and stepping proudly up to where
his father was seated, " Pa," he exclaimed, " I am the
cleverest boy in the class.' " Indeed," returned the
.
parent. " I am proud to hear that ; but who said it ? '
"The teacher.' 1 "If the teacher said so, it surely
must be true. What did she say, though?' "She
said, ' Stand up the cleverest boy in the class/ and I
stood up." The same little fellow was on the wnv to
school with a friend one morning, towards the end of
December, when the two were attracted by the ap-
pearance of a sweep on the chimney of a neighbouring
building. " I ken what that man's doin' up there, ' he
asserted ; " he's sweepin' the lums for Santa Claus to
get doon." And that recalls the story I once heard of
a little man in the Carse of Gowrie. It happened on
an evening towards the close of the year, as he was
preparing for bed, and was sitting by the fire with his
first liberated stocking in his hand, that he looked over
to his mother, and " Mither,'' he asked, " will I get a
pair o' new stockin's before Christmas?" "Maybe,.
laddie ; but what gars ye speir ? " " Because ' and
he spoke mournfully, as he stuck his fingers through a
large hole in the toe "if Santa Claus puts onvthing
iiitil thir anes, it'll fa' oot." How cleverly they reason,
you see ! " Bring me a drink o' water, Johnnie,'' was
the order delivered by a Perthshire farmer to his little
mi
son one day a good many years ago. The boy went to
do as he was asked, but the water-stoup had been
nearly empty, and, as he was approaching his parent
with the liquid, he paused and peered doubtfully into
CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
the hand-vessel, then, as if suddenly inspired by a
happy thought, " Will I put meal in't, father ? " he
asked. "No." " Oh, weel, then ' -and he turned to
go back " ye'll need to wait till somebody gangs to
the well." But to return to children I have known for
vet one or two more illustrations. I was at a tea-table
MM
one afternoon where the company w T as mostly composed
of the smaller fry, and an incident, important to all,
was mentioned, which had happened some seven or
eight years before. Several of the older children
declared, truthfully, that they remembered it quite
well. " So do I mind o' it," asserted a little fellow
about five. ff How could you mind o' it ? " questioned
scornfully an older brother; "you wasna born at the
time." " I ken, 1 ' as scornfully returned the younger
theologian ; " I was dust at the time ; but I mind o' it
weel enough." Here is the verbatim copy of a letter
written since by the hand of that same boy in a
country village in Perthshire where he has been
staying continuously for several years, and addressed
to his father in Glasgow : " Dear Pa, The Rabbits is
all dead. Worried with dogs. The gold fishes is dead.
Died with the cold. The cat has had kittens, four of
them, and the rest of us is all well." The remark of a
prominent Scottish novelist who recently passed the
epistle through his hands was " That's style, the most
crisp and picturesque. And then ' the rest of us '-
how beautifully innocent ! ''
The little girl of a friend of mind while still of very
t ruder years was first taken to church by her aunt.
On the way home, and soon after leaving the portals of
the sacred edifice, she looked up solemnly in her
guardian's face, and, "Auntie," she asked, "was yon
God on the mantel-piece?" She referred doubtless to
CHILDRF.VS HUMOUR. I
\- 1
the minister in the pulpit. Don't think of irreverence,
inv reader ! The ehild, in its atmosphere <)t' perfect
innocence, knows not the word. And bear that in
mind further when I tell you of a little boy and girl
both of whom I know well who were having a walk
with me one Sunday in early Autumn, when suddenly
a railway train appeared in view. A train on Sunday !
They were staggered by the sight ; and the boy
demanded to know why it should be there. " Oh, I
know/' exclaimed the girl, after some reflection ; " it'll
be God coming back from his holidays." The question,
" Can prayer be answered ? " may be often discussed by
grown-up minds. It is never raised by the children.
No doubts trouble them in that relation. They are
quite certain they will get what they ask for. Perfect
confidence in that alone could have made it possible for
a certain little miss., who., when being put to bed in a
tired condition, and asked to say her prayer, began :
" This night I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord-
then gave a long, loud yawn, and added, " Oh
God, I am awfully sleepy you know T the rest ''
making thus, in her rude simplicity, a finely trustful
and beautiful prayer. " Give us each day our daily
bread," was the honest petition of a little fellow who,
however, recalling probably some recent violent ex-
periences, immediately added " but dinna let our
Lizzie bake it." An elaborately-trained little fellow
who had nightly to pray for blessings on " mamma, and
papa, grandpapa, and grandmamma," and all his uncles,
his aunts, and his cousins, committing each by name,
after exhausting the catalogue one evening, heaved a
heavy sigh and exclaimed wearily, " Oh, dear, I wish
] is CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
these people would pray for themselves, for I am so
tin-d of praying for them all ! '
A little girl, whose baby brother had died, was told
that he had gone to Heaven, and that night she refused
to pray " Take me to Heaven for Jesus' sake '
because, as she said, " I don't want to go to Heaven, I
want to stay here, with ma, and pa, and dolly." Were
all prayers as honest, many of them, I suspect, would
be much shorter than they are.
I have heard of a little boy who was continually
being told that he should be good.
" And if I am gooder, and gooder," he asked, " what
will I be ? "
^ Oh, you will be a little angel."
" But I don't want to be an angel," he retorted ;
(C I want to be an engine-driver." They are never else
than frank in their statements. A mother who suffers
from severe headaches, said to her little girl about
eight, one day not long ago, " What would you do,
Lottie dear, if your darling mother was taken away
from you if she died ? " " Well, mother," was the
little one's startling answer, " I suppose we would cry
at first then we would bury you, and then we would
/ /
come home and take all the money out of your pocket."
Now, while it is possible that something else might
also be done, it is almost certain yea, it is certain,
without doubt that all these ceremonials, however
reluctantly, would, in turn, be duly performed.
From a story bearing on death to one relating to
birth is a transition not so unnatural as may at the
wt
first blush appear. And births are affairs ever of
prime interest to children. Not many years ago it
happened in a village in Perthshire that twins arrived
in a family, and next day one of the little misses of the
CHILDRKVS HL.MOL R. I If)
house was out on the street playing, when a neighbour-
ing lady came up to where' she was, and, " So you've
got two little babies at home. Bi//ie," she remarked.
"Yes," responded the little one, very solemnly ; "and
do you know, my father was away at Edinburgh when
the doctor brought them. But it was a good thing mv
mother was in ; for if she hadna, there would have
been naebody in the house but me, and I \vadna have
keiit what to do wi' them." They tell this delightful
story of the little daughter of Professor Van Dyke, of
the Philadelphia University :
" Papa, where were you born ? '
"In Boston, mv dear.'
*/
" Where was mamma born ? '
"In San Francisco."
" And where Avas I born ? '
" In Philadelphia."
" Well, pap, isn't it funny IIOAV AVC three people got
together? '
And that now recalls another Avhich Mrs. Keeley,
the actress, tells of a tradesman's little boy who Avas
often taken to stay Avith his grandmother and grand-
father the latter a very feeble old man, bald and
J
toothless. This little fellow was told that his father
and mother had " bouo-ht " a nice IICAV baby brother for
O /
him. The little man Avas much interested by the news,
and Avas taken to see the IICAV arrival. He looked at it
Avith astonishment for a feAv seconds, then remarked-
"Wliy, he's got 110 hair, father !' This Avas at once
admitted. "And he's got 110 teeth," observed the boy
again, touching another fact Avhich could not be denied.
Then a long and thoughtful pause ensued, after Avhich
the little critic (who had probably been comparing the
baby with his grandfather), observed confidentially-
l-,o CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
" I'll tell you what, father ; if they called him a new
baby., they've taken you in he's an old 'un ! ' You
cannot easily get round children. And it is almost
impossible to suppress them. As touching this fact an
excellent story is told of our present King and his
sister., the late Empress of Germany., when they were
boy and girl. Lord - -, who had a deformed foot,
was invited to Osborne ; and before his arrival the
Queen and Prince Albert debated whether it would be
better to warn the Prince of Wales and the Princess
Royal of his physical calamity, so as to avoid em-
barrassing remarks., or to leave the matter to their own
good feeling. The latter course was adopted. Lord
duly arrived. The foot elicited no remark from
/
the Royal children, and the visit passed off with perfect
success. But next day the Princess Royal asked the
Queen,, "Where is Lord - -?' "He has gone back
to London, dear." i( Oh, what a pity! He had pro-
mised to show Berty and me his foot ! ' The enfants
terrible had wilily caught his lordship in the corridor,,
and made their own terms.
There is pleasure in telling that story were it but
for the revelation it affords of how the children of
Kings and Queens are animated by the same curiosities,,
and may act at times so like the children of the com-
monality. That Royalty again may be moved by the
action or word of a child of common birth we have
many pleasing proofs. One is pat. A late King of
Prussia, while visiting in one of the villages of his
dominion, was welcomed by the school children.
Their sponsor made a speech for them. The King
thanked them. Then,, taking an orange from a plate,
he asked "To what kingdom does this belong?"
O c>
: The vegetable kingdom, sire," replied a little girl.
CHILDREN'S HL'MOl K. 151
Tin- King next took a gold coin from his pocket, and.
holding it up, asked ""And to what kingdom docs
this belong?' "To the mineral kingdom," was the
reply. "And to what kingdom do I belong, then ?'
asked the King. The little girl coloured deeply ; for
she did not like to say the "animal kingdom/' as lie
thought she would, lest His Majesty should be offended.
But just then it flashed upon her mind that " God
made man in His own image/' and looking up with
brightening eye, she said "To God's Kingdom, sire."
The King was moved. A tear stood in his eye. He
placed his hand on the child's head, and said, most
devoutly "God grant that I maybe accounted worthy
of that Kingdom." Thus did the words of a common
child, you see, move the heart of a King. But, oh, we
are all the same. It is only the environment that is
different. And the distinction there even is not so
great as one, not knowing, may be disposed to imagine.
In high and low life alike, anyway, the children, we
know, are free ; and all alike are susceptible of eccen-
tricity. What a fine confession of this the Princess of
Wales made not long ago when, as Duchess of York,
she was addressing a Girls' Society in London. As a
school-girl, she said, she disliked geography ; of which,
she added, she was very ignorant. Once she was set
to draw an outline map of the world from memory.
" On showing it to my governess," said the Princess,
" she said in quite an alarmed manner e Why, you
have left out China ! Don't you know where it is ? '
' Yes/ I replied, very stubbornly, but very loyally, ' I
know where it should be, but I am not going to put it
in my map. The Queen is angry with China now, so
it has no right to have a place in the world at all.'
The spirit of exclusiveiiess manifested by the little
152 CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
lady might readily be quarrelled with in some quarters ;
but surely the act gives promise of a Queen who, like
her to whom she was loyal, will, when her glory cometh
-though, may it be far distant prove the pride of
every loyal Briton !
The somersaultic cleverness by which a child will
g;et out of an awkward situation has been often
e?
revealed, but seldom with more humour than in the
two succeeding illustrations. A minister returning
from church towards the manse on a Sunday, came
suddenly on a boy leaning earnestly over the parapet
of a bridge with a short rod and a long string having a
baited hook on the far end, by which he w r as trying
his luck in the burn beneath. "Boy," he exclaimed
severely, " is this a day on which you should be
catching fish?' "Wha's catchin' fish?' drawled the
budding Isaac Walton ; " I'm juist tryin' to droon this
worm." The next boy was yet cleverer alike in
fishing and in speech. He had several trout dangling
from his hand by a string when he met the minister
abruptly in a quick bend of the road. There was no
chance of escape ; but his ready wit saved him. He
walked boldly forward, and taking the first word as
the two were about to meet, he dangled the trout-hand
high, looked the minister square in the face, and ex-
claimed, " That sorts them for snappin' at flees 011 the
Sabbath ! ' and passed hence, leaving his anticipated
accuser flabbergasted.
Ruskin says of children : " They are forced by
nature to develop their powers of invention, as a bird
its feathers of flight ; " and w r e might add, remarks
another writer, " that the inventive faculty, like a bird,
is apt, when fully grown, to fly away. Then, when
their own imaginative resources begin to fail them, one
CHILDREN'S HLMOIK. 153
observes children begin to read books of ad\enture
with avidity at the a j>v, sav, of ten or twelve vcars.
/ O w * !/
Before that, no Rover of the Andes or Erling the Bold
can equal the heroie achievements they evolve from
their inner consciousness." \Vho, for instanee, could
hope to " put a pateh '' on the experience of those two
little boys who spent a snowy day during the Christmas
holidays tiger-shooting in their father's dining-room ;
and as one, making his cautious way among the legs of
the dinner-table,, for the nonce a pathless jungle,, was
hailed by the other with,, "Any tigers there, Bill?'
he answered gloriously : " Tigers ? I'm knee-deep in
them ! '
That excellent story recalls to me another, not unlike
it. Also of a Christmas time. The children had asked
permission, to get up a play, and it had been granted
on the condition that they did it all themselves without
help or hint. As the eldest was only ten they accepted
the condition with alacrity, for young children hate to
be interfered with and hampered by their elders.
When the evening came and the family and audience
had collected, the curtain was drawn back and revealed
the heroine (aged nine), who stated with impassioned
sobs that her husband had been in South Africa for the
past three years, but that she was expecting his return.
Truly enough the hero (aged ten) entered, and pro-
ceeded, after affectionate but hasty greetings, to give
his wife an eloquent account of his doings, the battles
he had fought, the Boers he had killed, and the honours
he had won.
When he at last paused for breath, his wife rose, and
taking his hand led him to the back, where a short
curtain covered a recess.
IT
If,-]. CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
" I, too., dear/' she said proudly, " have not been
idle."
And pulling back the curtain she displayed six
cradles occupied by six large baby dolls !
And that again recalls another,, quite in the same
line. One day a gentleman walking down a street
observed a little boy seated on a doorstep. Going up
to him, he said, " Well, my little chap, how is it you
are sitting outside on the doorstep, when I see through
the window all the other young folks inside playing
games and having a good time ? Why aren't you
inside joining in the fun ? ' "I guess, stranger, that
I'm in this game,'' replied the boy. " But how can you
be, when you are out on the doorstep, and the others are
all inside?" "Oh, I'm in the show right enough. You
see, we're playing at being married. I'm the baby, and
I'm not born yet ! '
The late Dr. Norman M'Leod the great Norman-
rejoiced in telling a story about two ragged children
whom he found busy on the side of a country road one
day, working with some stiifened mud, which they had
carefully scraped together. " What's this you are
making ? " he asked. One of the children replied that
it was a kirk. " A kirk ! Ay, and where's the door ? "
"There it's." "And the pulpit?" "That's it."
" And the minister ? ' The little one hesitated, then
replied, very innocently " We hadna dirt enough left
to mak' a minister."
The minister, of course and the weaker his char-
acter he should be the more careful must always
approach children with caution if he hopes to come
out of the interview with his reputation unscathed. I
have heard or read of a member of the cloth a
supreme egoist who was visiting at a house when
CHILDREN'S HUMOUR. L55
but the mother and her little girl a mere child urn-
at home. As the self-esteemed great man was holding
the mother in conversation, lie noticed with pride that
the child, who reposed on the hearthrug with a school-
slate tilted on her knee, was making furtive glances up
at his face, and returning her attention regularly to the
slate, on which she kept scrawling with a pencil. When
at length she stopped and looked serious, " Well, my
dear,' he exclaimed, " have you been trying to draw
*/ J t*
my portrait ? ' She did not reply, " Come," he con-
tinued, coaxingly, " you must let me see it." "Oh,"
interposed the proud mother, " she's awfu' clever at the
drawin'." This made the minister still more eager to
see the work, and he repeated his request for an ex-
posure ; but the child clutched the slate only more
tightly to her breast and did not look up. " She's aye
sae shy, ye ken," interceded the mother, as she reached
her hand to procure the work of art by main force. It
was then the little one found her tongue, and she
exclaimed " Oh, it wasna very like him, and I just
put a tail till't, and ca'd it a doggie." The denouement
leaves nothing to be desired.
Dean Ramsay, to whom his country owes so much
for the elucidation of its characteristics, tells humorously
of the elder of a kirk having found a little boy and his
sister playing marbles on Sunday, and put his reproof
not at all in judicious form by exclaiming " Boy, do
you know where children go who play marbles 011 the
Sabbath-day ? ' Xot in judicious form, truly, for the
boy replied, " Ay, they gang doun to the field by the
water below the brig." " No," roared out the elder,
" they go to hell, and are burned." Worse than ever
-for the elder for the little fellow, really shocked,
156 CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
now called to his sister, " Come awa', Jeanie, here's a
man swearin' awfu'."
" Amono- the lower orders in Scotland humour is
O
found, occasionally, very rich in mere children," ob-
serves the Dean, " and I recollect a remarkable
illustration of this early native humour occurring in a
family in Forfarshire, where I used in former days to
be very intimate. A wretched woman, who used to
traverse the country as a beggar or tramp, left a poor
half-starved little girl by the road-side near the house
of my friends. Always ready to assist the unfor-
tunate, they took charge of the child, and as she grew
a little older they began to give her some education,
and taught her to read. She soon made some progress
in reading the Bible, and the native odd humour of
which w r e speak began soon to show itself. On reading
the passage which began ' Then David rose,' etc., the
child stopped and looked up knowingly to say, ' I ken
wha that was,' and being asked what she could mean,
she confidently said, ' That's David Rowse the pleuch-
inan.' And again, reading the passage where the
words occur, ' He took Paul's girdle,' the child said,
with much confidence, ' I ken what he took that for ; '
and on being asked to explain, replied at once, ' To
bake his bannocks on.'
Among less than a dozen examples in all of child
humour, the good Dean has yet another worth telling,
which he says, used to be narrated by an old Mr.
Campbell of Jura, who told the story of his own son.
The boy, it seems, was much spoilt by indulgence. In
fact, the parents were scarce able to refuse him any-
thing he demanded. He was in the drawing-room on
one occasion when dinner w r as announced, and on being
ordered up to the nursery he insisted on going down to
CHILDREN'S HUMOUR. 157
dinner with the company. His mother was for refusal,
but the child persevered and kept saying, " If I dinna
gang,, I'll tell yon." His father then,, for peace sake,
let him go. So he went, and sat at the table by his
mother. When he found every one getting soup and
himself omitted, he demanded soup, and repeated, " If
I dinna get it, I'll tell yon." Well, soup was given,
and various other things yielded to his importunities,
to which he always added the usual threat of " telling
yon." At last, when it came to wine, his mother stood
firm, and positively refused, as " a bad thing for little
boys," and so on. He then became more vociferous
than ever about " telling yon ; " and, as still he was
refused, he declared, " Now I'll tell yon," and at last
roared out '" Mi/ new breeks are made oot o' the auld
curtains ! '
That, however, is not the most delectable of child
stories. We prefer the ideas of the little folks within
the region of philosophy. When, for example, they
w T ant to know " Whaur div' a' the figures gang when
they're rubbit oot ? " and ask such questions as " Where
does the dark go when the light comes ? ' " Was it not
very wrong of God not to make Cain good as well as
Abel ? ' or, " If it be true that some of the stars are
bigger than this earth, how do they not keep the rain
off? '
" I say, father,'' asked a little fellow as he raised his
eyes off his home lesson, " Who invented the multipli-
cation table ? " " Oh, I don't know," he was answered ;
" it was invented long ago ; why ? '
"Well, I was thinking if the gentleman that invented
it didn't know it already, he must have had a tough
job ; and if he did know it, what was the good of him
inventing it at all ? "
158 CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
It was a cloudy and moonless night when a little
fellow was taken out by his mother, who went to call
for a friend. " Mamma/' he exclaimed, looking up,
" I expect God's been very busy this evening, for I see
He has forgotten to hang the stars out."
She was a very small Miss who went to church alone
one day, where an organ had recently been introduced.
As she stood gazing about just within the door, an
elder approached, and asked where she would prefer to
sit. " Well," she said pertly, " if there's a monkey, I
would like to be near the organ ; but if there's no' a
monkey, I'll just sit ony place."
A pretty good story is related of one of Governor
Tilton's staff. It is said that when the individual
referred to first presented himself en militaire to his
wife and little daughter, the latter, after gazing at him
for a few minutes, turned to her mother, and exclaimed :
"Why, Ma, that's not a real soldier- -it's Pa!"
Equally observant was another youngster, who was
sent by his parent to take a letter to the post-office and
pay the postage on it. The boy returned highly elated,
and said : " Father, I seed a lot of men putting letters
in a little place ; and when 110 one was looking, I slipped
yours in for nothing. ' We hardly know whether the
father would laugh or storm over this unconscious
attempt to defraud the revenue. But no matter.
Two little London girls who had been sent by the
kindness of the vicar s wife to have " a happy day in
the country," narrating their experiences on their re-
turn, said, " Oh, yes, mum, we did 'ave a happy day.
We saw two pigs killed and a gentleman buried."
It is the rare that fascinates. Many years ago, I was
living in a house where, on an evening, a little Miss
was toiling over her school-lesson, and declaiming
CHILDRFAS HUMOUR. 1.59
loudly, "The sow has pigs." Being a city child, I
wondered whether she knew of what she was reading,
and asked, " Did you ever see a sow and pigs, Mary ? '
" Xo," she replied smartly, " but when I was going to
the school the day, I saw a policeman getting his photo-
graph taken."
But speaking here of London children, reminds me
of two London stories which should not be omitted.
So here :
Two small boys walking down Tottenham Court
Road, passed a tobacconist's shop. The bigger re-
marked " I say, Bill, I've got a ha-penny, and if
you've got one too, we'll have a penny smoke be-
tween us."
Bill produced his copper, and Tommy, diving into
the shop, promptly re-appeared with a penny cigar in
his mouth.
The boys walked side by side for a few minutes,
when the smaller mildly said, " I say, Tom. when am I
/ / s
to have a puff? The weed's half mine."
" Oh, you shut up," was the business-like reply.
" I'm the chairman of this company, and you are only
a shareholder. You can spit."
That is the first. The second, though less pre-
cocious, is yet more enjoyable. Besides, we know it is
true, while the other well, it is not above suspicion.
One day, when seeking a model, Miss Dorothy
Tennant (now Mrs. H. M. Stanley) discovered a likely
subject in the shape of a crossing-sweeper ; and, while
conducting him to Richmond Terrace, she met her
family's old friend, Mr. Gladstone. Greatly moved by
her companion, he exclaimed :
" Who's your friend ? "
CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
Then and there the crossing-sweeper, much to his
dismay, was presented to the "People's William.''
On entering the Tennant mansion., the urchin was
tremendously impressed by the liveried servant who
had opened the door, and, after looking back at him
several times, whispered mysteriously to his kind
hostess :
" I say, miss, why does your big brother w T ear brass
buttons ? "
Always thoughtful, Miss Tennant first led her charge
to the servants' hall, where she sat beside him as he
played havoc with the well-filled dishes placed before
him. At the conclusion of his repast, Miss Tennant
asked the boy how he liked it.
" Proper," replied the crossing-sw T eeper ; " yer mother
do cook prime ! "
London having yielded its quota, the " Second City "
may be again drawn upon.
A little boy of tender years w r as sitting on the door-
step of a house in Bridgeton, there, the other morning,
crying bitterly, when a girl of about the same age
accosted him, and the following conversation was over-
heard : " What are ve greetiii' for, laddie ? '' she
/ O
inquired, in sympathetic tones. " Did onybody hit
ye?" "N-n-na," sobbed the boy. "Then, what is't
ye're greetin' for ? " the little damsel went on. " 'Cause
my wee brither's gane to heaven,'' exclaimed the little
fellow^ bitterly, between his sobs. " Oh ! "' ejaculated
the girl ; and then, after a pause, " but ye shouldna
greet like that maybe he hasna."
Another. Recently a little fellow r came home from
s -hool crying bitterly, and altogether manifesting great
sorrow. "What's the matter, Geordie," sympatheti-
cally inquired his mother, " has onybody been hittin'
CHILDREN'S HUMOUR. Hil
ye ? ' " N-n-n-o," answered the hoy between his sohs.
''Then, wliat are you crying about?" she \\cnt on.
" Boo ! hot) ! wee Sammy Sloan's faither an' inithrr
hae flitted to Coatbrig ! ' " Tuts, laddie, dinna greet
about that," she exclaimed^ re-assuringly, " tlu-rc's
plenty mair laddies bidin' in the street besides Sammy
Sloan that ye ean play wiV " I ken that, ' said
Geordie, with another sob, " but he was the only yin I
could lick.'
Children, really, as we have been revealing so fre-
quently here,, have the fresh and original notions of
things,, and are always frank enough to give them
voice.
A little boy was reading the story of a missionary
having been eaten by cannibals. " Papa/' he asked,
" will the missionary go to heaven ? ' " Yes, my son,"
replied the father. " And will the cannibals go there,
too ? " queried the youthful student, " No," was the
reply. After thinking the matter over for some time,
the little fellow exclaimed " Well, I don't see how
the' missionary can go to heaven if the cannibals don t,
when he's inside the cannibals."
One Sunday evening, while sitting on his mother's
knee listening to the story of Jonah being swallowed
by the whale, a little fellow looked up seriously into
her face and asked, " Ma, did Jonah wear his slippers
in the whale's belly ? Because, if he didna, the tackets
in his boots wad tear a' its puddin's."
Dr. John Ker of Edinburgh, in his recently published
volume of reminiscences Memories Grave and Gay
tells of how "in a Banffshire manse one Sunday even-
ing, all the family were sitting quietly reading in the
drawing-room, when the youngest boy, with a laudable
thirst for knowledge, went up to his mother and asked
162 CHILDREN'S HUMOUR.
a question, for the answer to which she referred him to
me. Cpming up to me, he said
" ' Mr. Ker, is it true that the devil goes about like a
roaring lion ? '
" ' It must/ I replied,, ' be true,, for it is in the
Bible.'
" This was followed by another question which I did
not attempt to answer
" ' Then,, wha keeps his fire in when he's gaun
aboot ? ' "
" Do you know, mamma,, I don't believe Solomon
was so rich after all ? !: observed a sharp boy to his
mother, who prided herself on her orthodoxy. " My
child ! " she exclaimed in pious horror, " what does the
Bible say?" "That's just it,' he answered. " It says
that ' Solomon slept with his fathers.' Now, surely, if
he had been rich he'd have had a bed to himself."
A father once said to a little boy, not so obedient as
might be desired, " Everything I say to you goes in at
one ear and out at the other." "Is that what little
boys has two ears for, daddy ? ' asked the child, quite
innocently.
Engaging his tender " hopeful ' in the wonders of
astronomy " Men have learned the distances of the
mf
stars," observed the father; "and, with their spectro-
scopes, found out what they are made of." "Yes,"
responded the boy admiringly ; "and isn't it strange,
pa, how they found out their names too ! '
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND
FANCIES.
THESE are so numerous as to demand a separate
chapter.
Talking- o f the serpent in the Garden of Eden, a
lady teacher asked her class what a serpent was like,
when a boy aptly replied,, " It's like a lang rope furlin'."
On another occasion,, in the some class, the question
was, " What does the devil tempt little boys and girls
to do ? " when the comical answer came, " To chap at
fouk's doors, mem.''
It has been often told, but is worth repeating, how a
pupil teacher was doing his level best to make the
children remember Samson's mighty deeds with the
jawbone of an ass, and, recapitulating, he asked,
" What did Samson slay ten thousand Philistines with ?
Eh ? " No reply came. Then, pointing to his jaw-
bone, he asked, " What is this ? " And at once the
answer belched proudly from half-a-dozen throats in
unison, " The jawbone of an ass."
In a country school the lesson was on " The Prodigal
Son," and the question, " What were the husks that the
swine did eat?" met with the prompt answer, " Tawtie
peelin's."
164 SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
In a city seminary a teacher asked her class, " Who
knows everything we say and do ? " when she received
the unexpected reply, " The fouk that bides next door
to us."
Expecting to get the answer " Carnivorous " (as it
bore on the lesson),, a teacher asked his class for an
example of a bird of prey, and among other answers he
got was "A yellow yite." The boy who responded so,
on being asked to explain, continued, " Because it eats
worms."
"What do you call the bird or beast that feeds on
both animal and vegetable foods ? " was the next
question. The teacher anticipated " Omnivorous " this
time, but it did not come. There was silence for a
little. Then a boy, who evidently had been ruminat-
ing, responded nonchalantly, " A gutsy brute, sir.''
In examining the boys in the composition of
sentences, a master began : " If I ask you," said he,
" what have I in my hand ? you must not say simply
' Chalk,' but make a full sentence of it, and say, ' You
have chalk in your hand.' Now I will proceed. What
have I on my feet ? " The answer came immediately,
"Boots." "Wrong; you haven't been observing my
directions," he rebukingly replied. " Stockings,"
another heedlessly ventured to answer. " Wrong
again worse than ever," wrathfully exclaimed the
magister. "Well?'' he continued interrogatively to a
lad near him. " Please, sir," then he paused perhaps
he thought it might sound funny, but he felt it must be
right, and so he recklessly gasped out " Corns ! "
But the answers are not always so stupid.
" Why is it," asked a teacher, " the sun never sets on
the British possessions ? " " Because," slowly responded
an ingenuous youngster, " the British possessions are in
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIKS. Hi:,
the north, south, and east, and the sun ahvays sets in
the west."
During; a recent School Hoard examination in the
O
west of Scotland, the examiner asked a little girl to
explain what was meant by the expression, Hi' irax
amply rewarded. " Paid for't," was her instant rej)ly.
" No, no ; you are wrong. Suppose you have to go
into a baker's shop and buy a half-quarter loaf, and lav-
down fourpence, would you say you had amply
rewarded the baker ? ' Unhesitatingly she replied
" Yes." " Why ? ' " Because the loafs only twopence-
three-farthings,' was the unlooked-for answer.
Quite like that is the story of a small boy into whose
head a teacher was one day labouring almost in vain to
cj
2-et, as he thought, even the faintest correct notion of
O J O
the first rule in arithmetic. " Look here now,
Johnnie," he said at length, " if I were to give you two
rabbits and your father were to give you three rabbits,
/ V
how many rabbits would you then have ? " " Six."
* '
" No, no ; ' : and the teacher set out bits of chalk
to show how he could only have five. " Ah, but/
drawled out Johnnie, " I have a rabbit at hame
already."
mf
It was a notion of multiplication that another teacher
was endeavouring to get properly lodged within the
skull of another boy, and by way of putting the effort
to a practical test, he said : " Now, Peter, suppose I was
a tailor who supplied your father with a suit of
clothes for three pounds, which he promised to pay me
in weekly instalments of one shilling, how much would
your father be due me at the end of a year ? '
/ *
" Three pounds," replied Peter slowly. " Nonsense,
Peter ; think again." Peter thought again, but again
answered as before. " You don't know that simple
KM SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
sum ! " exclaimed the teacher in amazement. " Ay, I
ken it weel enough," responded Peter, " but ye dinna
ken my faither.''
' Did any of you ever see an elephant's skin ? " asked
the master of an infant school. " I have," shouted a
six-year-old at the foot of the class. (( Where ? " " On
the elephant."
A little boy of my acquaintance, while yet a pupil in
the infant department, was one day given a slate more
to engage his attention than aught else. But he had
t^ ^^ *~J
some notion of drawing, and when the teacher came
round she was astonished to find he had set down a
fair picture of a bird on a bough. " Ha ! who drew
this ? ' : she asked. " Mysel'," was the canny Scotch
reply. "Arid who's mysel'?" she queried. ' Oh, I'm
fine," was the second response, not less Scotch than the
first. The English reader, of course, won t fairly
understand the word " fine " as spoken there ; but every
Scotsman will, as also how " who's " may be mistaken
for " how's. '
There is another " fine " story. It was asked of a
class, " How did the Israelites get across the Red
Sea ? ' " Fine," exclaimed a youth with brightening
eyes ; " 'twas the 'Gyptians was droon'd."
" What do you mean by a temperate region ? " asked
an inspector of a class, putting due emphasis on the
word temperate. " The region, sir, ' responded a boy
" where they drinks only temperants drinks."
Not long ago a class of boys were being examined on
the different kinds of wood ; and one little chap was
asked to name the specimen (a piece of mahogany)
which was held in the examiner's hand. He hesitated,
and the inspector, by way of suggestion, remarked,
" Why, don't you know^ the materials that your
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AM) FANCIKS. Hi?
mother's drawers are made of'?' 1 This sr<-m-d to
simplify the matter, and, amidst a roar of laughtrr.
came the quick reply -" Flannelette ! '
"Name anything friable," .said a teacher, " Ham."
was the ready answer.
" What is a papal bull ? "
"A golden calf."
" What is ice ? "
"Water fast asleep."
" What is a skeleton ? "
" A man without any meat on it."
A teacher was examining a class on the battle of
Bannockburn, and asked, " Who killed de Bohun ? "
Xo one knew. He raised his arm in an attitude of
striking, and yelled, with flashing eyes, " Who killed
de Bohun, I say ? " A little fellow near him, who
expected the blow, raised his arm in a defensive
attitude, and whined, " Oh, please, sir, it wasna me."
" What is meant by faith ? " was one day asked of a
class. " Faith," responded a thoughtful youth, " is the
faculty which enables us to belieye things that we
know to be not true."
In the lesson of a class of country boys not long ago,
the words " aboye the average " occurred, and the lady
teacher asked if any one could tell what the word
" average " meant. There was no response for a time,
and she passed the question from one to another until
a more than average specimen eagerly responded, " It's
a thing that hens lay on." The teacher was dumb-
founded, and asked for an explanation. " Well,"
drawled the budding Solomon, "my mother says that
our hens lay* each four eggs a w r eek on an average."
It is a teacher's business to observe that his scholars
are clean as well as clever, and the Rev. David Macrae,
168 SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
in his entertaining little book of Quaint Sayings of
( 'hildren, tells how a teacher, after glancing round the
class one day, said to a boy, " I'll let you off if you can
find a hand in all the school as dirty as that one,"
indicating the boy's own grimy exposed paw. The
youth promptly brought forth and showed his other
fist, which was certainly dirtier still, and the master, in
view of his pledge, had no resource but to let the
offender go for that time any way.
An old story, which has had a lively currency,
tells of how a boy when he returned from school
Avas always asked where he stood in his class, and
J
whose invariable answer was, " I'm second dux." For
the regular holding of this excellent position he re-
ceived many fine things in the shape of sweets and
biscuits, and pennies, etc., until at length it occurred to
one of the family to ask him how many were in his
/ *
class. It was then the gilt fell off the ginger-bread.
" Oh," said he, "there's just me and anither lassie."
Dean Ramsay tells of a very practical answer given
by a little girl who had been asked the meaning of
" darkness," as it occurred in Scripture reading "Just
steek your een." In the same place, he says, on the
question, " What is the pestilence that walketh in dark-
ness ? " being put to a class, a little boy answered, after
consideration, " Oh, its just bugs."
Our friend, Dr. John Ker, has often told of an
occasion when he was examining a class in mathe-
matics, and put the question to a boy " If a salmon
weighed 16 Ibs., and was to be sold at 2d. per lb., what
would it be worth ? ' -and how the lad, who was the
son of a fishmonger, hastily replied " It wadna be
worth a curse ! ' Salmon at that price, I should say,
would nowhere in these days be esteemed above sus-
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AM) FANCIES. HJ<)
picion, anyway. And boys nil I be frank, even although
their replies at times appear more smart than respectful.
Once a Cockney manufacturer was taking part in a
school examination, and asked a boy pompously
" Wat's the capital of 'Olland ? " " H," was the un-
consciously smart reply given. And that recalls a good
dialect story, under the early Board system,, which tells
how an English clergyman and a Lowland Scotsman
entered one of the best schools in Aberdeen. The
master received them kindly, and enquired
" Would you prefer that I should spier (question)
the boys, or that you should spier them ? '
The English clergyman desired the master to proceed.
He did so with great success, and the boys answered
ci J
satisfactorily numerous interrogatories as to the exodus
of the Israelites from Egypt. The clergyman then said
he would be glad to " spier the boys," and at once
began-
"" How did Pharaoh die ? '
There was a dead silence.
In his dilemma the Lowland gentleman interposed.
" I think, sir, the boys are not accustomed to your
/
English accent; let me try what I can make of them."
And he inquired in broad Scotch-
" Hoo did Phawroah dee ? '
Again there was a dead silence,, upon which the
master said-
" Noo, boys, fat cam' to Phawroah at his hinner
end ? '
The boys w r ith one voice answered
" He was drooned."
And a smart little fellow r added
" Ony lassie could hae tell't ye that."
Not unlike the above is a story told by Dr. Ker.
I 2
170 SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
The venerable inspector was one day putting a class
"through its facings," and asked a boy where the River
Dee was. The answer came correctly, " In Aberdeen-
,' ?
shire."
" Assuming quite a serious look (says Dr. Ker), I
asked him if he was not mistaken, adding that I
thought the Dee was in Kirkcudbright, and flowed into
the Sol way Firth. He was a bashful boy, and made no
reply. To give the class a needed fillip, I appealed to
them to settle whether I or the bov was right. To
v ~
give a verdict against the inspector was, of course,, not
to be thought of, and there was silence for a time ; but
at last a boy put his hand to his mouth, and said to his
neighbour in a stage whisper not meant for, but which
reached my ear ' He disna ken there's twa Dees.'
Once by way of stimulant, the doctor asked a some-
what sleepy history class which of the four Georges
wore the largest hat ? and a boy who had not till then
opened his mouth, replied " Him that had the biggest
heid."
In an Ayrshire town, immediately after the Whit-
. /
Sunday term a year or two ago, a female teacher asked
/ CT>
her class of little ones to be sure all of them and bring
their new addresses to her on the morrow,, as these
were required for the re-adjustment of the register.
" Please, mem," blurted out a wee fellow in petticoats,
" my mither says I'm no' to get ony mair dresses.
/ * <_ '
She's gaun to mak' a suit for me oot o' my faith er's auld
breeks."
Sunday school stories are not inferior to those of the
week-day seminary in their irresistible fun and drollery.
/ /
A Sunday school teacher asked her scholars to learn
an appropriate text to say as they gave in their pennies
to the next collection. The first was " He that giveth
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AM) I'ANC IKS. 171
to tin- poor lendeth to the- Lord ; and all went ri^lit
until it came to the last bov. who, reluctantly dropping
his penny into the box,, said to the great aina/ement
of teachers and scholars "The fool and his nioix-v art-
soon parted ! '
As an example of the error of talking figuratively to
those who do not appreciate, and who are apt to take
everything literally, a story is worth telling. The re-
spected superintendent of a Sunday school had told his
boys that they should endeavour to bring their neigh-
bours to the school, saving that tliev should be like a
.' O
train the scholar being the engine, and his converts
the carriages. Judge of his surprise when, next Sun-
day, the door opened during lessons, and a little bov.
making a noise like an engine, ran in, followed by half-
a-dozen others in single file at his back ! H e came to a
halt before the superintendent, who asked the meaning
of it all. The naive answer w r as " Please, sir, I'm the
engine, and them's the carriages."
A Sabbath school teacher, at the finish of a lesson on
" The Fall," asked " Now, children, what lesson can
we learn from the storv of Adam and Eve ? Well,
mf
Johnnie ? ' Johnnie " Never believe what vour wife
/
says/'
A lady asked one of the children in her class, " What
was the sin of the Pharisees ? ' " Eating camels,
ma'am,'' was the reply. The little girl who answered
had read that the Pharisees " strained at gnats and
swallowed camels.'' " In what condition was the patri-
arch Job at the end of his life ? ' questioned a teacher
of a stolid-looking boy. " Dead," was the quiet response.
" What is the outward and visible sign in baptism ? '
asked a lady. There was silence for some seconds, and
172 SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
then a girl broke in triumphantly with, " The baby,
please, mem."
The Rev. David Macrae tells that in a Brooklyn Sun-
day school a small boy was asked the question, " Who
was the first man ? ' and,, with characteristic American
cocksureness, he immediately replied, " General Wash-
ington." The teacher smiled., then asked "Did you
never hear of Adam?' "Why, yes," responded the
child, " I've heard of Adam ; but I didn't know you
were counting foreigners."
Recently, in a Sunday school in Scotland, a little
boy, who had been transferred to a new r class, was
asked on arrival if he had had the Shorter Catechism.
For a moment he looked puzzled, and then replied
" I'm no sure, mem, until I ask my mither ; but I ken
I've had the measles."
Elsewhere, a teacher had been carefully explaining
the parable of the Prodigal Son, and that done, she
proceeded to put questions. All went well until near
the close, w r hen she asked, ' Now, tell me who was not
pi eased to see the prodigal son when he came home,"
and to her consternation got the reply, "Please, ma'am,
the fatted calf."
In a Sunday school in Ayrshire, attended chiefly by
miners' children, the lesson for the day had been the
parable of the ten w r ise and ten foolish virgins, and the
teacher asked " Can any one of you tell me w r hy
the virgins' lamps went out ? ' " I ken," immediately
responded the dullest boy in the class ; " it was the
wicks that w r as needin' pykin'."
And the story is hoary w T ith age of how a teacher,
when the lesson had been read which bore on Jacob's
dream, invited questions from the class, and how one
little fellow asked " Why did the angels need a ladder
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES. I?:;
for ascending and descending when they had wings and
could flee ? ' The teacher was nonplussed, but got out
of the difficulty by saying " Perhaps some of the
other boys can answer." " I think I ken," ventured a
little fellow, whose father was a bird fancier, "maybe
they wad be moultin' at the time."
His solutions may be extraordinary, but nothing, you
see, can baffle the young wit. It was again in a Sunday
school that a teacher had been instructing a class in the
relative positions of man and the lower animals in the
scale of intelligence, and wishing to test how the lesson
had been imbibed, she asked " Now, what is next to
man ? " and got the answer promptly " His shirt."
"What is meant by a 'hireling'?' 1 was asked of a
class in a day-school. "You are a hireling," responded
a little fellow ; "you are hired to teach us."
Giving a reading lesson to his class in the presence
of an inspector, a teacher asked his boys what was
meant by conscience a word that had occurred in the
course of the reading and the class having been duly
crammed for the occasion answered as one boy " An
inward monitor." " But what do you understand by
an inward monitor ? ' put in the inspector. To this
further question, only one boy announced himself ready
to respond, and his triumphantly given answer was
"A hironclad, sir."
Their definitions are at all times interesting, if not
constantly reliable. After a reading of Gray's " Elegy"
by a fourth standard class, the boys were asked what
was meant by "fretted vaults," and one youth replied
"The vaults in which these poor people were buried ;
their friends came and fretted over them." Asked
what he understood by " Elegy,'' another boy in the
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
same class answered "Elegy is some poetry wrote out
for schools to learn, like Gray's ' Elegy.' :
Asked to describe a kitten, a boy,, after a moment's
thought, replied "A kitten is remarkable for rushing
like mad at nothing whatever, and stopping before it
gets there."
Another boy's definition of a lie was probably the
fruit of good experience. "A lie/' said he, "is an
abomination in the eyes of the Lord,, but a very present
help in time of trouble."
Asked to define the expression,, " Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof." "It just means/' responded a
little fellow, "that the evil committed at the present
(lav is quite sufficient without any more."
In a sixth standard examination, a vacuum was
recently described as "an empty space without any-
thing in it ; " and a compass, at the same time, w r as
explained as "a tripod with a round or circular box
surmounting it, which always points due north."
A Government inspector not long ago gave the fol-
lowing in a list of historical and other " facts/' elicited
from boys under examination :
" Of whom was it said ' He never smiled again ' ? ;!
" William Rufus, and this after he was shot by the
arrow.'
" My favourite character in English history is
Henry VIII., because he had eight wives and killed
them' all."
"The cause of the Peasants' Revolt was that a
shilling poultice should be put on everybody over
sixteen."
" Henry VIII. was a very good king. He liked
plenty of money, he had plenty of waves, and died of
ulcers in the legs."
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AM) FANUKS. 17,5
"Edward III. would have been kino- O f France if his
mother had been a man. 1 '
" Doomsday Book. -A book signifying that each
man should have seven feet of land for a o-rave."
o
" Alexander the Great was born in the absence of his
parents. '
" What followed the murder of Becket ? " " Henry II.
received wacks with a birch.''
"What is a watershed?'' "A shed for keeping-
water in. '
" A watershed is a house between two rivers so that
a drop of water falling on one side of the roof runs into
one river, and a drop on the other side goes into the
other river."
" The battle of Waterloo was fought off Cape Trafal-
gar. Nelson led up one squadron and Collingwood the
other. Wlieii it was over, Wellington rode over the
field by moonlight, and met Blucher, the French general,
and they shook hands and were friends ever after."
" The Feudal System lies between the Humber and
the Thames."
" Caractacus was a Roman Emperor who had con-
quered Britain. He had to abandon it shortly after-
wards because it was overrun by the Picts and the
Scots."
" The principal products of Kent are Archbishops at
Canterbury."
" The chief clause in Magna Charta was that no free
man should be put to death or imprisoned without his
own consent.' 3
" What and where are the Pyramids ? " " The
Pyramids is a kind of night-lights as is generally used
in the bed-rooms, but you can get Clark's as well."
17() SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
" Where were the Kings of England crowned ? "
" On their heads."
" What were the most important Feudal dues ? "
" Friendship, courtship, marriage."
" What do you know of Dermot ? " " Dermot's
daughter married Magna Charta. Dermot himself
o
married Strongbow."
" What do you know of Drydeii and Buckingham ? "
" Dry den and Buckingham were at first friends,, but
soon became contemporaries."
"What is Milton's chief work ?" u Milton wrote a
sensible poem called the ' Canterbury Tails.' :
" The gamut is a musical scale. The name is derived
o
from gamut or catgut,, the material from which the
strings of musical instruments used to be made."
ce
An optimist is a man who looks after your eyes,
and a pessimist is a man who looks after your feet."
" A man who looks on the bright side of things is
called an optimist,, and one who looks 011 the dull side
is called a pianist."
Dr. Charles Wilson, in his general report on the
Scottish Training Colleges, gives several curious answers
which he had received from candidates and pupil-
teachers. A young lady in commenting on the proverb,
" Penny wise and pound foolish," wrote " This pro-
verb clearly shows that for every wise and good action
a man does, he will commit two hundred and forty
foolish bad ones."
Under examination by Dr. John Ker, a boy wrote
regarding Oliver Cromwell " Oliver Cromwell's eyes
were of a dark grey, his nose was very large and of a
deep, red colour, but underneath it was a truly religious
soul."
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AM) FANCIFS. 177
Another wrote " By the Declaration of [ndulgence
people were allowed to worship God in their own wav.
Seven Bishops refused to do so. They were accordingly
put on their trial and found not guilty."
Another declared that the Salic Law says " NO
one can be made King who was descended from a
woman."
Speaking there of Oliver Cromwell, recalls the story
of a boy's school essay which the late Mr. W. F. Glad-
stone was fond of telling albeit, the great Commoner
liad no very lively sense of humour. The " G.O.M.'s '
comically-mixed youthful historian wrote " Oliver
. .'
Cromwell began his career by cutting off the head of
his king, and when he was dying he said, " Had I
served mv God with half the zeal I have served my
.
king, he would not in mine age have left me naked to
mine enemies."
1 have examples of other boys' essays not less sur-
prising and entertaining.
" The horse," wrote a youthful Cuvier, in an essay on
the " friend of man," " is a useful creacher. It eats
corn, it is a sort of square animal with a leg at each
corner, and has a head at one end and a tail at the
other."
Here is a boy's essay on " Breath," well calculated to
almost take any one s breath away " Breath is made of
air. We breathe with our lungs, our livers, and our
kidneys. If it wasn't for our lights and our breath we
should die when we slept. Our breath keeps life agoing
through the nose when we are asleep. Boys that stay
in a room all day should not breathe. The} 1 should
wait till they get outdoors. Boys in a room make
carbonicide. Carbonicide is more poisonous than mad
dogs. A heap of soldiers was in a black hole in India
ITS SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
and carbonicide got into that black hole and killed nearly
rverv one afore morning. Girls kill the breath with
corsets that squeeze the diagram. Girls can't run or
holler like boys because their diagram is squeezed too
much. If I was a girl, I'd rather be a boy so I can run
and holler and have a good big diagram."
The next looks rather knowing for a lad of eleven-
and-a-half; but Dr. T. J. Macnamara, M.P., in an
article on " Children's Witticisms," contributed to the
Xetr Liberal Review, vouches for its authenticity. The
subject reveals itself in the work : " What I expect to
do in my holidays is the greater part of the time to
mind the baby. Two years and a half old. Just old
* mf
enough to run into a puddle or to fall downstairs. Oh !
what a glorious occupation, my aunt or Sunday-school
teacher would sav. But it is all very well for them :
/
they ought to have a turn with him. I am going to
have a game at tying doors, tying bundles of mud in
paper, and then drop it on the pavement. I shall buy
a bundle of wood and tie a piece of cord to it, and when
some one goes to pick it up, lo ! it has vanished not
lost, but gone before. I shall go butterfly-catching,
and catch some fish at Snob's Brighton (Lea Bridge).
I shall finish up by having a whacking, tearing my
breeches, giving a boy two black eyes, and then wake
up on Monday morning refreshed and quite happy to
make the acquaintance of Mr. -'s cane."
Dr. M. quotes the following as well the genuineness
of which he also guarantees : " Man goes fishing, takes
his rod and enough tackle to make a telegraph wire,
and starts on his piscatorial expedition. He arrives,
and happy man is he if he has not forgot something, a
hook, his bait, or his float. He sits there, apparently
contented ; he catches a frog or some other fine
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AM) FANCIF.S. l?<)
specimen of natural history, and a cold, and a jolly
o-ood roasting from his bitter f.v/V) half, when he arri\es
^ O V /
with some mackerel which he had bought at the fish-
monger's. Hi-, poor man. did not know that they were
sea-fish, but his wife- did. When juyeniles go fishing,
they take a willow, their ma's reel of best six cord, a
pickle jar. and a few worms, and proceed to the New
Riyer quite happy. When they arriye they catch
about fifty (a small thousand, they call it), and are
thinking of returning home,, when a gent, with X.R.
on his hat, and a o-ood ash stick in his hand, conies up,
' Lllo. there,' says he, k what are you doing there?'
' Fishing, sir,' answer they meekly. The man then
takes away their fish and rod, and gives them some
whales instead (on their back). And they return home
sadder but wiser boys."
I can vouch myself for the genuineness of the next
example, recently copied verbatim from the original
manuscript in the possession of a friend in the teaching
profession in Glasgow. The general subject had been
"Athletic Sports," and a boy wrote : "Athletic sports
is very useful football especially it strengthens the
mussles all sports is good for the helth for some people
I think the best game is rugby there is more fun in it
than anything else I will give a description of football
the Rangers have the best men that ever stood in the
football park there is one man I know and that is Clias.
Raisback and he is center and a nother good player is
Bobby M'Coll his wright wing and J. Drummond is a
nother good player I think this is all about athletic
sports I have got to say and I will never forget the
good wee rangers the result was 011 Saturday Rangers xJ
Morton 1. Good old Rangers." Isn't it beautiful?
180 SCHOOLROOM FACTS AND FANCIES.
To the question,, "With what weapon did Samson
slay the Philistines ? ' the correct answer has already
been given,, or extracted., here ; but I recall another,,
more ingenious, from a boy, who replied, "'With the
axe of the Apostles."
"What are you talking about there?' demanded a
teacher, addressing himself to the loquacious son of a
railway porter. But the teacher received no response,
and was obliged to ask another lad who sat next
O
the delinquent, " What was George talking about ? '
"Please, sir, he was saying as his father's trousers is
sent down to Brighton when they gets old, and they's
made into sugar there, and that's how 'tis sugar 's gone
down."
Home influences appeared in the answer of a child,
whose father was a strong teetotaller, to the query ^
"Do you know the meaning of syntax ? ' "Yes, syntax
/ O */
is the dooty upon spirits."
In reply to the question, " Why do we cook our
food ? ' one child replied : " There are five ways of
cooking potatoes. We should die if w r e eat our food
raw." A second pupil wrote : "Food digested is when
we put it into our mouths, our teeth chews it, and our
mouth drops it down into our body. We should not
eat so much bone-making food as flesh-making and
warmth-giving foods, for, if we did, we should have too
many bones, and that would make us look funny."
In answer to the question, " Mention any occupations
that are injurious to health?' one child's reply w T as:
" Occupations which are injurious to health are carbonic
acid gas, which is impure blood." Another responded:
:e A stone-mason's work is injurious, because when he is
chipping, he breathes in all the little chips, and they
are taken into the lungs." A third advanced the
SCHOOLROOM FACTS AM) FAXC'II.S. isl
theory that "A boot-maker's trade is very injurious.
because they press the boots against the thorax, and
therefore it presses the thorax in. and it touches the
heart, and if they do not die,, they are cripples for
life."
Finally, here is an extract from an essay on "The
Moon," which in defiance of its title affords some
very interesting glimpses of sublunary home life : "To
look at the white moon shinin threw your winder at
night, sitting 1 on the edge of the bed, and lissin to your
father and mothers knives and forks rattlin on their
plates while they are getting their nice suppers, is the
prittist site you ever seed. When its liver and hunyens
there a having, you can smell it all the way upstairs.
It looks very brite and nearly all white. Once when
/ *
they w r as a having fried fish and potaters I crept out of
my bed-room to the top of the stairs all in the dark,
just so as to have a better lissen and a nearer smell. I
forget whether there was a moon that night. I don't
think as there was, cose I got to the top of the stares
afore I knew I was there, and I tumbled right down to
O
the bottom of the stares, a bursting open the door at
the bottom, and rolling into the room nearly as far as
O J
the supper table. My father thote of giving me the
stick for it, but he let my mother give me a bit of fish
on some bread, and told me to skittle off to bed again.
I am sure there w r as not no moon, else I should have
seed there wasn't a top stare when I put my foot out
so slow. I only skratted my left eye and ear a bit with
that last bump at the bottom, witch was a hard one,
Stares are steeper than girls think, speshilly where the
corner is."
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
THE editor of a London literary journal was recently
inviting men and women in prominent positions in
public life to name for publication the books of their
childhood. So far as I observed, none of the half-
hundred or more who responded gave Blue Beard,
Cinderella, Little Red Hiding Hood., or any of the others
in the same category that follow here. But I am none
the less convinced that these old-time favourites,, not
yet unknown, though familiar to city children in the
present generation mainly in their variegated and fan-
tastic Christmas pantomime form, were in Scotland and
England alike in the last century more essentially the
books of childhood than any others known and read
beyond the walls of the school-room. The travelling
stationers and packmen carried them in their thousands,
in chapbook form, into even the most remote parts of
the country,, where they were bartered for and explored
with avidity. In many quarters, indeed, they were so
familiar fifty years ago that the books on occasions
could be dispensed with, and the elder members of
families would recite the stories from memory for the
delectation of the younger fry, when all foregathered in
a crescent before the kitchen fire to wear out the long
winter evenings. In this manner, under the dim-
flickering light of an " oilie cruizie," in a straggling
CH1LDHKVS STORIES, is;;
village in Perthshire, did 1 Irani first <>f Him- Beard and
Jack the Giant Killrr, and many anotlirr IHTO of rliap-
book literature. And mv experience. 1 am sure. \\as l>\
no means singular. Rather, I frrl certain that while
telling thus my own. 1 am expressing no less trulv the
experience of many thousands of men and women now
bevond middle life who similarlv were born and bred in
any rural parish in Scotland. And, oh, the weird
fascination of it all ! There was no doubting of Blue
Beard's reality ; no hesitation in accepting as actual
every extraordinary feat of Jack the Giant Killer.
Both were as real in our innocent imagination as is now
the personality of King- Edward the Seventh. It never
occurred to us then, as it does now, that the story of
Blue Beard is only a gory and fantastic parody of the
history of Eden a temptation, a fall, and a rescue.
And we had no concern about authorship. We did not
know then, as we do now and as few an- vet aware,
perhaps that Blue BeanL Cinderella, and Little Red
Elding Hood were all written by Charles Perrault. a
celebrated French literateur and poet, who was born in
Paris in l62cS, and died there in 1703. And to have
been told, as we have recently been, on authority that
Perrault's Blue Beard the Comte Gilles de Rais Mas
no mere wife-killer (though he was such) but from his
youth upwards, in the fifteenth century, a man of
exquisite culture, and a soldier under Joan of Arc-,
would have made for disillusionment so emphatic as to
have shred the tale of a serious amount of its blood-
curdling charm. As I can still enjoy reading them,
it is a real pleasure to embrace here these old-time
examples of child literature. Such as follow and all
the more popular will be found in the list are printed
verbatim from the chapbooks now unobtainable, except
184 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
at a ransom price and without individual comment-
none being required.
BLUE BEARD.
There was, some time ago, a gentleman who was ex-
tremely rich : he had elegant town and country houses ;
his dishes and plates were of gold or silver ; his rooms
were hung with damask ; his chairs and sofas were
covered with the richest silks ; and his carriages were
all magnificently gilt with gold.
But, unfortunately, this gentleman had a blue beard,
which made him so very frightful and ugly, that none
of the ladies in the neighbourhood would venture to go
into his company.
It happened that a lady of quality, who lived very
near him, had two daughters, who were both extremely
beautiful. Blue Beard asked her to bestow one of them
upon him in marriage, leaving to herself the choice
which of the two it should be.
They both, however, again and again refused to
marry Blue Beard ; but to be as civil as possible, they
each pretended that they refused because she would not
deprive her sister of the opportunity of marrying so
much to her advantage. But the truth was, they could
not bear the thought of having a husband with a blue
beard : and, besides, they had heard of his having
already been married to several wives, and nobody
could tell what had afterwards become of them.
As Blue Beard wished very much to gain their
favour, he invited the lady and her daughters, and
some ladies who were on a visit at their house, to
accompany him to one of his country seats,, where they
spent a whole week, during w^hich nothing was thought
CHILDREN'S STORIKS. is:,
of but parties for hunting and fishing, music, dancing,
collations, and the most delightful entertainments. No
one thought of going to bed, and the nights wen-
passed in merriment of every kind.
In short, the time had passed so agreeably, that the
youngest of the two sisters began to think that the
beard which had so much terrified her was not so verv
blue, and that the gentleman to whom it belonged was
vastly civil and pleasing.
Soon after they returned home,, she told her mother
that she had no longer any objection to accept Blue
Beard as her husband ; and, accordingly, in a short time
they were married.
About a month after the marriage had taken place.
Blue Beard told his wife that he should be obliged to
leave her for a few weeks, as he had some business to
do in the country. He desired her to be sure to procure
herself every kind of amusement, to invite as many of
her friends as she liked, and to treat them with all sorts
of delicacies, that the time might pass agreeably during
his absence. "Here," said he, "are the keys of the two
large wardrobes. This is the key of the great box that
c^ * ~
contains the best plate, which we use for company ;
this belongs to my strong box, where I keep my money ;
and this to the casket in which are all my jewels. Here
also is a master key to all the apartments in my house
-but this small key belongs to the closet at the end of
the long gallery on the ground floor. I give you leave,"
continued he, " to open or do what you like with all
the rest excepting this closet : this, my dear, you must
not enter, nor even put the kep into the lock, for all the
world. Should you disobey me, expect the most dread-
ful of punishments."
She promised to obey his orders in the most faithful
13
186 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
manner ; and Blue Beard, after tenderly embracing her,,
stepped into his carriage and drove away.
The friends of the bride did not., on this occasion,
wait to be invited, so impatient were they to see all the
riches and magnificence she had gained by marriage,
for they had been prevented from paying their wedding
visit bv their aversion to the blue beard of the bride-
gn >om.
No sooner were they arrived than they impatiently
ran from room to room, from cabinet to cabinet, and
then from wardrobe to wardrobe, examining each with
the utmost curiosity, and declaring that the last was
still richer and more beautiful than what they had seen
the moment before. At length they came to the
<T7
drawing-rooms, where their admiration and astonish-
o
ment were still increased by the costly splendour of
the hangings, of the sofas, the chairs, carpets, tables,
girandoles, and looking-glasses, the frames of which
were silver gilt, most richly ornamented, and in which
they saw themselves from head to foot.
In short, nothing could exceed the magnificence of
what they saw ; and the visitors did not cease to extol
and envy the good fortune of their friend, who all this
time was far from being amused by the fine compli-
ments they paid her, so eagerly did she desire to see
what was in the closet her husband had forbidden her
to open. So great indeed was her curiosity, that,
without recollecting how uncivil it would be to leave
her guests, she descended a private staircase that led to
it, and in such a hurry, that she was two or three times
/ -*
in danger of breaking her neck.
When she reached the door of the closet, she stopped
for a few moments to think of the charge her husband
had given her, and that he would not fail to keep his
CHILDREN'S STORIES, is;
word in punishing her vcrv severely, should she disobey
him. But she was so very curious to know what \\;i
in the inside,, that she determined to venture in spite
of everything.
She, accordingly, with a trembling hand, put the key
into the lock, and the door immediately opened. The
window shutters being- closed, she at first saw nothing ;
but in a short time she perceived that the floor w;is
covered with clotted blood, on which the bodies of
several dead women were lying. These were all the
wives whom Blue Beard had married and murdered,
one after another. She was ready to sink with fear,
and the key of the closet door, which she held in her
hand, fell on the floor. When she had somewhat re-
covered from her fright, she took it up, locked the
door, and hastened to her OAVII room, that she might
have a little time to get into humour for amusing her
visitors ; but this she found impossible, so greatly was
she terrified by what she had seen.
As she observed that the key of the closet had got
stained with blood in falling on the floor, she wiped it
two or three times over to clean it ; still, however, the
blood remained the same as before ; she next washed
it, but the blood did not stir at all ; she then scoured it
with brickdust, and afterwards with sand, but notwith-
standing all she could do the blood was still there, for
the key was a fairy, who was Blue Beard's friend, so
that as fast as she got it off' on one side, it appeared
again on the other.
Early in the evening Blue Beard returned home, say-
/ /
ing he had not proceeded far on his journey before he
was met by a messenger who was coming to tell him
that his business was happily concluded without his
being present, upon which his wife said everything she
188 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
could think of, to make him believe she was transported
with joy at his unexpected return.
The next morning- he asked for the keys : she gave
them to him ; but as she could not help showing her
fright. Blue Beard easily guessed what had happened.
" How is it," said he, ' that the key of the closet upon
the ground floor is not here ? '
Is it not ? Then I must have left it on my dressing-
table/' said she. and left the room in tears.
" Be sure you give it to me by and by," cried Blue
Beard.
After going several times backwards and forwards,,
pretending to look for the key, she was at last obliged
to give it to Blue Beard. He looked at it attentively,
and then said, " How came the blood upon the key ? '
I am sure I do not know." replied the lady, turning
at the same time as pale as death.
" You do not know," said Blue Beard sternly ; " but
I know well enough. You have been in the closet on
the ground floor. Very well, madam ; since you are
so mightily fond of this closet, you shall certainly take
o . ,'
your place among the ladies you saw there."
His wife, almost dead with fear, fell upon her knees,
asked his pardon, a thousand times for her disobedience,
and entreated him to forgive her, looking all the time
so very sorrowful and lovely, that she would have
/ ?
melted any heart that was not harder than a rock.
But Blue Beard answered, " Xo, no, madam ; you
shall die this very minute ! '
" Alas ! ' said the poor trembling creature, " if I
must die, allow me, at least, a little time to say my
prayers."
" I give you," replied the cruel Blue Beard, " half a
quarter of an hour ; not one moment longer."
CHILDKKVS STOKIKS. IS})
When Blue Beard had left her to herself, she called
her sister ; and after telling her, as well as she could
for sobbing, that she had but half a quarter of an hum-
to live : " IVvthee," said she, "sister Ann (this \\.is
her sister's name), "run up to the top of the tower, and
see if niv brothers are vet in sight, for they promised
O I
to come and yisit me to-day ; and if you see them
make a sign for them to gallop as fast as possible."
Her sister instantly did as she was desired, and the
terrified lady every minute called out to her, " Ann !
sister Ann ! do you see any one coming ? '
And her sister answered, " I see nothing but the sun,,
which makes a dust, and the grass which looks green."
In the meantime, Blue Beard, with a great scimitar
in his hand, bawled as loud as he could to his wife,
"Come down instantly, or I will fetch you.'
*
" One moment longer, I beseech you," replied she ;
and again called softly to her sister, "' Sister Ann, do
you see any one coming ? '
/ /
To which she answered, " I see nothing but the sun,
which makes a dust, and the grass which looks green."
Blue Beard now again bawled out, " Come down, I
say, this very moment, or I shall come and fetch you."
" I am coming ; indeed, I will come in one minute,"
sobbed his unhappy wife. Then she once more cried
out, " Ann ! sister Ann ! do you see any one coming ? '
" I see," said her sister, " a cloud of dust a little to
the left."
" Do you think it is my brothers ? ' continued the
wife.
" Alas ! no, dear sister," replied she ; " it is only a
flock of sheep."
"Will you come down or not, madam ? " cried Blue
Beard, in the greatest rage imaginable.
1()0 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
" Only one single moment more/' answered she.
And then she called out for the last time, " Sister
Ann ! do you see any one coming ? '
"I see," replied her sister, "two men on horseback
coming to the house ; but they are still at a great
distance."
" God be praised ! ' cried she, " it is my brothers ;
o-ive them a sign to make what haste they can."
?< o
At the same moment Blue Beard cried out so loud
for her to come down, that his voice shook the whole
house.
The poor lady with her hair loose, and her eyes
swimming in tears, instantly came down, and fell on
her knees to Blue Beard, and was going to beg him to
spare her life, but he interrupted her, saying, "All this
is of no use at all, for you shall die ; ' then seizing her
with one hand by the hair, and raising the scimitar he
held in the other, was going with one blow to strike off
her head.
The unfortunate creature turning towards him, de-
sired to have a single moment allowed her to recollect
herself.
Xo, no," said Blue Beard, " I will give you no more
time, I am determined you have had too much
already ; ' and again raised his arm- Just at this
instant a loud knocking was heard at the gates, which
made Blue Beard wait for a moment to see who it was.
The gates were opened, and two officers dressed in
their regimentals entered, and, with their swords in
their hands, ran instantly to Blue Beard, who, seeing
/ O
they were his wife's brothers, endeavoured to escape
from their presence ; but they pursued and seized him
before he had gone twenty steps, and plunging their
CHILDREN'S STOKIl.S. MH
swords into his body. In- immediately fell dm\n dead at
their feet.
The poor wife, who was almost as drad as her
husband, was unable at first to rise and embrace her
brothers. She soon, however, recovered ; and as Blue
Beard had no heirs, she found herself the lawful pos-
sessor of his "Teat riches.
She employed a portion of her vast fortune in giving
a marriage dowry to her sister Ann, who soon after
became the wife of a young 1 gentleman by whom she
had long been beloved. Another part she employed in
buying captains' commissions for her two brothers ;
and the rest she presented to a most worthy gentleman,
whom she married soon after, and whose kind treat-
ment soon made her forget Blue Beard's cruelty.
JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK.
In days of yore,, there lived a widow who had a son
named Jack. Being an only child, he was too much
indulged, and became so extravagant and careless that
J5 ' O
he wasted the property which his mother possessed,,
until at last there remained only a cow, the chief
support of her and her son.
One day the poor woman, with tears in her eyes, said
to Jack " O, you wicked child, by your ungrateful
course of life you have brought me to beggary in my
old age ; cruel boy ! I have not money to buy even a
O / mf V
bit of bread, and we must now sell the cow. I am
grieved to part with her, but I cannot see you starve,"
Jack felt some remorse, but having less affection for
the cow than his mother had, he drove her to the
nearest market town, where he met a butcher, who
192 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
made a very curious offer for her. " Your cow," said
he,, " vou young prodigal dog ! is worth nothing ; you
have starved her until she would disgrace the shambles ;
and, as to milk, no wonder that you and your mother
have been starving while you were depending upon
that supply. One ill turn deserves another, and
receives it just as surely as one good turn deserves
another. But you shall not take back the cow to
perish with hunger. I have got some beans in my
pocket ; they are the oddest I ever saw, not one of
them being, either in colour or shape, like another ; if
you will take them in exchange for the cow, you may
have them."
The silly boy could not conceal the pleasure he felt
at the offer. The bargain was struck, and the cow
exchanged for a few paltry beans. Jack made the best
of his way home, calling to his mother before he
reached the house, thinking to surprise her. When she
saw the beans and heard Jack's story, her patience
quite forsook her ; she kicked the beans away in a
passion ; they flew in all directions some were
scattered in the garden. Not having anything to eat,
they both went supperless to bed.
Jack awoke early in the morning, and, seeing some-
tiling uncommon in the garden, soon discovered that
some of the beans had taken root and sprung up sur-
prisingly ; the stalks were of great thickness, and had
so entwined that they formed a ladder, nearly like a
chain in appearance.
Looking upwards, he could not discern the top ; it
appeared to be lost in the clouds. He tried the bean-
stalks, found them firm and not to be shaken. He
quickly formed the resolution of climbing to the top to
seek his fortune, and ran to communicate his intention
CHILDRFA'S STOIUKS. If):;
to his mother, not doubting l)ut slit- would he cquallv
pleased with himself. She declared he should not go :
said it would break her heart if lie did entreated and
threatened, but all in vain.
Jack set out, and. after climbing for some hours.
readied the top of the bean-stalk quite fatigued.
Looking around, he found himself in a strange countrv.
~ .
It a]>peared to be a desert, quite barren not a tree,
shrub, house, or living' creature to be seen.
.lack seated himself upon a stone, and thought of his
mother; he reflected with sorrow on his disobedience in
climbing the bean-stalk against her will, and concluded
that he must die of hunger.
c>
However, he walked on, hoping to see a house where
he might beg something to eat and drink. Presently a
handsome young woman appeared at a distance. As
she approached. Jack could not help admiring how
beautiful she looked ; she was dressed in the most
elegant manner, and had a white wand in her hand, on
the top of which was a peacock of pure gold. While
Jack was looking with the greatest surprise at this
charming female, with a smile of the most bewitching
sweetness^ she inquired ho\v he came there ? .lack told
how he had climbed up the bean-stalk. She asked him
if he recollected his father ? He answered that he did
not ; and added that he had inquired of his mother
who or where his father was, but that she avoided
answering him, and even seemed afraid of speaking, as
if there was some secret connected with his father's
history.
The lady replied, " I will reveal the whole story ;
your mother must not. But, before I begin, I require
a solemn promise, on your part, to do what I com-
mand. I am a fairy, and if you do not perform exactly
HH CHILDREN'S STORIES.
what I desire, you will be destroyed." Jack promised
to obey her injunctions, and the fairy thus addressed
him :
" Your father was a rich and benevolent man ; he
was good to the poor, and constantly relieving them ;
he never let a day pass without doing good to some
person. On one particular day in the week he kept
open house., and invited those who were reduced and
had lived well. He always sat at the table with them
mi
himself, and did all he could to render his guests com-
fortable. The servants were all happy, and greatly
attached to their master and mistress. Such a man was
soon known and talked of. A giant lived a great many
miles off, who was altogether as wicked as your father
O /
was good ; he was envious, covetous, and cruel, but had
the art of concealing these vices.
" Hearing your father spoken of, he formed the
design of becoming acquainted with him, hoping to
ingratiate himself into your father's favour. He
removed quickly into your neighbourhood, caused it to
be reported that he had lost all he possessed by an
earthquake, and found it difficult to escape with his
life ; his wife was with him. Your father believed his
story, and pitied him ; he gave him apartments in his
own house, and caused him and his wife to be treated
hospitably, little imagining that the giant was meditat-
ing a horrid return for all his favours.
"Things went on in this way for some time, the
giant becoming daily more impatient to put his plan
into execution. At last, an opportunity presented
itself. \our father's house was at some distance from
the sea-shore, but the giant, standing on a hill one
stormy day, observed some ships in distress off the
rocks ; he hastened to your father, and requested that
CHILDRFA'S STOKIKS. !<).",
he would send all the people he could spare to ivli-\<-
the mariners.
"While the servants were all employed upon this
service, the giant despatched your father by stabbing
liim with a dagger. You were then only three months
old. and vour mother, upon discovering what had
happened, fainted, but still clasping you in her arms.
The giant, who intended to murder both of you, having
found her in that state,, for a short time repented of
the dreadful crime he had committed., and granted your
mother and you your lives, but only upon condition
that she should never inform you who your father was,
*
nor answer any questions concerning him, assuring her
that, if she did, he would certainly put both of you to
death in the most cruel manner. Your mother took
you in her arms, and fled as quickly as possible.
Having gained your father's confidence, he knew where
to find all his treasure, He and his wife soon carried
o.T two lar<>'e chests filled with *>;old, which they could
~ O *'
not have done unless they had been giants, and, having
set the house on fire in several places, when the servants
returned it was burned quite dow r n to the ground.
e( Your poor mother w r andered with you a great many
miles from this scene of desolation ; fear added to her
haste ; she settled in the cottage where you were
brought up, and it was entirely owing to her fear of the
o-iant that she never mentioned your father to you.
c^ / */
" I became your father's guardian at his birth ; but
*. C-'
fairies have laws to w r hich they are subject as well as
mortals. A short time before the giant went to your
father's, I transgressed ; my punishment was a suspen-
sion of power for a limited time an unfortunate cir-
cumstance, as it totally prevented my succouring your
father.
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
"The day on which you met the butcher,, as you
went to sell your mother's cow, my power was restored;
and,, as I had been told by Oberon, the King of the
Fairies., how dreadful w r ere the consequences to your
father of my single error,, I resolved to take you under
my protection, and to be more circumspect in future.
It was I who secretly prompted you to take the beans
in exchange for the cow.
" By my power the bean-stalk grew to so great a
height, and formed a ladder. I need not add that I
inspired you with a strong desire to ascend the ladder.
" The giant now lives in this country ; you are the
person appointed to punish him for all his wickedness.
You will have dangers and difficulties to encounter, but
you must persevere in avenging the death of your
father or you will not prosper in any of your undertak-
ings, but be always miserable.
"As to the giant's possessions, you may seize on all
you can, for everything he has belongs either to you or
to me ; for you must know r that, not satisfied with the
gold he carried off from your father, he broke into my
house and stole the two greatest curiosities ever
possessed even by a fairy, and would have killed me as
he did your father, if it could have been possible to kill
a fairy. One thing I desire do not let your mother
know you are acquainted with your father's history till
you see me again.
"" Go along the direct road ; you will soon see the
house where your cruel enemy lives. While you do as
I order you, I will protect and guard you ; but, remem-
ber, if you disobey my commands a most dreadful
punishment awaits you."
When the fairy had concluded, she disappeared,
leaving Jack to pursue his journey. He walked on till
CHILDHKN'S STOKIKS. MI;
after sunset, when, to his great jov, he espied a large
mansion. A plain-looking woman was at the door; he
accosted lier, begging she would give him a morsel of
bread and a night's lodging. She expressed tin
greatest surprise at seeing him. and said it was quite
uncommon to see a human being near the house, tor it
was well known that her husband was a large and
powerful giant, and that he would never eat anything
but human flesh, if be possibly could get it ; that he
did not think anything of walking fifty miles to pro-
cure it.
This account greatly terrified Jack, but he still
hoped to elude the giant, and therefore he again
entreated the woman to take him in for one night only,
and hide him where she thought proper. The woman
at last suffered herself to be persuaded, for although
she had assisted in the murder of Jack's father and in
stealing the g*old, she was of a compassionate and
generous disposition, and took him into the house.
First they entered a fine large hall, magnificently
furnished ; they then passed through several spacious
rooms, all in the same style of grandeur.
A long gallery w 7 as next ; it was very dark, just light
enough to show that, instead of a wall 011 one side,
there was a grating of iron which parted off a dismal
dungeon, whence issued the groans of those poor
victims whom the cruel giant reserved in confinement
for his own voracious appetite.
Poor Jack was half dead with fear, and would have
given the world to have been with his mother again, for
he now began to fear that he should never see her
more, and gave himself up for lost ; he even mistrusted
the "'iant's wife, and thought she had let him into the
" < '
ic)8 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
house for no other purpose than to lock him up among
the unfortunate people in the dungeon.
At the farther end of the gallery there was a spacious
kitchen,, and a fire was burning in the grate. The good
woman bade Jack sit down, and gave him plenty to eat
and drink. Jack, not seeing anything here to make
him uncomfortable, soon forgot his fear, and was
beginning to enjoy himself, when he was aroused by a
loud knocking at the door., which made the whole house
shake ; the giant's wife ran to secure him in the oven,
and then went to let her husband in.
Jack heard him accost her in a voice like thunder,
say in g-
" Wife, I smell fresh meat."
" Oh ! my dear/' replied she, " it is only the people
in the dungeon."
The giant appeared to believe her and walked into
the kitchen, where poor Jack lay concealed,, shaking
with fear and trembling in every limb.
At last,, the monster seated himself by the fireside,
whilst his wife prepared supper. By degrees Jack took
courage to look at the giant through a small crevice ; he
was quite astonished to see what an amazing quantity
he devoured,, and thought he never would have done
eating and drinking. When supper was ended, the
giant desired his wife to bring him his hen, which was
one of the curiosities he had stolen from the fairy. A
/
very beautiful hen was brought, and placed on the
table before him. Jack's curiosity was very great to
see what would happen ; he observed that every time
the giant said, " Lay ! " the hen laid an egg of solid
gold.
The giant amused himself a long time with his hen ;
meanwhile his wife went to bed. At length the giant
o o
CHILDRKVS STORIKS. |<,<)
fell asleep by the tin-side, and snored like the roaring
of a cannon. At daybreak. Jack, finding the u'iant still
& O ~
asleep, crept softly out of his hiding-place, sei/ed the
hen, and ran oft' with her.
He easily found the wav to the bean-stalk, and
/
descended it more quickly than he expected. His
mother was overjoyed to see him, for she concluded he
had come to a shocking end.
Jack was impatient to show his hen, and inform his
mother how valuable it was.
" And now. mother/' said Jack, " I have brought
home that which will quickly make us rich ; and I hope
to make you some amends for the affliction I have
caused you through my idleness and extravagance."
The hen produced as many golden eggs as they
desired, and so they became possessed of immense
riches.
For some months, Jack and his mother lived very
happily together : but he, recollecting the fairy's com-
mands, and fearing that if he delayed to avenge his
father's death, she would put her threats into execu-
tion, longed to climb the bean-stalk again and pay the
giant another visit. Jack was, how r ever, afraid to men-
tion it to his mother, being well assured that she would
endeavour to prevent his going. However, one day he
told her boldly that he must take a journey up the
bean-stalk. She begged and prayed him not to think
of it ; she told him that the giant's wife would certainly
know him again, and that the giant would desire
nothing better than to get him into his power, that he
might put him to a cruel death in order to be revenged
for the loss of his hen.
Jack resolved to go at all events ; for, being a very
clever fellow, although a very idle one, he had no great
200 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
dread of the giant, concluding that, although he was a
cannibal, he must be a very stupid fellow not to have
regained his hen, it being just as easy to come down
the stupendous bean-stalk as to ascend it. Jack, there-
fore, had a dress made, not exactly invisible, like that
of his illustrious namesake, the Giant-killer, but one
which so disguised him that even
" The mother that him bore
Would not have known her child. );
In a few mornings after this,, he rose very early,
changed his complexion, and, unperceived by any one,
climbed the bean-stalk a second time. He was greatly
fatigued when he reached the top, and very hungry,
~ * O */ *
for, with his usual thoughtlessness, he forgot to take a
piece of bread in his pocket.
Here we are inclined to remark that, as lie had
neither bread nor bacon, he must in Ins progress have
met with a good supply of beans ; but perhaps he never
thought of this resource.
Having rested some time, he pursued his journey to
the giant's mansion. He reached it late in the evening;
the woman was at the door as before. Jack addressed
her, telling a pitiful tale, and requesting that she
would give him some victuals and drink, and also a
night's lodging.
She told him (what he knew before very well) about
her husband's being a powerful and cruel giant ; and
also that she one night admitted a poor, hungry, friend-
less boy, who was half-dead with travelling ; that the
little ungrateful fellow had stolen one of the giant's
treasures, and ever since that her husband had used her
very cruelly, and continually upbraided her with being
the cause of his loss. But at last she consented and
took him into the kitchen, where, after he had done
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. >01
eating and drinking, she laid liini in an old lumber
closet. The giant returned at the usual time, and
walked ill so heavily that the house was shaken to the
foundation. He seated himself bv the fire, and soon
after exclaimed. " Wife. 1 smell fresh meat."
The wife replied, " It was the crows which had
brought a piece of raw meat, and left it on the top of
the house."
The giant was very ill-tempered and impatient, con-
tinually crying for his supper, like little Tom Tucker,
and complaining of the loss of his wonderful hen, which
we verily believe he would have eaten, disregarding the
treasures which she produced. Jack therefore rejoiced
that he had not only got possession of the hen, but had
in all probability saved her precious life.
The giant's wife at last set supper on the table, and
when he had eaten till he was satisfied, he said to her
" I must have something to amuse me, either my bags
of money or my harp." Jack, as before, peeped out of
his hiding-place, and presently his wife brought two
bags into the room, one filled with gold and the other
with silver.
They were both placed before the giant, who began
reprimanding his w T ife for staying so long. She
replied, trembling with fear, that the bags were so
heavy that she could scarcely lift them, and adding
that she had nearly fainted owing to their weight.
The giant took his bags, and began to count their
contents. First the bag which contained the silvtr
was emptied, and the contents placed on the table .
Jack viewed the glittering heaps with delight, and
most heartily wished the contents in his own possession.
The giant (little thinking he was so narrowly watched)
reckoned the silver over several times ; and, having
14
202 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
satisfied himself that all was safe, put it into the bag
again, which he made very secure.
The other bag was opened next, and the gold pieces
placed on the table. If Jack was pleased at the sight
of the silver,, how much more delighted must he have
felt when he saw such a heap of glittering gold ?
When the giant had counted over the gold till he was
tired, he put it up, if possible, more secure than he had
put up the silver before ; he then fell back on the chair
by the fireside, and fell asleep. He snored so loud that
Jack compared the noise to the roaring of the sea in a
high wind, when the tide is coming in. At last, Jack,
being certain that he was asleep, stole out of his hiding-
place and approached the giant, in order to carry off
the two bags of money 5 but, just as he laid his hand
upon one of the bags, a little dog, which he had not
perceived before, started from under the giant's chair
and barked at Jack most furiously, who now gave him-
self up for lost. But Jack, recollecting that the giant
had left the bones which he had picked at supper, threw
one to the dog, who instantly seized it, and took it into
the lumber closet which Jack had just left.
Finding himself delivered from a noisy and trouble-
some enemy, and seeing the giant did not awake, Jack
seized the bags, and, throwing them over his shoulders,
ran out of the kitchen. He reached the door in safety,
and found it quite daylight.
Jack was overjoyed when he found himself near the
bean-stalk ; although much incommoded with the
weight of the money bags, he soon reached the bottom,
and immediately ran to seek his mother. He was
greatly shocked on finding her apparently dying, and
could scarcely bear his own reflections, knowing himself
to be the cause. On being informed of Jack's safe
CHILDREN'S STOK1KS. 203
return, his mother gradually recovered. .lack
her his two valuable bags, and they lived as happilv and
comfortably as ever.
For three years, notwithstanding the comforts .lack
enjoyed, his mind dwelt continually upon the bean-
stalk; for the fairy's menaces were ever present to his
mind, and prevented him from being happv. It was in
vain he endeavoured to amuse himself; lie became
thoughtful, and would rise at the dawn of day and view
the bean-stalk for hours together.
His inclination at length growing too powerful for
him, he began to make secret preparations for his
journey, and, on the longest day, arose as soon as it was
light, ascended the bean-stalk, and reached the top.
He arrived at the giant's mansion in the evening, and
found his wife standing, as usual, at the door. Jack
had disguised himself so completely that she did not
appear to have the least recollection of him ; however,
when he pleaded hunger and poverty in order to gain
admittance, he found it very difficult indeed to persuade
her. At last he prevailed, and was concealed in the
oven.
When the giant returned, he said, as upon the
former occasions, "I smell fresh meat!" But Jack felt
quite composed, as he had said so before, and had been
soon satisfied ; however, the giant started up suddenly,
and, notwithstanding all his wife could say, he searched
all around the room. Jack was ready to die with fear,
m
wishing himself at home ; the giant approached the
oven and put his hand into it ; Jack thought his death
was certain.
The giant at last gave up the search and ate a
hearty supper. When he had finished, he commanded
his wife to fetch down his harp. Jack peeped as he
204 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
had done before, and saw the most beautiful harp that
could be imagined ; it was placed by the giant on the
table, who said,, " Play ! " and it instantly played of its
own accord without being touched. The music was
very fine ; Jack was delighted., and felt more anxious to
get the harp into his possession than either of the
former treasures.
The music soon lulled the giant into a sound sleep.
This, therefore, was the time to carry off the harp. As
the giant appeared to be in a more profound sleep than
usual, Jack soon determined,, got out of the oven, and
seized the harp. The harp had also been stolen by the
giant from the fairy.
The giant suddenly awoke and tried to pursue him ;
but he had drank so much that he could hardly stand.
Jack ran as fast as he could ; in a little time the giant
recovered sufficiently to walk slowly, or rather to reel
/ / *
after him. Had he been sober, he must have overtaken
Jack instantly ; but, as he then was, Jack contrived to
be first at the top of the bean-stalk. The giant called
after him in a voice like thunder, and sometimes was
very near him.
The moment Jack got down the bean-stalk, he ran
for a hatchet. Just at that instant the giant was be-
ginning to descend, but Jack with his hatchet cut the
bean-stalk close off at the root, which made the giant
fall headlong into the garden, and the fall killed him.
At this instant the fairy appeared ; she charged Jack
to be dutiful to his mother, and to follow his father's
good example, which was the only way to be happy.
She then disappeared, after recovering her hen and her
harp, which Jack gave to her most thankfully, having
acquired great riches and revenged the tragical death of
his father.
CHILDREN'S STOUIF.S. 205
THK KABKS IN THK WOOD.
A great many years ago. there lived in the county of
Norfolk a gentleman and his lady. The gentleman \\as
brave, generous, and honourable ; and the lady gcntl< .
beautiful, and virtuous ; they were beloved by all who
knew them, and were blessed with two children, a boy
and a girl. The boy was only about three years old,
and the girl not quite two, when the gentleman was
seized with a dangerous malady, and the lady, in
O * X *i X
attending her beloved husband, caught the contagion.
Notwithstanding every medical assistance, their dis-
order daily increased ; and, as they expected to be
soon snatched away from their little babes, they sent
for the gentleman's brother, and gave the darlings into
his care.
" Ah ! brother,' said the dying; man. " you see I
. O -
have but a short time to live ; yet neither death nor
pain can pierce my heart with half so much anguish as
what I feel at the thought of what these dear babes will
do without a parent's care. Brother, they will have
none but you to be kind to them, to see them clothed
and fed, and to teach them to be good."
" Dear, dear brother," said the dying lady, " you
must be father, mother, and uncle too, to these dear
innocent lambs. First, let William be taught to read ;
and then he should be told how good his father was.
And little Jane- -Oh ! brother, it wrings my heart to
talk of her ; think of the gentle usage she will need,
and take her fondly on your knee, brother, and she and
William too will pay your care with love."
" How it does grieve my heart to see you, my dear
O *
relatives, in this mournful condition," replied the
206 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
uncle. "But be comforted, there may yet be hopes of
your well-doing ; but should we have the misfortune to
/ ^
lose you, I will do all you can desire for your darling
children. In me they shall find father., mother,, and
uncle ; but, dear brother, you have said nothing of
your wealth."
ml
" H-e-r-e, h-e-r-e, brother," replied he, "is my will,
in which I have provided for my dear babes."
The gentleman and his lady then kissed their
children, and a short time after they both died.
/
The uncle, after shedding a few tears, opened the
will, in which he found that to William was bequeathed
three hundred pounds a year when he became of age,
and to little Jane five hundred pounds in gold on her
marriage day. But if the children should chance to die
~ */
before coming of age, then all their wealth was to be
enjoyed by their uncle. The will of the unfortunate
gentleman next desired that he and his beloved wife
C5
should be buried side by side in the same grave.
The two little innocents were now taken to the house
of their uncle, who, for some time, recollecting what
their parents said so sorrowfully upon their death-bed,
behaved to them with great kindness. But when he
had kept them about a twelvemonth, he by degrees
forgot to think both how their parents looked when
they gave their children to his care, and the promises
he made to be their father, mother, and uncle,, all in one.
After a little more time had passed, the uncle could
not help thinking that he wished the little boy and girl
would die, for he should then have all their wealth for
himself; and when he had begun to think this, he went
on till he could not think scarcely of anything else ; and
at last, says he to himself, " It will not be very difficult
CHILDREN'S STOH1KS.
lor me to kill them, as nobody knows anything of the
matter, and then their gold is mine."
When the barbarous uncle had once brought his
mind to kill the helpless little creatures, he was not
long in finding a way to execute his cruel purpose. He
hired two sturdy ruffians, who had already killed many
travellers in a dark, thick wood, at some distance, and
then robbed them of their money. These two wicked
creatures agreed, for a large reward, to do the blackest
deed that ever yet was heard of; and the uncle began
to prepare everything accordingly.
He told an artful story to his wife, of what good it
would be to put the children forward in their learning ;
how he had a relation in London who would take the
greatest care of them. He then said to the innocent
children, " Should you not like, my pretty ones, to see
the famous town of London, where you, William, can
buy a fine wooden horse to ride upon all day long, and
a whip to make him gallop, and a fine sword to wear by
your side ? And you, Jane, shall have pretty dolls and
pretty pincushions, and a nice gilded coach shall be got
to take you there."
" Oh yes, I will go, uncle," said William.
i( Oh yes, I will go, uncle," said Jane.
And the uncle, with a heart of stone, soon got them
ready for their journey.
The unsuspecting little creatures were a few days
after put into a fine coach, and with them the two in-
human butchers, who were soon to end their joyful
prattle, and turn their smiles to tears. One of them
served as coachman, and the other sat between little
William and little Jane.
When they had reached the entrance to the dark,
thick wood, the two ruffians took them out of the
208 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
coach., telling them they might now walk a little way
and gather flowers ; and; w r hile the children were
skipping; about like lambs, the ruffians turned their
II c5
backs on them, and began to consult about what they
had to do.
" In good truth," says the one who had been sitting
all the way between the children^ " now I have seen
their cherub faces,, and heard their pretty speech, I have
110 heart to do the bloody deed ; let us fling away the
ugly knife, and send the children back to their uncle."
" That I will not," says the other ; " what boots their
pretty speech to us ? And who will pay us for being
so chicken-hearted ? '
At last the ruffians fell into so great a passion about
butchering the innocent little creatures, that he who
wished to spare their lives suddenly opened the great
knife he had brought to kill them, and stabbed the
other to the heart, so that he fell down dead.
The one who had killed him was now greatly at a
loss what to do with the children, for he wanted to get
away as fast as he could,, for fear of being found in the
wood. He was not, however, long in determining that
he must leave them in the wood, to the chance of some
traveller passing by. " Look ye, my pretty ones," said
he, "you must each take hold and come along with
me." The poor children each took a hand and went
on, the tears bursting from their eyes, and their little
limbs trembling with fear.
Thus did he lead them about two miles further on in
the wood, and told them to wait there till he came back
with some cakes.
William took his sister Jane by the hand, and they
wandered fearfully up and down the wood.
CHILDRKVS STORIKS. 209
"Will the strange mail conic with sonic cakes.
Hilly ?" says Jane.
"Presently,, dear Jane," says William.
And soon again, k> I wish 1 had sonic cakes. Hilly."
said she.
And it would have melted a heart of stone- to set-
how sorrowfully they looked.
V
After waiting yery long, they tried to satisfy their
< * t" '
hunger with blackberries, but they soon devoured all
<~ *
that were within their reach ; and night coming on,
William, who had tried all he could to comfort his
little sister, now wanted comfort himself; so when Jane
said once more, "How hungry I am, Billy, I b-e-1-i-e-y-e
I cannot help crying.," William burst out crying too :
and down they lay upon the cold earth, and putting
their arms round each other's neck, there they staryed,
and there they died.
Thus were these pretty little innocents murdered ;
and as no one knew of their death, so no one sought to
give them burial.
The wicked uncle, supposing they had been killed as
he desired, told all who asked after them an artful tale
of their having died in London of the smallpox, and
accordingly took possession openly of their fortune.
But all this did him very little service, for soon after
/
his wife died ; and being very unhappy, and always
thinking too that he saw the bleeding innocents before
his eyes, he neglected all his business ; so that, instead
of growing richer, he every day grew poorer. His two
sons, also, who had embarked for a foreign land, were
both drowned at sea, and he became completely miser-
able.
When things had gone on in this manner for years,
the ruffian who took pity on the children committed
i>l<) CHILDREN'S STORIES.
another robbery in the wood, and, being pursued by
some men,, he was laid hold of and brought to prison,,
and soon after was tried at the assizes, and found
guilty so that he was condemned to be hanged for
the crime.
As soon as he found what his unhappy end must be,
he sent for the keeper of the prison, and confessed to
him all the crimes he had been guilty of in his whole
life, and thus declared the story of the pretty innocents,
telling him at the same time in what part of the wood
he had left them to starve.
The news of the discovery he had made soon reached
the uncle's ears, who, being already broken-hearted by
misfortunes that had befallen him, and unable to bear
the load of public shame that could not but await him,
lay down upon his bed and died that very day.
Xo sooner were the tidings of the fate of the two
children made public than proper persons were sent to
search the wood ; when, after many fruitless endeavours,
the pretty babes were at length found outstretched in
each other's arms, with William's arm round the neck
of Jane, his face turned close to her's, and his frock
pulled over her body. They were covered all over with
leaves, which in all that time never withered ; and on
a bush near this cold grave a Robin-Redbreast watched
and chirped so that many gentle hearts still think
that pretty bird did bring the leaves which made their
grave.
JACK THE GIANT KILLER.
In the reign of King Arthur, near the Land's End of
England, in the County of Cornwall, there lived a
wealthy farmer, who had one only son, commonly
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. t>ii
known by the name of .lack. He \vas brisk, and of a
lively ready wit ; so that whatever lie could not per-
*
form by strength, lie completed by wit and policy.
Never was any person heard of that could worst him ;
nay, the learned he baffled by his cunning and ready
invention^.
For iiistanee, when he was no more than seven years
of aye, his father sent him into the h'eld to look after
O
his oxen ; a country vicar, by chance one day coming
across the field, called Jack, and asked him several
questions in particular, How many commandments
were there ? Jack told him there were nine.
The Parson replied, " There are ten."
" Nay," quoth Jack, " Master Parson, you are out of
that ; it is true there were ten, but you broke one of
them with your own maid Margery."
%/ c_j *
The Parson replied, " Thou art an arch wag, Jack."
"Well, Master Parson," quoth Jack, "you have asked
me one question, and I have answered it ; let me ask
you another. Who made these oxen ? '
The Parson replied, " God."
"You are out again," quoth Jack, "for God made
them bulls, but my father and his man Hobson made
oxen of them."
The Parson, finding himself fooled, trudged away,
leaving Jack in a fit of laughter.
In those days the mount of Cornwall was kept by a
huge and monstrous Giant, of twenty-seven feet high,
o *
and three yards in compass, of a grim countenance, to
the terror of all the neighbouring towns. His habita-
tion was a cave in the midst of the mount ; neither
would he suffer any living creature near him ; his feed-
/ O
ing was upon other men's cattle ; for whensoever he
had occasion for food, he would wade over to the main-
212 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
land,, where he would furnish himself with whatever he
could find. For the people at his approach would for-
sake their habitations ; then he would take their cows
and oxen., of which he would make nothing to carry
over his back half-a-dozen at a time ; and as for
sheep and hogs., he would tie them round his w r aist.
This he had for many years practised in Cornwall.
But one day Jack, coming to the TOW T II Hall, when
the Magistrates were sitting in consternation about the
Giant, he asked what reward they would give to any
person that would destroy him ?
They answered, " He shall have all the Giant's
treasure in recompense."
Quoth Jack, " Then I myself will undertake the
work."
Jack furnished himself with a horn, a shovel, and a
pick-axe, and over to the mount he goes in the
beginning of a dark winter evening, where he fell to
work, and before morning had digged a pit twenty-two
feet deep and as broad, and covered the same over with
long sticks and straw ; then strewed a li tie mould
upon it, so that it appeared like the plain ground.
This done, Jack places himself on the contrary side
of the pit, just about the dawning of the day, when,
putting his horn to his mouth, he then blew, Tan Tmvie,
tan twivie. Which unexpected noise roused the Giant,
who came roaring towards Jack, crying out " You in-
corrigible villain, are you come hither to break my
rest ; you shall dearly pay for it ; satisfaction I will
have, and it shall be this : I will take you wholly and
broil you for my breakfast."
Which words were no sooner out of his mouth but
he tumbled headlong into the deep pit, which heavy
fall made the very foundation of the mount to shake.
B
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. 213
Oh, Giant ! where arc- vou nmv ? Faith, vou arc
.
got into Lohb's Pond, where I shall plague vou for vour
threatening words. What do vou think now of broiling
~
me for your breakfast ? Will no other diet serve you
but poor Jack ? '
Thus having tantalized the Giant for a while, lie gave
him a most weighty knock on the crown of his head
with his pick-axe, so that he immediately tumbled
down, gave a most dreadful groan, and died. This
done. Jack threw the earth in upon him, and so buried
him ; then going and searching the cave, lie found a
great quantity of treasure.
Now, when the Magistrates who employed him heard
the work was over, they sent for him, declaring that he
should be called Jack the Giant Killer. And in honour
thereof, they presented him with a sword, together with
a fine rich embroidered belt, on which these words were
wrouht in letters of old-
' Here's tlie right valiant Cornish man,
Who sle\v the Giant Corinillan."
The news of Jack's victory was soon spread ; when
another huge Giant named Blunderboar, hearing of it,
yowed to be revenged on Jack, if ever it was his
fortune to light upon him. This Giant kept an
enchanted castle, situated in the midst of a lonesome
wood. Now Jack, about four months after, walking-
near the borders of the said wood on his journey
towards Wales, grew weary, and therefore sat himself
down by the side of a pleasant fountain, where a dee])
sleep suddenly seized on him, at which time the Giant,
coming for water, found him ; and, by the line on his
belt, knew 7 him to be Jack that killed his brother, and,
214 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
without any words, threw him upon his shoulder to
carry him to his enchanted castle.
Now, as they passed through a thicket, the ruffling
of the boughs awaked poor Jack, who, finding himself
in the clutches of the Giant, was strangely surprised ;
for, at the entering within the first walls of the castle,
he beheld the ground all covered with bones and skulls
of dead men, the Giant telling Jack that his bones
would enlarge the number that he saw. This said, he
brought him into a large parlour, where he beheld the
bloody quarters of some who were lately slain, and in
the next room were many hearts and livers, which
the Giant, in order to terrify Jack, told him " That
men's hearts and livers were the choicest of his diet, for
he commonly ate them with pepper and vinegar, and he
did not question but his heart would make him a
dainty bit." This said, he locks up poor Jack in an
upper room, while he went to fetch another Giant
living in the same wood, that he might partake in the
destruction of poor Jack.
Now, while he was gone, dreadful shrieks and cries
affrighted poor Jack, especially a voice which con-
tinually cried
" Do what you can to get away,
Or you'll become the Giant's prey ;
He's gone to fetch his brother, who
Will kill and likewise torture you."
This dreadful noise so amazed poor Jack, he was
ready to run distracted ; seeing from the window afar
off the two Giants coming, " Now," quoth Jack to him-
self, "my death or deliverance is at hand."
There were strong cords in the room by him, of
J
which he takes two, at the end of which he makes a
noose, and, while the Giant was unlocking the gate, he
CHILDKKVS STORIKS. 215
threw the ropes over each of the heads, and drawing
the other end across the beam, he pulled \vith all his
strength until he had throttled them; and then fasten-
ing the rope to the beam, turning towards the window
he beheld the two Giants to be black in their faces.
Sliding down by the rope, he came close to their heads.
where the helpless Giants could not defend themselves;
and, drawing out his sword, slew them both, and
delivered himself from their intended cruelty; then
taking out a bunch of keys, he unlocked the rooms,
r^ /
where he found three fair ladies tied by the hair of
ml
their heads, almost starved to death, who told Jack
that their husbands were slain by the Giant, and that
ml
they were kept many days without food, in order to
force them to feed upon the flesh of their husbands.
" Sweet ladies," quoth Jack, "I have destroyed this
^^
monster and his brutish brother, by which I have
*^h_^ -'
obtained your liberties." This said, he presented them
with the keys of the castle, and so proceeded on his
iournev to Wales.
l / 4
Jack, haying but very little money, thought it
prudent to make, the best of his way by travelling
as fast as he could ; but, losing his road, was
benighted, and could not get a place of entertainment
until he came to a valley placed between two hills,
where stood a large house in a lonesome place. He
took courage to knock at the gate, and to his great
surprise rhere came forth a monstrous Giant, having
two heads ; yet he did not seem so fiery as the others
had been, for he w T as a Welsh Giant, and what he did
was by secret malice ; for, Jack telling his condition, he
bid him welcome, showing him a room with a bed in it,
whereon he might take his night's repose ; therefore,
Jack undressed himself, and, as the Giant was walking
216 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
to another apartment, Jack heard him muttering forth
these words to himself-
" Though here you lodge with me this night,
You shall not see the morning light ;
My club shall dash your brains out quite."
"Sayest thou so," quoth Jack; "this is like your
Welsh tricks,, yet I hope to be cunning enough for you."
Then, getting out of bed, he put a billet in his stead,
and hid himself in a corner of the room ; and, m the
dead time of the night, the Welsh Giant came with his
great knotty club, and struck several blows upon the
bed where Jack had laid the billet, and then returned
to his own chamber, supposing he had broken all the
bones in his body.
.
In the morning, Jack gave him hearty thanks for his
lodging.
The Giant said to him, " How have you rested ?
Did you not feel something in the night ? '
' Nothing," quoth Jack, "but a rat which gave me
three or four slaps with her tail."
Soon after the Giant arose and went to breakfast
with a bowl of hasty pudding, containing nearly four
gallons, giving Jack the like quantity, who, being loath
to let the Giant know he could not eat with him, got a
large leathern bag, putting it very artfully under his
loose coat, into which he secretly conveyed his pudding,
telling the Giant he could show him a trick ; then,
taking a large knife, he ripped open the bag, which the
Giant supposed to be his belly, when out came the
hasty pudding, at which the Welsh Giant cried,
" Cotplut, hur can do dat trick hurself."
Then, taking his sharp knife, he ripped up his own
belly from the bottom to the top, and out dropped his
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. 21?
tripes and troll v bags, so that he fell down for dead.
Thus Jaek outwitted the Giant, and proceeded on his
journey.
About this time Kino- Arthur's son only desired of
his father to furnish him with a certain sum of money,
that he might go and seek his fortune in Wales, where
a beautiful lady liyed, whom he heard was possessed
with seven evil spirits; but the King, his father, advised
him utterly against it, yet he would not be persuaded
of it ; so he granted what he requested, which was one
horse loaded with money,, and another for himself to
ride on. Thus he went forth without any attendants.
Now r , after several days' travel, he came to a market
town in Wales, where he beheld a large concourse of
people gathered together; the King's son demanded the
reason of it, and was told that they had arrested a
/
corpse for many large sums of money which the
deceased owed when he died. The King's son replied,
" It is a pity that creditors should be so cruel ; go bury
the dead, and let his creditors come to my lodging,
and their debts shall be discharged." Accordingly,
they came in great numbers, so that he left himself
moneyless.
Now, Jack the Giant Killer being there and seeing
the generosity of the King's son, he was taken with
him, and desired to be his servant ; it was agreed upon
the next morning, when riding out at the town-end,
the King's son turning to Jack, said, " I cannot tell
how r I will subsist in my intended journey."
" For that," quoth Jack, " take you no care ; let me
alone, I warrant you we will not starve."
Now Jack, having a spell in his pocket, which served
at noon for a refreshment, when done they had not one
penny left betwixt them. The afternoon they spent in
15
218 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
travel and discourse till the sun began to grow low, at
which time the King's son said, " Jack, since we have
no money, where can we think to lodge this night ? '
Jack replied, " We'll do well enough, for I have an
uncle living within two miles of this ; he is a monstrous
Giant with three heads ; he will fight five hundred
men in armour, and make them to fly before him."
" Alas ! ' saith the King's son, " what shall we do
there : he will certainly chop us both up at one
mouthful ! '
" It is no mattter for that," quoth Jack ; " I will go
before and prepare the way for you ; tarry here."
He waits, and Jack rides full speed. When he came
to the castle, he knocked with such a force that he
made all the neighbouring hills to resound. The Giant,
with a voice like thunder, roared out, " Who's there ? '
Jack answered, " None but vour own cousin Jack.
/
Dear uncle, heavy news, God wot."
" Prithee, what heavy news can come to me ? I am
a Giant with three heads, and besides thou knowest I
can fight five hundred men."
" O ! but," quoth Jack, " here's the King's son
coming with one thousand men to kill you."
" Oh ! Jack, this is heavy news indeed ; I have a
large vault underground, where I will hide myself, and
thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar me in, and keep the keys
till the King's son is gone."
Jack, having secured the Giant, he returned and
fetched his master. They were both heartily merry
with the wine and other dainties which were in the
house ; so that night they rested in very pleasant
lodgings, whilst the poor uncle, the Giant, lay trembling
in the vault underground.
c?
Early in the morning, Jack furnished his master with
CHILDKKN'S STORIKS.
a supply of gold and siher, and set him three miles
forward on his journey. concluding In- was then pretty
well out of the smell of the Giant, and then returned to
let his uncle out of the hole, who asked Jack what lie
would inve him in reward, since his castle was not
r^
demolished.
" Why," quoth Jack, ' I desire nothing but the old
Coat and Cap, together with the old rusty Sword and
Slippers, which are at your bed-head."
"Jack, thou shalt haye them, and pray keep them
for my sake, for they are things of excellent use. The
>
Coat will keep you invisible, the Cap will furnish you
with knowledge, the Sword cuts asunder whatever you
strike, and the Shoes are of extraordinary swiftness ;
these may be serviceable to you, and therefore pray
take them with all my heart."
Jack takes them, thanking his uncle, and follows his
master.
Jack, having overtaken his master, soon after arrived
at the lady's house, who, finding the King's son to be a
suitor, prepared a banquet for him, and, being ended,
she wiped his mouth with her napkin, saying, " You
must show this to-morrow or lose your head ; " and she
put it safely into her bosom.
The King's son went to bed sorrowful, but Jack's
Cap of knowledge instructed him how to obtain it. In
the middle of the night, she called upon her familiar
spirit to carry her to Lucifer. Jack put on his Coat
of darkness, with his Shoes of swiftness, and was there
as soon as she ; by reason of his Coat they could not
see him. When she entered the place, she gave the
handkerchief to old Lucifer, who laid it carefully upon
a shelf, from whence Jack brought it to his master, who
showed it to the lady the next day.
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
The next night she saluted the King's son, telling
him he must show her to-morrow morning the lips that
she kissed last this night, or lose his head.
" Ah ! ' replied he, " if you kiss none but mine
I will."
" It is neither here nor there/' said she ; " if you do
not, death's your portion."
At midnight, she went as before, and was angry
with Lucifer for letting the handkerchief go. " But
now," said she, " I will be too hard for the King's son,
for I will kiss thee, and he's to show thy lips." Jack,
standing near him with his Sword of sharpness, cut off
the devil's head, and brought it under his invisible Coat
to his master, who w r as in bed, and laid it at the end of
his bolster. In the morning when the lady came up,
he pulled it out by the horns and showed her the
devil's lips, which she kissed last.
Thus, having answered her twice, the enchantment
broke, and the evil spirits left her, at which time she
appeared a beautiful and virtuous creature. They were
married next morning in great pomp and solemnity,
and returned with a numerous company to the Court of
King Arthur~~where they were received with the
greatest joy and loud acclamations. Jack, for the
many and great exploits he had done for the good of
his country, was made one of the Knights of the
Round Table.
Jack, having resolved not to be idle, humbly
requested of the King to fit him with a horse and
money to travel ; " for," said he, " there are many
Giants alive in the remotest parts of the kingdom, to
the unspeakable damage of your Majesty's liege
subjects ; wherefore, may it please your Majesty to
CHILDRKVS STOKIKS. .'.'I
give me encouragement to rid the realm of those cruel
and devouring monsters of nature, root and brand)."
Now. when the King had heard these noble proposi-
tions, and had duly considered the mischievous practices
of those bloodthirsty Giants, he immediatelv granted
what Jack requested : and. being furnished with all
necessaries for his progress, he took his leave of King
Arthur, taking with him the Cap of knowledge, Sword
of sharpness, Shoes of swiftness, and likewise the
invisible Coat, the better to perfect and complete the
dangerous enterprises that lay before him.
Jack travelled over vast hills and mountains, when
at the end of three days he came to a large and
spacious wood, where on a sudden he heard dreadful
shrieks and cries ; whereupon, casting his eyes around,
he beheld a Giant rushing along with a worthy knight
and his fair lady, whom he held by the hair of their
heads in his hands ; wherefore he alighted from his
horse, and then putting on his invisible Coat, under
which he carried his Sword of sharpness, he came up to
the Giant, and, though he made several passes at him,
yet he could not reach the trunk of his body, by reason
of his height, though he wounded his thighs in several
places ; but at length, giving a swinging stroke, he cut
off both his legs just below the knee, so that the trunk
of his body made the ground to shake with the force of
his fall, at which the knight and the lady escaped.
Then had Jack time to talk with him, and, setting his
foot upon his neck, said, " You savage and barbarous
wretch, I am come to execute upon you the just reward
of your villainy." And with that running him through
and through, the monster sent forth a hideous groan,
and yielded up his life, while the noble knight and
222 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
virtuous lady were joyful spectators of his sudden
downfall and their own deliverance.
This being done, the courteous knight and his fair
lady returned him hearty thanks for their deliverance.,
but also invited him home, there to refresh himself
after the dreadful encounter., as likewise to receive
ample reward, by way of gratitude for his good
service.
"No," quoth Jack, "I cannot be at ease till I find
out the den which was this monster's habitation."
The knight hearing this, waxed sorrowful, and
replied, " Noble stranger, it is too much to run a
second risk, for this monster lived in a den under yon
mountain, with a brother of his, more fierce than him-
self; therefore, if you go thither and perish in the
attempt, it will be the heartbreaking of both me and
my lady. Let me persuade you to go w r ith us."
"Nay," quoth Jack, "if there were twenty I would
shed the last drop of my blood before one of them
should escape my fury, but when I have finished this
task, I will come and pay my respects to you." So,
taking directions to their habitation, he mounted his
horse, and went in pursuit of the deceased Giant's
brother.
Jack had not rode past a mile before he came in
sight of the cave's mouth, at the entrance of which he
beheld the other Giant sitting upon a huge block of
timber, with a knotty iron club by his side, waiting
for his brother's return with his cruel prey ; his goggle
eyes appeared like terrible flames of fire, his counten-
ance grim and ugly, and his cheeks appeared like a
couple of large flitches of bacon ; the bristles of his
head seemed to resemble rods of iron wire ; his locks
hung down on his broad shoulders like curled snakes.
CHILDKFA'S STORIKS.
Jack alighted from his horse, and put him into a
thicket; then with his Coat of darkness he came near
to behold his figure, and said, "Oh ! are von there: It
will not be long before 1 take you by the beard."
The Giant could not see him by reason of his
invisible Coat : so Jack fetching a blow at his head
with his Sword of sharpness, and missing somewhat of
his aim, cut off the Giant's nose,, whose nostrils were
wider than a pair of jack-boots ; the pain was terrible ;
he put up his hand to feel for his nose, and when he
could not find it he raved and roared louder than
thunder ; and though he turned up his large eyes, he
could not see from whence the blow came, nevertheless,
he took up his iron-headed club and began to thrash
about him like one stark mad.
"Nay/' quoth Jack, "if you be for that sport, then
I will dispatch you quickly, for fear of an accidental
blow."
Then Jack makes no more to do, but runs his sword
up to the hilt in the Giant's fundament, where he left
it sticking for a while, and stood himself laughing, to
see the Giant caper and dance with the sword in his
body, crying out, " I shall die with the gripping of my
guts."
Thus did the Giant continue raving for an hour or
more, and at length fell down dead.
This being done, Jack cut off both the Giants' heads,
and sent them to King Arthur by a waggoner, whom
he hired for the purpose.
Jack having dispatched these two monsters, resolved
to enter the cave in search of the Giants' treasure. He
passed through many turnings and windings, which led
him at length to a room paved with freestone, at the
upper end of which was a boiling caldron ; on the right
224 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
hand stood a large table, where the Giants used to
dine. Then he came to an iron gate., where was a
window secured with bars of iron, through which he
looked, and beheld a vast many captives, who, seeing
Jack, said, "Young man, art thou come to be one
among; us in this miserable den ? '
o
" Nay," quoth Jack, " I hope I shall not tarry long
here ; but what is the meaning of .your captivity ? '
"Why," said one of them, "w r e have been taken by
the Giants, and here we are kept till they have a feast,
then the fattest among us is slaughtered for their
devouring jaws. It is not long since they took three
of us for the purpose."
" Say you so," quoth Jack ; " well, I have given them
both such a dinner that it will be long enough ere they
need any more. You may believe me, for I have slain
them both, and as for their monstrous heads, I sent
them to the court of King Arthur, as trophies of my
victory."
Then leading them to the aforesaid room, he placed
them round the table, and set before them tw r o quarters
of beef, also bread and wine, so that they feasted there
very plentifully. Supper being ended, they searched
the Giants' coffers, where, finding a vast store of gold,
Jack divided it equally among them. They all returned
him hearty thanks for their treasure and miraculous
deliverance. That night they went to their rest, and
in the morning they arose and departed, to their
respective places of abode, and Jack to the knight's
house.
Jack mounted his horse, and by his direction he
came to the knight's house, where he w T as received
with all demonstrations of joy, by the knight and his
lady, who, in respect to Jack, prepared a feast which
CHILDRKN'S STOHIKS.
lasted for many days, inviting all the gentrv in the
adjacent parts. He presented him with a ring of gold
in which was engraven by curious art, the picture of
the Giant dragging a distressed knight and his fair
lady by the hair of the head.
Now, there were- five aged gentlemen who were
fathers to some of those miserable captives whom Jack
had set at liberty ; who immediately paid him their
venerable respects. And the smiling bowl was passed
round in honour of the victorious conqueror, but during
their mirth, a dark cloud appeared, which daunted the
assembly.
A messenger brought the dismal tidings of the ap-
proach of one Thunderfold, a huge Giant with two
heads ; who, having heard of the death of his kinsmen,
the above-named Giants, was come in search of Jack,
to be revenged on him for their terrible downfall, and
was within a mile of the knight's seat, the people
flying before him from their habitations.
When they had related this, Jack said, " Let him
come, I am prepared with a tool to pick his teeth, and
you, gentlemen and ladies, walk forth into the garden,
and you shall be the joyful spectators of this monstrous
Giant's death."
To which they consented, wishing him good fortune
in that great enterprise.
The situation of the knight's house was in a small
island encompassed with a vast moat thirty feet deep,
and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge.
Wherefore Jack employed two men to cut it on both
sides, and then dressing himself in his Coat of darkness,
putting on his Shoes of swiftness, he marched against
the Giant, with his Sword of sharpness ready drawn.
When he came close up, the Giant could not see Jack,
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
bv reason of his invisible Coat. Nevertheless, he was
sensible of approaching danger., which made him cry
out :
" Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman.
Be he living, or be he dead,
I'll grind his bones to mix my bread."
" Sayest thou so/' quoth Jack. "Then thou art a
monstrous miller. But how if I serve thee as I did the
two Giants of late, I should spoil your practice for the
future ? '
At which time the Giant spoke with a voice as loud
as thunder. " Art thou that villain which destroyed
mv kinsmen ? Then I will tear thee with my teeth,
and suck thy blood, I will grind thy bones to powder."
" Catch me first," quoth Jack. And he threw off his
Coat of darkness that the Giant might see him, and
then ran from him as through fear.
The Giant, with glaring eyes, followed after like a
walking castle, making the earth to shake at every
step. Jack led him a dance three or four times round
the moat, that the ladies and gentlemen might take a
full view of this huge monster who followed him, but
could not overtake him bv reason of his Shoes of
/
swiftness.
At length Jack took over the bridge, the Giant with
full speed pursuing after him, with his iron club. But
coming to the middle of the drawbridge, the weight of
his body, and the most dreadful steps which he took, it
broke down, and he tumbled into the water, where he
rolled and wallowed like a whale.
Jack standing at the side of the moat laughed at the
Giant, and said, " You would grind my bones to
powder ; you have water, pray^ where is your mill ? '
CHILDRIA'S STOR1KS. 227
The Giant foamed to hear liini seofiing at thai rate,
though he plunged from place to place in the inoat.
Jack at length got a cart rope, and cast it over the
Giant's two heads, with a slip knot, and by the help of
horses he dragged him out again, nearly strangled,
before he would let him loose-. He cut off both his
heads with his Sword of sharpness, in the view of all
the assembly of knights and ladies, who gave a shout
when they saw the Giant dispatched. Then before he
would either eat or drink, he sent these heads also to
the court of King Arthur.
After some mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of
the noble knights and ladies, set off in search of new
adventures. Through many woods and groves he
passed, till coming to the foot of a high mountain late
at night, he knocked at the door of a lonesome house,
at which a man, with a head as white as snow, arose
and let him in.
" Father," said Jack, " have you any entertainment
for a benighted traveller that has lost his way ? '
o
" Yes," said the old man, " if thou wilt accept of such
as my poor cottage affords, thou shalt be welcome."
Jack returned him thanks ; they sat together, and the
old man began to discourse as follows. " Son, I am
sensible thou art the great conqueror of Giants, and it
is in thy power to free this place ; for, there is an
enchanted castle, kept by a monstrous Giant, named
Galligantus, who, by the help of a conjuror, betrays
knights and ladies into this strong castle, where, by
magic art, they are transformed into sundry shapes ;
but above all, I lament the misfortune of a Duke's
daughter, whom they fetched from her father's garden,
carrying her through the air in a chariot drawn by
fiery dragons. She was immediately transformed into
228 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
the shape of a White Hind. Many knights have en-
deavoured to hreak the enchantment for her deliver-
ance, yet none could accomplish it, by reason of two
Griffins, who are at the entrance of the castle gate,,
who destroys them as they see them ; but you, being
furnished with an invisible Coat, may pass them un-
discovered ; where, on the gates of the castle, you will
find engraven in characters, the means by which the
enchantment may be broken."
-'
Jack gave him his hand, with a promise that in the
morning he would break the enchantment, and free the
c3 J
lady.
Having refreshed themselves with a morsel of meat,
O
they lay down to rest. In the morning Jack arose,
and put on his invisible Coat, his Cap of knowledge,
and Shoes of swiftness, and so prepared himself for the
dangerous enterprise.
Now, when he had ascended the mountain, he dis-
covered the two fiery Griffins. He passed between
them, for they could not see him by reason of his
*l /
invisible Coat. When he had got beyond them, he
found upon the gate a golden trumpet, hung in a chain
of fine silver, under which were engraven :
Whoever .shall this trumpet b/o/r.
Shall soon the Giant overthrow,
And break the black enchantment straight,
C7
So all shall be in happy state.
Jack had no sooner read this inscription than he blew
the trumpet, at which the foundation of the castle
trembled, and the Giant, with the Conjuror, were
tearing their hair, knowing their wicked reign was at
an end. At which time the Giant was stooping to
take up his club, Jack, by one blow with his Sword of
( HILDRKVS STOKIKS. J-J)
sharpness, cut off his head. The Conjuror mounted
into the air, and was carried away by a whirlwind.
Thus was the enchantment broken, and every knight
and ladv, who liad been transformed into birds and
*
beasts, returned to their proper shapes, and the castle,
though it seemed to be of vast strength and bio-ness,
vanished awav like- a cloud ; whereupon universal joy
appeared among the released knights and ladies.
This being done, the head of Galligantus was conveyed
to the court of King- Arthur.
r riie next day, having- refreshed the knights and
ladies at the old man's habitation. Jack set forward to
the court of King Arthur, with those knights and
ladies whom he delivered.
Coming to His Majesty, his fame rang through the
court ; and, as a reward for his service, the Duke
bestowed his daughter in marriage to Jack. The whole
kingdom was filled with joy at the wedding. After
o *
which the King bestowed upon him a noble house,
with a large estate, where he and his lady passed their
days in great joy and happiness.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.
Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in
a village. She was such a nice little girl that her
Grandmother was very fond of her, and made her a
r*> +>
little red cloak with a hood. So everybody called her
Little Red Riding Hood.
One day when her mother was baking, she said : " I
hear your poor grandmother is ill in bed. You shall
o-o across the forest and see how she is, and take her
O
this cake and a pot of butter."
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
Little Red Riding Hood was delighted to go, though
it was rather a long walk. So she took the basket
with the cakes and butter on her arm, and set off.
\o sooner had she got well into the forest, than a
wolf came by that road. " Good morning, Red Riding
Hood," said the wolf; "where are you going ? '
Now, Red Riding Hood did not know that it is
dangerous to stop and speak to wolves, and she only
thought him a nice respectable wolf who knew
manners. So she made a curtsey, and said :
" I'm going to see grandmother, because she's ill ;
and I am taking her a cake and a pot of butter."
"Where does your grandmother live?' asked the
wolf.
"In a cottage quite by itself, across the forest," said
Red Riding Hood.
" Well, good morning," said the wolf. " If I were
you, I would stop for a while, and pick some wild
flowers to make a posy for your grandmother."
Red Riding Hood thought this would please her
granny very much, and the wolf trotted away.
As soon as he was out of her sight, he galloped away
to the old woman's cottage, and knocked.
"Who's there?' asked the old woman, in a feeble
voice.
"Little Red Riding Hood," said the wolf, imitating
a little girl's voice. " Mother has sent you a cake and
a pot of butter."
"Lift up the latch and walk in," said the grand-
mother; " I'm ill in bed, and can't come to the door."
So the wolf lifted the latch and sprang in, and
gobbled up the poor old grandmother in a moment.
Then he put on her nightgown and nightcap, got into
bed, and pulled up the bedclothes.
CHILDREN'S STORIES. 231
Presently Red Hiding Hood came and knocked al
the door.
"Who's there?' asked the wolf, imitating the
grandmother's voice.
"Little Red Riding Hood. Mother has sent yon a
eake and a pot of butter."
"Lift up the latch and walk in," said the wolf, and
Red Riding Hood entered.
The wolf had ijot down so far under the bedclothes
c3
that nothing of him could be seen but the top of his
nightcap.
"How hoarse you are, Granny !" said Red Riding-
Hood.
"That's because I've got such a bad cold, mv dear,"
said the wolf. " It's getting late, so you must undress
and come to bed."
When Red Riding Hood got into bed, she saw the
wolf's ears sticking out from under the nightcap.
" What great ears you've got, Granny ! " she said.
<> J O /
" All the better to hear with, my dear ! '" said the
wolf.
" And what great arms you've got, Granny ! '
" All the better to hug with, my dear ! '
" But, Granny, what great eyes you've got ! '
" All the better to see with, my dear ! '
" But, Granny, what great teeth you've got ! ' said
Red Riding Hood," who began to feel frightened.
" All the better to eat you, my dear ! ' shouted the
wolf. And the wicked beast jumped up, and ate her
all up at a mouthful.
As it got dusk, Red Riding Hood's mother began to
get very anxious because she had not come back, for as
she had never thought Red Riding Hood would stop
and pick flowers in the forest, she had expected her
23-2 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
home by sunset, and had said nothing about her
stopping at her grandmother's for the night. So when
her husband came home, she said :
" I'm afraid something has happened to Red Riding
Hood. I sent her to her grandmother s this morning,
and she has never come back. You must go and look
for her ; and take your lantern and your axe, for fear
of wolves." So Red Riding Hood's father took his
lantern and axe, and asked a friend to go with him
across the forest.
When they got to the grandmother's cottage, it was
quite dark. They knocked, and the wolf called out :
" Lift up the latch and walk in," for he thought he
would make another meal off whoever it was. But
when he saw the two men enter, one with the axe and
the other with the lantern, he began to feel horribly
uncomfortable, especially as he could not run away
quickly, because he was so fat from eating the grand-
mother and Red Riding Hood. Red Riding Hood's
father saw in a minute what had happened, and he
flung his axe at the wolf and cut him open. Immedi-
ately the grandmother and Red Riding Hood jumped
out of the wolf's inside, and the wolf made straight up
the chimney.
" I think we've got him now," said Red Riding
Hood's father ; " make up the fire, Granny, and we'll
put on the big porridge-pot full of hot water, and some
savoury soup in it to smell nice."
So they made up the fire, and put on the great pot,
full of hot water, and then they poured some soup into
it ; and when it boiled, the savoury smell went up
the chimney.
"Anghrr!' said the wolf; "how nice that smells;
I feel quite hungry again."
CHILDREN'S STOHIKS. 233
So lie put his head and forelegs into the rhiimirv as
he stood on the roof, and, as he bent further in to catch
the smell, all of a sudden lie lost his balance, and fell
headlong down the chimney, and into the great pot,
and was killed.
So they all went home safely, and when Red Riding
Hood's mother put her to bed, she said, " Never you
stop when you're out to talk to strange creatures ever
any more." And Red Riding Hood, who was only too
glad to have got safely out of the wolf's inside,
promised faithfully that she never would.
CINDERELLA;
OR,
THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER.
There was once a very rich gentleman who lost his
mf
wife ; and having loved her exceedingly, he was very
sorry when she died. Finding himself quite unhappy
for her loss, he resolved to marry a second time, think-
ing by this means he should be as happy as before.
Unfortunately, however, the lady he chanced to fix
upon was the proudest and most haughty woman ever
known ; she was always out of humour with every one ;
nobody could please her, and she returned the civilities
of those about her with the most affronting disdain.
She had two daughters by a former husband, whom
she brought up to be proud and idle : indeed, in temper
and behaviour they perfectly resembled their mother ;
they did not love their books, and would not learn to
work ; in short, they were disliked by everybody.
16
234 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
The gentleman on his side, too, had a daughter, who,
in sweetness of temper and carriage, was the exact
likeness of her own mother,, whose death he had so
much lamented, and whose tender care of the little girl
he was in hopes to see replaced by that of his new bride.
But scarcely was the marriage ceremony over,, before
his wife began to show her real temper ; she could not
bear the pretty little girl, because her sweet obliging
manners made those of her own daughters appear a
thousand times the more odious and disagreeable.
She therefore ordered her to live in the kitchen ;
and; if ever she brought anything into the parlour,
always scolded her till she was out of sight. She
made her work with the servants, in washing the
dishes, and rubbing the tables and chairs : it was her
place to clean madam's chamber, and that of the misses,
her daughters, which was all inlaid, had beds of the
newest fashion, and looking-glasses so long and broad,
that they saw themselves from head to foot in them ;
while the little creature herself was forced to sleep up
in a sorry garret, upon a wretched straw bed, without
curtains, or anything to make her comfortable.
The poor child bore all this with the greatest
patience, not daring to complain to her father, who,
she feared, would only reprove her, for she saw that
his wife governed him entirely. When she had done
all her work she used to sit in the chimney corner
among the cinders ; so that in the house she went by
the name of Cinderbreech : the youngest of the two
sisters, however, being rather more civil than the
eldest, called her Cinderella. And Cinderella, dirty
and ragged as she was, as often happens in such cases,
was a thousand times prettier than her sisters, drest
out in all their splendour.
CHILDRKN'S STOR1KS. 235
It happened that the kind's son gave ;i hall, to which
he invited all the persons of fashion in the country :
our two misses were of the mnnher; for the kind's son
did not know how disagreeable they were ; but sup-
posed, as they were so mueh indulged, that they were
extremely amiable. He did not invite Cinderella, for
he had never seen or heard of her.
The two sisters began immediately to be very busy
in preparing for the happy day : nothing could exceed
their joy ; every moment of their time was spent in
fancying such gowns, shoes, and head-dresses as would
set them off to the greatest advantage. All this was
new vexation to poor Cinderella, for it was she who
ironed and plaited her sisters' muslins. They talked of
nothing but how they should be dressed.
" I," said the eldest, " will wear my scarlet velvet
with French trimming."
"And I," said the youngest, "shall wear the same
petticoat I had made for the last ball ; but then, to
make amends for that, I shall put on my gold muslin
train, and wear my diamonds in my hair ; with these I
must certainly look well."
They sent several miles for the best hairdresser that
was to he had, and all their ornaments were bought at
the most fashionable shops.
On the morning of the ball they called up Cinderella
to consult with her about their dress, for they knew
she had a great deal of taste. Cinderella gave them
the best advice she could, and even offered to assist
them in adjusting their head-dresses ; which was
exactly what they wanted, and they accordingly
accepted her proposals.
While Cinderella w r as busily engaged in dressing her
sisters, they said to her, " Should you not like, Cinder-
ella, to go to the ball ? '
236 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
"Ah," replied Cinderella, "you are only laughing at
me ; it is not for such as I am to think of going to balls."
"You are in the right," said they; "folks might
laugh indeed to see a Cinderbreech dancing in a ball-
^^ *^
room."
Any other than Cinderella would have tried to make
the haughty creatures look as ugly as she could ; but
the sweet-tempered girl, on the contrary, did every
thing she could think of to make them look well.
The sisters had scarcely eaten anything for two days,
so great was their joy as the happy day drew near.
More than a dozen laces were broken in endeavouring
to give them a fine slender shape, and they were always
before the looking-glass.
At length the much-wished-for moment arrived ; the
proud misses stepped into a beautiful carriage, and,
followed by servants in rich liveries, drove towards the
palace. Cinderella followed them with her eyes as far
as she could ; and when they were out of sight, she sat
down in a corner and began to cry.
Her godmother, who saw her in tears, asked what
ailed her.
" I wish I w-i-s-h," sobbed poor Cinderella, without
being able to say another word.
The godmother, who was a fairy, said to her, " You
wish to go to the ball, Cinderella ; is not this the
truth ? "
"Alas! yes," replied the poor child, sobbing still
more than before.
" Well, well, be a good girl," said the godmother,
" and you shall go."
She then led Cinderella to her bed-chamber, and
said to her, " Run into the garden and bring me a
pumpion."
CHILDRKN'S STOU1KS. >S7
Cinderella Hew like lightning, and brought the finest
she could lay hold of. Her godmother scooped out tin
inside, leaving nothing but the rind ; she then struck
it with her wand, and the pmnpion instantlv became a
fine coach gilded all over with gold. She next looked
into her mouse-trap, where she found six mice all aim-
am! brisk. She told Cinderella to lift up the door of
the trap very gently ; and as the mice passed out, sin-
touched them one by one with her wand, and each
immediately became a beautiful horse of a fine dapple
grey mouse-colour.
" Here, my child," said the godmother, " is a coach
and horse, too, as handsome as your sisters ; but what
shall we do for a postilion ? '
" I will run," replied Cinderella, "and see if there
be not a rat in the rat-trap. If I find one, he will do
very well for a postilion."
" Well thought of, my child ! ' said her godmother ;
" make what haste you can."
Cinderella brought the rat-trap, which to her great
joy, contained three of the largest rats ever seen.
The fairy chose the one which had the longest beard,
and touching him with her wand, he w r as instantlv
turned into a smart, handsome postilion, with the finest
pair of w r hiskers imaginable.
She next said to Cinderella, " Go again into the
garden, and you w r ill find six lizards behind the
watering-pot ; bring them hither."
This was no sooner done, than, with a stroke from
the fairy's wand, they w r ere changed into six footmen,
who all immediately jumped up behind the coach in
gold-laced liveries, and stood side by side as cleverly as
if they had been used to nothing else the whole of
their lives.
238 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
The fairy then said to Cinderella,, " Well, my dear,,
is not this such an equipage as you could wish for to
take you to the ball ? Are you not delighted with it ? "
" Y-e-s," replied Cinderella,, with hesitation ; " but
must I thither in these filthy rags ? '
o
Her godmother touched her with the wand, and her
O
rags instantly became the most magnificent apparel,
ornamented with the most costly jewels in the whole
world. To these she added a beautiful pair of glass
slippers, and bade her set out for the palace.
The fairy, however, before she took leave of Cinder-
m/ *
ella, strictly charged her on no account whatever to
stay at the ball after the clock had struck twelve ;
telling her that, should she stay but a single moment
after that time, her coach would again become a pum-
pion, her horses mice, her footmen lizards, and her fine
clothes be changed to filthy rags.
Cinderella did not fail to promise all her godmother
desired of her ; and, almost wild with joy, drove away
to the palace.
As soon as she arrived, the king's son, who had been
informed that a great princess whom nobody knew r
was come to the ball, presented himself at the door of
the carriage, helped her out, and conducted her to the
ball-room.
Cinderella no sooner appeared than every one was
silent ; both the dancing and the music stopped, and
everybody was employed in gazing at the uncommon
beauty of this unknown stranger : nothing was heard
but whispers of " How handsome she is ! " The king
himself, old as he was, could not keep his eyes from
her, and continually repeated to the queen, that it was
a long time since he had seen so lovely a creature.
/
The ladies endeavoured to find out how her clothes
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. 239
were made, that thev might get SOUK- of the
pattern for themselves by the next day, should they !><
lucky enough to meet with such handsome materials,
and sueh good workpeople to make them.
The king's son eondueted lier to the most honourable
seat, and soon after took her out to dance with him.
She both moved and danced so gracefully, that every
one admired her still more than before, and she was
thought the most beautiful and accomplished lady ever
beheld.
After some time a delicious collation was served up ;
but the young prince was so busily employed in looking
at her, that he did not eat a morsel.
Cinderella seated herself near her sisters, paid them
a thousand attentions, and offered them a part of the
oranges and sweetmeats with which the prince had
presented her ; while they on their part were quite
astonished at these civilities from a lady whom they
did not know.
As they were conversing together, Cinderella heard
the clock strike eleven and three quarters : she rose
from her seat, curtsied to the company, and hastened
away as fast as she could.
As soon as she got home she flew to her godmother,
and, after thanking her a thousand times, told her she
would give the world to be able to go again to the ball
the next day, for the king's son had entreated her to
be there.
While she was telling her godmother everything
that had happened to her at the ball, the two sisters
knocked a loud rat-tat-tat at the door, which Cinderella
opened.
" How late you have stayed ! ' said she, yawning,
rubbing her eyes, and stretching herself as if just
240 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
awaked out of her sleep, though she had in truth felt
no desire to sleep since they left her.
"If you had been at the ball/' said one of the sisters,
" let me tell you, you would not have been sleepy :
there came thither the handsomest, yes, the very
handsomest princess ever beheld ! She paid us a
thousand attentions, and made us take a part of the
oranges and sweetmeats the prince had given her."
Cinderella could scarcely contain herself for joy :
she asked her sisters the name of the princess : to
which they replied, that nobody had been able to dis-
cover who she was ; that the king's son was extremely
grieved on that account, and had offered a large reward
to any person who could find out where she came from.
Cinderella smiled, and said, " How very beautiful
mf
she must be ! How fortunate you are ! Ah, could I
mi
but see her for a single moment ! Dear Miss Charlotte,
lend me only the yellow gown you wear every day,
and let me go and see her."
" Oh, yes, I warrant you ; lend my clothes to a
Cinderbreech ! Do you really suppose me such a fool ?
No, no ; pray, Miss Forward, mind your proper busi-
ness, and leave dress and balls to your betters."
Cinderella expected some such answer, and was by
no means sorry, for she would have been sadly at a
loss what to do if her sister had lent her the clothes
that she asked of her.
The next day the two sisters again appeared at the
ball, and so did Cinderella, but dressed much more
magnificently than the night before. The king's son
was continually by her side, and said the most obliging
* O O
things to her imaginable.
The charming young creature was far from being
tired of all the agreeable things she met with : on the
CHILDREN'S STORIKS. yu
contrary, she was so delighted with them, that she
entirely forgot the charge her godmother liacl given
her.
Cinderella at last heard the striking of a clock, and
counted one, two, three, on till she came to twelve,
though she had thought that it could be but eleven at
most. She got up and Mew as nimbly as a deer out of
the ball-room.
The prince tried to overtake her ; but Cinderella's
fright made her run the faster. However, in her great
hurry, she dropped one of the little glass slippers from
her foot, which the prince stooped down and picked up,
and took the greatest care of it possible.
Cinderella got home tired and out of breath, in her
dirty old clothes, without either coach or footman, and
having nothing left of her magnificence but the fellow
of the glass slipper which she had dropped.
In the meanwhile, the prince had enquired of all his
guards at the palace gates, if they had not seen a
magnificent princess pass out, and which way she
went ?
The guards replied that no princess had passed the
gates ; and that they had not seen a creature but a
<T* +/
little ragged girl, who looked more like a beggar than
a princess.
When the two sisters returned from the ball, Cinder-
ella asked them if they had been as much amused as
*/
the night before, and if the beautiful princess had been
there ? They told her that she had ; but that as soon
as the clock struck twelve she hurried away from the
mf
ball-room, and in the great haste she made, had dropped
one of her glass slippers, which was the prettiest shape
that could be ; that the king's son had picked it up,
and had done nothing but looked at it all the rest of
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
the evening; and that everybody believed he was
violently in love with the handsome lady to whom it
belonged.
This was very true ; for a few days after, the prince
had it proclaimed by sound of trumpet., that he would
marry the lady whose foot should exactly fit the
slipper he had found.
Accordingly the prince's messengers took the slipper,
and carried it first to all the princesses ; then to the
duchesses : in short, to all the ladies of the court but
without success.
They then brought it to the two sisters, who each
J . ~
tried all she could to squeeze her foot into the slipper,
but saw at last that this was quite impossible.
Cinderella, who was looking at them all the while,
and knew her slipper, could not help smiling, and
ventured to say, '' Pray, sir, let me try to get on the
slipper."
Her sisters burst out a-laughing in the rudest manner
possible : " Very likely, truly," said one of them,
"that such a clumsy foot as your's should fit the slipper
of a beautiful princess."
The gentleman, however, who brought the slipper,
turned round, looked at Cinderella, and observing that
she was very handsome, said, that as he was ordered
by the prince to try it on every one till it fitted, it was
just that Cinderella should have her turn.
Saying this, he made her sit down : and putting the
slipper to her foot, it instantly slipped in, and he saw
that it fitted her like wax.
The two sisters were amazed to see that the slipper
fitted Cinderella : but how much greater was their
O
astonishment, when she drew out of her pocket the
other slipper and put it on !
CHILDREN'S STORIES. 243
Just at this moment the fairy entered the room, and
touching Cinderella's clothes with her wand, made her
all at once appear more magnificently dressed than th<-\
had seen her before.
The two sisters immediately perceived that she was
the beautiful princess they had seen at the ball.
They threw themselves at her feet, and asked her for-
giveness for the ill treatment she had received from
them. Cinderella helped them to rise, and, tenderly
embracing them, said that she forgave them with all
her heart, and begged them to bestow upon her their
affection.
Cinderella was then conducted, drest as she was, to
the young prince, who finding her more beautiful than
ever, instantly desired her to accept of his hand.
The marriage ceremony took place in a few days ;
and Cinderella, who was as amiable as she was hand-
some, gave her sisters magnificent apartments in the
palace, and a short time after married them to two
great lords of the court.
PUSS IX BOOTS.
There was a miller who had three sons, and when he
died he divided what he possessed among them in the
following manner : He gave his mill to the eldest, his
ass to the second, and his cat to the youngest.
Each of the brothers accordingly took what belonged
to him without the help of an attorney, who would
soon have brought their little fortune to nothing in
law expenses.
The poor young fellow who had nothing but the cat
complained that he was hardly used :
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
" My brothers," said he, " by joining their stocks to-
gether, may do very well in the world ; as for me,
when I have eaten my cat, and made a fur-cap of his
skin, I may soon die of hunger ! '
The cat, which all this time sat listening just inside
the door of a cupboard, now ventured to oome out, and
addressed him as follows :
" Do not thus afflict yourself, my good master ; you
have only to give me a bag, and get a pair of boots
made for me, so that I may scamper through the dirt
and the brambles, and you shall see that you are not
so ill provided for as you imagine."
Though the cat's master did not much depend upon
these promises, yet as he had often observed the
cunning tricks Puss used to catch rats and mice, such
as hanging by the hindlegs, and hiding in the meal to
make them believe that he was dead, he did not
entirely despair of his being of some use to him in his
unhappy condition.
When the cat had obtained what he asked for, he
gaily began to equip himself ; he drew on the boots
and putting the bag about his neck, he took hold of
the strings with his forepaws, and, bidding his master
take courage, immediately sallied forth.
The first attempt Puss made was to go into a warren,
in which there was a great number of rabbits. He put
some bran and some parsley into his bag ; and then,
stretching himself out at full length as if he was dead,
he waited for some young rabbits (which as yet knew
nothing of the cunning tricks of the world) to come
and get into the bag, the better to feast upon the
dainties he had put into it.
Scarcely had he laid down before he succeeded as
well as could be wished. A giddy young rabbit crept
CHILDREN'S STOUIKS. 245
into the bag, and the cat immediately drew the strings,
and killed him without mercy.
Fuss, proud of his prey, hastened directly to tin-
palace, where he asked to speak to the kin*;-. On being
shown into the apartment of his majesty, he made a
low how, and said " I have brought you, sire, this
rabbit from the warren of my lord the Marquis of
Carabas, who commanded me to present it to your
majesty with the assurance of his respect." This was
the title the cat thought proper to bestow upon his
master.
"Tell my lord Marquis of Carabas," replied the king,
" that I accept of his present with pleasure, and that I
am ffreatlv obliged to him.'
O */ o
Soon after the cat laid himself do\vn in the same
manner in a field of corn, and had as much good
fortune as before ; for two fine partridges got into his
bag, which he immediately killed and carried to the
palace. The king received them as he had done the
rabbit, and ordered his servants to give the messenger
something to drink. In this manner he continued to
carry presents of game to the king from my lord
Marquis of Carabas, once at least every w r eek.
One day, the cat having heard that the king intended
to take a ride that morning by the river side with his
daughter, w r ho was the most beautiful princess in the
world, he said to his master, " If you w r ill but follow
my advice your fortune is made. Take off your
clothes, and bathe yourself in the river, just in the
place I shall show you, and leave the rest to me."
The Marquis of Carabas did exactly as he was
desired, without being able to guess what the cat
intended. While he was bathing, the king passed by,
and Puss directly called out as loud as he could bawl
246 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
" Help ! help ! my lord Marquis of Carabas is in danger
of being drowned ! '
The king hearing the cries,, put his head out at the
window of his carriage to see what was the matter ;
when, perceiving the very cat which had brought him so
many presents,, he ordered his attendants to go directly
to the assistance of my lord Marquis of Carabas.
While they were employed in taking the Marquis
out of the river, the cat ran to the king's carriage and
told his majesty, that while his master was bathing,
some thieves had run off with his clothes as they lay
by the river side, the cunning cat all the time having
hid them under a large stone.
The king hearing this, commanded the officers of his
wardrobe to fetch one of the handsomest suits it con-
tained, and present it to my lord Marquis of Carabas,
at the same time loading him with a thousand atten-
tions. As the fine clothes they brought him made him
look like a gentleman, and set off his person, which was
very comely, to the greatest advantage, the king's
daughter was mightily taken with his appearance, and
the Marquis of Carabas had no sooner cast upon her
two or three respectful glances, than she became
violently in love with him.
The king insisted on his getting into the carriage,
and taking a ride with them. The cat, enchanted to
see how well his scheme was likely to succeed, ran
before to a meadow that was reaping, and said to the
reapers, " Good people, if you do not tell the king,
who will soon pass this way, that the meadow you are
reaping belongs to my lord Marquis of Carabas, you
shall be chopped as small as minced meat."
The king did not fail to ask the reapers to whom the
meadow belonged, " To my lord Marquis of Carabas,"
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS.
said they all at oner; for the threats of the cat had
terribly frightened them.
" You have here a very fine piece of land, mv lord
Marquis/' said the king.
" Truly, sire," replied he, " it does not fail to bring
me every year a plentiful harvest."
The cat, which still went on before, DOW came to a
field where some other labourers were making sheaves
r>
of the corn they had reaped, to whom he said as before,
" Good people, if you do not tell the king, who will
presently pass this way, that the corn you have reaped
in this field belongs to my lord Marquis of Carabas.,
you shall be chopped as small as minced meat."
The king accordingly passed a moment after, and
inquired to whom the corn he saw belonged, " To my
lord Marquis of Carabas," answered they very gliblv ;
upon which the king again complimented the Marquis
on his noble possessions.
The cat still continued to go before, and gave the
same charge to all the people he met with ; so that the
king was greatly astonished at the splendid fortune of
my lord Marquis of Carabas.
Puss at length arrived at a stately castle, which be-
longed to an Ogre, the richest ever known ; for all the
lands the king had passed through and admired were
his. The cat took care to learn every particular about
the Ogre, and what he could do, and then asked to
speak with him, saying, as he entered the room in
which he was, that he could not pass so near his castle
without doing himself the honour to enquire for his
health.
The Ogre received him as civilly as an Ogre could do,
and desired him to be seated.
"I have been informed," said the cat, "that you
04,8 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
have the gift of changing yourself into all sorts of
animals, into a lion, or an elephant, for example."
" It is very true," replied the Ogre somewhat sternly;
" and to convince you,, I will directly take the form of
a lion."
The cat was so much terrified at finding himself so
near a lion, that he sprang from him, and climbed to
the roof of the house ; but not without much difficulty,
as his boots were not very fit to walk upon the tiles.
Some minutes after, the cat perceiving that the Ogre
had quitted the form of a lion,, ventured to come down
from the tiles, and owned that he had been a good deal
frightened.
" I have been further informed," continued the cat,
" but I know not how to believe it, that you have the
power of taking the form of the smallest animals also ;
for example,, of changing yourself to a rat or a mouse ;
I confess I should think this must be impossible."
"Impossible! you shall see;' and at the same
instant he changed himself into a mouse, and began to
frisk about the room.
The cat no sooner set his eyes upon the Ogre in
this form, than he sprang upon him, and devoured him
in an instant.
In the meantime the king, admiring, as he came near
it, the magnificent castle of the Ogre, ordered his
attendant to drive up to the gates, as he wished to
take a nearer view of it. The cat, hearing the noise of
the carriage on the drawbridge, immediately came out,
saying, " Your majesty is welcome to the castle of my
lord Marquis of Carabas."
" And is this splendid castle your's also, my lord
Marquis of Carabas ? I never saw anything more
stately than the building, or more beautiful than the
CH1LDKKN S STOK1KS. -Jl<)
park and pleasure-grounds around it ; no doubt, the
castle is no less magnificent within than without ; pray,
my lord Marquis, indulge me with a sight of it."
The Marquis gave his hand to the young princess as
she alighted, and followed the king, who went before :
they entered a spacious hall, where they found a splen-
did collation which the Ogre had prepared for some
friends he had expected that day to visit him ; but
who, hearing that the king with the princess and a
great gentleman of the court were within had not
dared to enter.
The king was so much charmed with the amiable
qualities and noble fortune of the Marquis of Carabas,
and the young princess too had fallen so violently in
love with him, that when the king had partaken of the
collation, and drank a few glasses of wine, he said to
the Marquis, " It will be your own fault, my lord
Marquis of Carabas, if you do not soon become my
son-in-law."
The Marquis received the intelligence with a thousand
respectful acknowledgments, accepted the honour con-
ferred upon him, and married the princess that very
day.
The cat became a great lord, and never again ran
after rats and mice but for his amusement.
WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT.
In the reign of the famous King Edward the Third,
there was a little boy called Dick Whittington, whose
father and mother died when he was very young, so
that he remembered nothing at all about them, and
was left a dirty little fellow running; about a country
/ /
17
250 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
village. As poor Dick was not old enough to work,, he
was in a sorry plight ; he got but little for his dinner,
and sometimes nothing at all for his breakfast ; for the
people who lived in the village were very poor them-
selves,, and could spare him little more than the parings
of potatoes., and now r and then a hard crust.
For all this,, Dick Whittington was a very sharp boy,
and was always listening to what every one talked
about.
On Sundays he never failed to get near the farmers,
as they sat talking on the tombstones in the church-
yard, before the parson was come : and once a week
you might be sure to see little Dick leaning against the
sign-post of the village ale-house, where people stopped
to drink as they came from the next market-town ; and
whenever the barber's shop-door was open, Dick listened
to all the news he told his customers.
In this manner, Dick heard of the great city called
London ; how the people who lived there were all fine
gentlemen and ladies ; that there were singing and
music in it all day long ; and that the streets were
paved all over with gold.
One day a waggoner, with a large waggon and eight
horses, all with bells at their heads, drove through the
village while Dick was lounging near his favourite sign-
post. The thought immediately struck him that it
must be going to the fine town of London ; and taking
courage, he asked the waggoner to let him walk by the
side of the waggon. The man, hearing from poor Dick
that he had no parents, and seeing by his ragged condi-
tion that he could not be worse off, told him he might
go if he would ; so they set off together.
Dick got safe to London ; and so eager w r as he to see
the fine streets paved all over with gold, that he ran as
CHILDREN'S STORIKS. i r.i
fast as his legs would carry him through several streets,
expecting every moment to come to those that were all
paved with gold ; for Dick had three times seen a
guinea in his own village, and observed what a gre;il
deal of money it brought in change ; so he imagined In-
had only to take up some little bits of the pavement to
have as much money as he desired.
Poor Dick ran till he was tired, and at last, finding it
grow dark, and that whichever way he turned he saw
nothing but dirt instead of gold, he sat down in a dark
corner, and cried himself asleep.
Little Dick remained all night in the streets ; and
next morning, finding himself very hungry, he got up
and walked about, asking those he met to give him a
halfpenny to keep him from starving ; but nobody
stayed to answer him, and only two or three gave him
anything ; so that the poor boy was soon in the most
miserable condition. Being almost starved to death,
he laid himself down at the door of one Mr. Fitzwarren,
a great rich merchant. Here he was soon perceived by
the cook-maid, who was an ill-tempered creature, and
happened just then to be very busy dressing dinner for
her master and mistress : so, seeing poor Dick, she
called out, " What business have you here, you lazy
rogue ? There is nothing else but beggars ; if you do
not take yourself away, we will see how you will like a
sousing of some dish-water, I have here that is hot
O
enough to make you caper ! '
Just at this time Mr. Fitzwarren himself came home
from the city to dinner, and seeing a dirty ragged boy
lying at the door, said to him, " Why do you lie there,
my lad ? You seem old enough to work. I fear you
must be somewhat idle."
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
" No, indeed, sir," says Whittington, " that is not
true, for I would work with all my heart, but I know
nobody, and I believe I am very sick for want of food."
Poor fellow ! " answered Mr. Fitzwarren.
Dick now tried to rise, but was obliged to lie down
aii'ain, being too weak to stand ; for he had not eaten
anything for three days, and was no longer able to run
about and beg a halfpenny of people in the streets :
so the kind merchant ordered that he should be taken
into his house, and have a good dinner immediately,
and that he should be kept to do what dirty work he
was able for the cook.
Little Dick would have lived very happily in this
worthy family, had it not been for the crabbed cook,
. / *
who was finding fault and scolding at him from morn-
ing till night ; and was withal so fond of roasting and
basting, that, when the spit was out of her hands, she
would be at basting poor Dick's head and shoulders
with a broom, or anything else that happened to fall
in her way ; till at last her ill usage of him was told to
Miss Alice, Mr. Fi zwarren's daughter, who asked the
ill-tempered creature if she was not ashamed to use a
little friendless boy so cruelly ; and added, she would
certainly be turned away if she did not treat him with
*
more kindness.
But though the cook was so ill-tempered, Mr. Fitz-
warren' s footman was quite the contrary ; he had lived
in the family many years, was rather elderly, and had
once a little boy of his own, who died when about the
age of YVhittington ; so he could not but feel compassion
for the poor boy.
As the footman was very fond of reading, he used
generally in the evening to entertain his fellow-servants,
when they had done their work, with some amusing
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. 253
book. The pleasure our little hero took in hearing
him made him very much desire to learn to read too;
so the next time the good-natured footman gave him a
halfpenny, he bought a horn-book witli it ; and, with a
little of his help, Dick soon learned his letters, and
afterwards to read.
About this time Miss Alice- was going out one
morning for a walk ; and the footman happening to be
out of the way, little Dick, who had received from
/ J
Mr. Fitzwarren a neat suit of clothes, to go to church
on Sundays, was ordered to put them on, and walk
behind her. As they walked along, Miss Alice, seeing
a poor woman with a child in her arms, and another
at her back, pulled out her purse, and gave her some
money ; and as she was putting it again into her
pocket, she dropped it on the ground, and walked on.
Luckily Dick, who was behind, saw what she had done.
/
picked it up, and immediately presented it to her.
Besides the ill-humour of the cook, which now, how-
ever, w r as somewhat mended, Whittington had another
hardship to get over. This was, that his bed, which
was of flock, was placed in a garret, where there were
so many holes in the floor and walls, that he never
went to bed without being awakened in his sleep by
great numbers of rats and mice, which generally ran
over his face, and made such a noise, that he sometimes
thought the walls were tumbling down about him.
One day a gentleman who paid a visit to Mr. Fitz-
warren, happened to have dirtied his shoes, and begged
they might be cleaned. Dick took great pains to make
them shine, and the gentleman gave him a penny.
This he resolved to lay out in buying a cat, if possible ;
and the next day, seeing a little girl with a cat under
her arm, he went up to her, and asked if she would let
2.54 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
him have it for a penny ; to which the girl replied, she
would with all her heart, for her mother had more cats
than she could maintain ; adding, that the one she had
was an excellent mouser.
This cat Whittington hid in the garret, always taking
care to carry her a part of his dinner : and in a short
time he had no further disturbance from the rats and
mice, but slept as sound as a top.
Soon after this, the merchant, who had a ship ready
to sail, richly laden, and thinking it but just that all
his servants should have some chance for good luck as
well as himself, called them into the parlour, and asked
them what commodity they chose to send.
All mentioned something they were willing to
venture but poor Whittington, who, having no money
nor goods, could send nothing at all, for which reason
he did not come in with the rest ; but Miss Alice,
guessing what was the matter, ordered him to be called,
and offered to lay down some money for him from her
own purse ; but this, the merchant observed, would not
do, for it must be something of his own.
Upon this, poor Dick said he had nothing but a cat,
which he bought for a penny that was given him.
"Fetch thy cat, boy," says Mr. Fitzwarren, "and let
her go."
Whittington brought poor puss, and delivered her to
the captain with tears in his eyes, for he said "He
should now again be kept awake all night by the rats
and mice."
All the company laughed at the oddity of Whitting-
ton's adventure, and Miss Alice, who felt the greatest
pity for the poor boy, gave him some halfpence to buy
another cat.
CHILDHKN'S STORIKS.
This, and several other marks of kindness shown him
by Miss Alice, made the ill-tempered cook so jealous of
the favours the poor boy received, that she began to use
him more cruelly than ever, and constantly made game
of him for sending his cat to sea. asking him if he
thought it would sell for as much money as would buy
a halter.
At last, the unhappy little fellow, being unable to
bear this treatment any longer, determined to run awav
from his place. He accordingly packed up the few
things that belonged to him, and set out very early in
the morning on Allhallow Day, which is the first of
November. He travelled as far as Holloway, and there
sat down on a stone, which to this day is called Whit-
tington's Stone, and began to consider what course he
should take.
While he was thus thinking what he could do, Bow-
Bells, of which there were then only six, began to ring:
and it seemed to him that their sounds addressed him
in this manner :
" Turn again Whittington,
Lonl Mayor of London."
" Lord Mayor of London ! ' says he to himself.
" Why, to be snre, I w r ould bear anything to be Lord
Mayor of London, and ride in a fine coach ! Well, I
will go back, and think nothing of all the cuffing and
scolding of old Cicely, if I am at last to be Lord Mayor
of London."
So back went Dick, and got into the house, and set
about his business before Cicely came down stairs.
The ship, w r ith the cat on board, was long beaten
about at sea, and was at last driven by contrary winds
on a part of the coast of Barbary, inhabited by Moors
that were unknown to the English.
o ; -,() CHILDREN'S STORIES.
The natives in this country came in great numbers,
out of curiosity, to see the people on board, who were
all of so different a colour from themselves, and treated
them with great civility ; and, as they became better
acquainted, showed marks of eagerness to purchase the
fine things with which the ship was laden.
The captain, seeing this, sent patterns of the choicest
articles he had to the king of the country, who was so
much pleased with them, that he sent for the captain
and his chief mate to the palace. Here they were
placed, as is the custom of the country, on rich carpets
flowered with gold and silver : and the king and queen
being seated at the upper end of the room,, dinner was
brought in, which consisted of the greatest rarities.
No sooner, however, were the dishes set before the
company, than an amazing number of rats and mice
rushed in, and helped themselves plentifully from every
dish, scattering pieces of flesh and gravy all about the
room.
The captain, extremely astonished, asked if these
vermin were not very offensive.
" Oh, yes," said they, " very offensive ; and the king
would give half his treasure to be free of them : for
they not only destroy his dinner, but they disturb him
even in his chamber, so that he is obliged to be watched
while he sleeps."
The captain,, who was ready to jump for joy, re-
membering poor Whittington's hard case, and the cat
he had intrusted to his care, told him he had a creature
on board his ship that would kill them all.
The king was still more overjoyed than the captain.
' Bring this creature to me," says he, " and if she can
really perform what you say, I will load your ship with
wedges of gold in exchange for her."
CHILDREN'S STORIKS. ^:>7
Awav flew tin- captain, while another dinner was
providing, to the ship, and taking puss under liis arm,
returned to the palace in time to sec the table covered
with rats and mice, and the second dinner in a fair wav
to meet with the same fate as the first.
The eat, at sight of them, did not wait for bidding;
but sprang from the captain's arms, and in a few
moments laid the greater part of the rats and mice
dead at her feet, while the rest, in the greatest fright
imaginable, scampered away to their holes.
The king having seen and considered of the wonder-
ful exploits of Mrs. Puss, and being informed she would
soon have young ones, which might in time destroy all
the rats and mice in the country, bargained with the
captain for his whole ship's cargo,, and afterwards agreed
to give a prodigious quantity of wedges of gold, of still
greater value, for the cat ; with which, after taking-
leave of their majesties, and other great personages
belonging to the court, he, with all his ship's company,
set sail, with a fair wind for England, and, after a
happy voyage, arrived safely in the port of London.
One morning, Mr. Fitzwarren had just entered his
counting-house, and was going to seat himself at the
desk, when who should arrive but the captain and the
mate of the merchant-ship, the Unicorn, just arrived
from the coast of Barbary, and followed by several men,
bringing with them a prodigious quantity of wedges
of gold that had been paid by the King of Barbary
in exchange for the merchandise, and also in exchange
for Mrs. Puss. Mr. Fitzwarren, the instant he heard
the news, ordered Whittington to be called, and having
desired him to be seated, said, " Mr. Whittington, most
heartily do I rejoice in the news these gentlemen have
brought you ; for the captain has sold your cat to the
258 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
King- of Barbary, and brought you in return more
riches than I possess in the whole world ; and may you
long enjoy them."
Mr. Fitzwarren then desired the men to open the
immense treasures they had brought, and added that
Mr. YVhittingtoii had now nothing to do but to put it
in some place of safety.
Poor Dick could scarce contain himself for joy.
He begged his master to take what part of it he
pleased, since to his kindness he was indebted for the
whole.
" No, no ; this wealth is all your own,, and justly so/'
answered Mr. Fitzwarren ; " and I have no doubt you
will use it generously."
Whittington, however, was too kind-hearted to keep all
for himself; and, accordingly, made a handsome present
to the captain,, the mate, and every one of the ship's
company, and afterwards to his excellent friend the
footman, and the rest of Mr. Fitzwarren's servants, not
even excepting crabbed old Cicely.
After this, Mr. Fitzwarren advised him to send for
tradespeople, and get himself dressed as became a
gentleman ; and made him the offer of his house to live
in, till he could provide himself with a better.
When Mr. Whittington's face w r as washed, his hair
curled, his hat cocked, and he was dressed in a fashion-
able suit of clothes, he appeared as handsome and
genteel as any young man who visited at Mr. Fitz-
warren's ; so that Miss Alice, who had formerly thought
of him with compassion, now considered him as fit to
be her lover ; and the more so, no doubt, because Mr.
Whittington was constantly thinking what he could do
to oblige her, and making her the prettiest presents
imaginable.
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. i j:,f)
Mr. Fitzwairenj perceiving their affection for each
other, proposed to unite' them in marriage, to which;
without difficulty, they each consented; and accordingly
a day for the wedding was soon fixed, and they were
attended to church by the lord mayor, the court of
aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of tin-
wealthiest merchants in London ; and the ceremony
was succeeded by a most elegant entertainment and
splendid ball.
History tells us that the said Mr. Whittington and
his lady lived in great splendour, and were very happy ;
that they had several children ; that he was sheriff of
London in the year 134-0,, and several times afterwards
Lord Mayor ; that in the last year of his mayoralty he
entertained King Henry the Fifth, on his return from
the battle of Agincourt. And some time afterwards,
.going with an address from the city on one of His
Majesty's victories, he received the honour of knight-
hood.
Sir Richard Whittington constantly fed great num-
bers of the poor ; he built a church and college to it,
with a yearly allowance to poor scholars, and near it
erected an hospital.
The effigy of Sir Richard Whittington was to be
seen, with his cat in his arms, carved in stone, over the
archway of the late prison of New T gate, that went
across Newgate Street.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
A few centuries ago lived a very wealthy merchant,
who had three sons and three daughters. The educa-
tion he gave them was of the most superior kind. The
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
s were all handsome ; but the youngest was styled
the Little Beauty, and hence she was, when grown up,
called bv the name of Beauty, which made her sisters
'
jealous, who were proud of their riches, kept only the
grandest company, and laughed at their youngest
sister, whose study was to improve her mind. They
would only marry to a duke or an earl, while Beauty
declined every offer, thinking herself too young to be
removed from her father's house.
All at once the merchant lost his whole fortune,
excepting a small country house at a great distance
from town, and told his children, with tears in his
eves, they must go there and work for their living.
The two eldest answered that they had lovers, who,
they were sure, would be glad to have them, though
they had no fortune ; but in this they were mistaken,
for their lovers slighted and forsook them in their
poverty. As they were not beloved, on account of
their pride, everybody said, "' They do not deserve to be
pitied ; we are glad to see their pride humbled ; let
them go and give themselves quality airs in milking the
cows and minding the dairy. But," added they, " we
are extremely concerned for Beauty ; she was such a
charming, sweet-tempered creature, spoke so kindly to
poor people, and was of such an affable, obliging dis-
position." Nay, several gentlemen would have married
her, though they knew she had not a penny,, but she
told them she could not think of leaving her poor father
in his misfortunes, but was determined to go along with
him into the country to comfort and attend him. Poor
Beauty at first was sadly grieved at the loss of her
fortune ; " But," said she to herself, " were I to cry
ever so much, as that would not make things better, I
must try to make myself happy without a fortune."
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. 26l
\Vhen they came to their country house, the merchant
and his three sons applied themselves t< husbandry and
tillage, and Beauty rose at four in the inornin^, and
<~ k
made haste to have the house- clean, and breakfast
ready for the family. In the beginning she found it
very difficult, for she had not been used to work as a
servant, but in less than two months she grew stronger
and healthier than ever. After she had done her work,
she read, played on the harpsichord, or else sang whilst
she spun. On the contrary, her two sisters did not
know how to spend their time ; they got up at ten, and
did nothing but saunter about the w r hole time, lament-
ing the loss of their fine clothes and acquaintance.
" Do but see our younger sister," said one to the
other, " what a poor, stupid, mean-spirited creature she
is, to be contented with such an unhappy situation."
The good merchant was of quite a different opinion ;
he knew very well that Beauty outshone her sisters in
/ /
her person as well as her mind, and admired her
humility, industry, and patience, for her sisters not
only left her all the work of the house to do, but
insulted her every moment.
The family had lived about a year in this retirement,
when the merchant received a letter with an account
that a vessel, on board of which he had effects, had
safely arrived. This news had liked to have turned the
J
heads of the tw r o eldest daughters, w r ho immediately
flattered themselves with the hope of returning to
tow 7 n, for they w r ere quite weary of a country life,
and when they saw T their father ready to set out, they
begged of him to buy them new gowns, caps, rings, and
all manner of trifles ; but Beauty asked for nothing, for
she thought to herself that all the money her father was
262 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
going to receive would scarce be sufficient to purchase
everything her sisters wanted.
" What will you have, Beauty ? " said her father.
" Since you are so good as to think of me," answered
Beauty, " be so kind as to bring me a rose ; for as none
grow hereabouts, they are a kind of rarity."
Not that Beauty cared for a rose, but she asked for
something lest she should seem by her example to con-
demn h'er sisters' conduct, w r ho would have said she did
it only to look particular. The good man went on his
journey ; but when he arrived there they went to law
with him about the merchandise, and after a great deal
of trouble and pains to no purpose, he came back as
poor as before.
He was within thirty miles of his own house, think-
ing of the pleasure he should have in seeing his
children again, when, going through a large forest, he
lost himself. It rained and snowed terribly ; besides,
the wind was so high that it threw him twice off his
horse ; and night coming on, he began to apprehend
being either starved to death w r ith cold and hunger, or
else devoured by the wolves, whom he heard howling
all around him, when, on a sudden, looking through a
long walk of trees, he saw a light at some distance,
and going on a little farther, perceived it came from a
palace illuminated from top to bottom. The merchant
returned God thanks for this happy discovery, and
hastened to the palace, but w r as greatly surprised at not
meeting with any one in the out-courts. His horse
followed him, and seeing a large stable open went in,
and finding both hay and oats, the poor beast, who was
almost famished, fell to eating very heartily. The
merchant tied him up to the manger and walked
towards the house, where he saw no one ; but entering
CHILDREN'S STORIKS. t>(i:;
into a large hall he found a good lire, and a table
plentifully set out, but with one cover laid. As he w,is
quite wet through with the rain and tin- snow, he dn-\\
near the fire to dry himself. " I hope," said he, " the
master of the house, or his servants, will excuse the
liberty I take. I suppose it will not be long before-
some of them appear."
He waited a considerable time, till it struck eleven
o'clock, and still nobody came; at last he was so
hungry that he could stay no longer, but took a
chicken and ate it in two mouthfuls, trembling all the
while. After this he drank a few glasses of wine, and
growing; more courageous, he went out of the hall, and
O * O
crossed through several grand apartments, with magni-
ficent furniture, till he came into a chamber, which had
an exceeding good bed in it, and, as he was very much
fatigued, and it was past midnight, he concluded it was
best to shut the door and go to bed. It was ten the
next morning before the merchant waked, and as he
was going to rise, he w r as astonished to see a good suit
of clothes in the room of his own, which were quite
spoiled. "Certainly," said he, "this palace belongs to
some kind fairy, who has seen and pitied my distresses."
He looked through a window, but instead of snow, saw
the most delightful arbours, interwoven with the most
beautiful flowers that ever were beheld. He then re-
turned to the great hall, where he had supped the night
before, and found some chocolate ready made on a little
table. " Thank you, good Madam Fairy," said he aloud,
" for being so careful as to provide me a breakfast. I
am extremely obliged to you for all your favours."
The good man drank his chocolate, and then went to
look for his horse ; but passing through an arbour of
roses, he remembered Beauty's request to him, and
ij(H CHILDREN'S STORIES.
o-athered a branch on which were several ; immediately
<^
he heard a great noise, and saw such a frightful beast
coming towards him that he was ready to faint away.
" You are very ungrateful/' said the Beast to him in
a terrible voice. " I have saved your life by receiving
you into my castle, and in return you steal my roses,
which I value beyond anything in the universe ; but
you shall die for it. I give you but a quarter of an
hour to prepare yourself, and to say your prayers."
The merchant fell on his knees, and lifted up both
his hands. " My Lord," said he, " I beseech you to
forgive me ; indeed, I had no intention to offend in
gathering a rose for one of my daughters, who desired
me to bring her one."
"My name is not My Lord," replied the monster,
" but Beast. I don't like compliments, not I ; I like
people to speak as they think ; and so do not imagine I
am to be moved by any of your flattering speeches.
But you say you have got daughters. I will forgive
^' Uj / f-T <^J
you, on condition that one of them come willingly and
suffer for you. Let me have no words, but go about
your business, and swear that, if your daughters refuse
to die in your stead, you will return within three
mi ,'
months."
The merchant had no mind to sacrifice his daughters
to the ugly monster, but he thought, in obtaining this
respite, he should have the satisfaction of seeing them
once more ; so he promised upon oath he would return,
and the Beast told him he might set out when he
pleased. " But," added he, " you shall not depart
empty handed. Go back to the room where you lay,
and you will see a great empty chest ; fill it with what-
ever you like best, and I will send it to your home,"
and at the same time the Beast withdrew.
('HILl)RKN'S STOKIKS. 265
"Well/' said the good mail to himself, " if I must die,
I shall have the comfort, at least, of leaving something
to my poor children."
He returned to the bed-chamber, and finding a
quantity of broad pieces of gold, lie filled the great
chest tiie Beast had mentioned, locked it, and after-
wards took his horse out of the stable, leaving tin-
palace with as much grief as he had entered it with
joy. The horse, of his own accord,, took one of tin-
roads of the forest, and in a few hours the good man
was at home. His children came around him, but
instead of receiving their embraces with pleasure, he
looked on them, and holding up the branch he had in
his hands, he burst into tears.
"Here, Beautv," said he, "take those roses; but little
v *
do you think how dear they are likely to cost your
unhappy father."
He then related his fatal adventure. Immediately
the two eldest set up lamentable outcries, and in a
reproachful and malignant tone said all manner of ill-
natured things to Beauty, who did not cry at all.
" Do but see the pride of the little wretch," said
they. " She would not ask for fine clothes, as we did ;
but no, truly, Miss wanted to distinguish herself; so
now she will be the death of our poor father, and yet
she does not so much as shed a tear."
" Why should I ? " answered Beauty ; " it would be
very needless, for my father shall not suffer upon my
account. Since the monster will accept of one of his
daughters, I will deliver myself up to all his furv, and
I am very happy in thinking that my death will save
my father's life, and be a proof of mv tender love for
him."
iS
266 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
"No, sister/' said her three brothers, "that shall not
be ; we will go and find the monster, and either kill
him or perish in the attempt."
"Do not imagine any such thing, my sons," said the
merchant ; " Beast's power is so great that I have no
hopes of your overcoming him. I am charmed w r ith
Beauty's kind and generous offer, but I cannot yield to
it. I am old, and have not long to live, so can only
lose a few years, which I regret for your sakes, my poor
children."
"Indeed, father," said Beauty, "you shall not go to
the palace without me ; you cannot hinder me from
following you."
c? /
It was to no purpose all they could say, Beauty still
insisted on setting out for the fine palace ; and her
sisters w T ere delighted at it, for her virtue and amiable
qualities made them envious and jealous.
The merchant was so afflicted at the thought of losing
his daughter, that he had quite forgot the chest full of
gold ; but at night, when he retired to rest, no sooner
had he shut his chamber door, than to his great
astonishment, he found it by his bedside. He was
.'
determined, however, not to tell his children that he
was grown rich, because they would have wanted to
return to town, and he was resolved not to leave the
country ; but he trusted Beauty with the secret, who
informed him that two gentleman came in his absence
and courted her sisters. She begged her father to
consent to their marriage, and give them fortunes : for
she was so good that she loved them, and forgave them
heartily for all their ill-usage. These wicked creatures
rubbed their eyes with an onion to force some tears
when they parted with their sister, but her brothers
were really concerned. Beauty was the only one who
CHILDHKVS STOHIKS. 267
did not shed tears at parting, because she would nut
increase their uneasiness.
The horse took the direct road to the palace, and
towards evening they perceived it, illuminated as at
first. The horse went of himself into the stable, and
the good man and his daughter came into the great
hall, where they found a table splendidly served up,
and two covers. The merchant had no heart to eat,
but Beauty endeavoured to appear cheerful, sat down
to table, and helped him. Afterwards, thought she to
herself, " Beast surely has a mind to fatten me before
'
he eats me, since he provides such a plentiful entertain-
ment." When they had supped, they heard a great
noise, and the merchant, in tears, bid his poor child
farewell, for he thought Beast was coming. Beauty was
sadly terrified at his horrid form, but she took courage
as well as she could, and the monster having asked her
if she came willingly, kk Y-e-s," said she, tremblingly.
tf You are very good, and I am greatly obliged to
you. Honest man, go your ways to-morrow morning,
but never think of returning here again. Farewell,
Beauty."
"Farewell, Beast," answered she sighing, and im-
mediately the monster withdrew.
*
" O, daughter," said the merchant, embracing Beauty.
" I am almost frightened to death ; believe me, you had
better go back, and let me stay here."
"No, father," said Beauty, in a resolute tone ; "you
shall set out to-morrow morning, and leave me to the
care and protection of Pro videiice."
They went to bed^ and thought they should not close
their eyes all night ; but scarce had they laid down
than they fell fast asleep ; and Beauty dreamed a fine
lady came and said to her, "I am content. Beauty,
268 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
with your good will ; this good action of yours in
giving up your own life to save your father's shall not
oo unrewarded." Beauty waked and told her father
her dream, and though it helped to comfort him a
little, yet he could not help crying bitterly when he
took leave of his dear child from the uncertainty of
again beholding her.
As soon as he was gone, Beauty sat down in the
great hall, and fell a-crying likewise ; but as she was
mistress of a great deal of resolution, she recommended
herself to God, and resolved not to be uneasy the little
time she had to live, for she firmly believed Beast
would eat her up that night.
However, she thought she might as w r ell walk about
till then, and view this fine castle, which she could not
help admiring. It was a delightful, pleasant place, and
she was extremely surprised at seeing a door, over
which was written "BEAUTY'S APARTMENT." She
opened it hastily, and was quite dazzled with the
magnificence that reigned throughout ; but what chiefly
took up her attention was a large library, a harpsichord,
and several music books. " Well," said she to herself,
" I see they will not let my time hang heavily on my
hands for want of amusement." Then she reflected,
" Were I but to stay here a day, there would not have
been all these preparations." This consideration in-
spired her with fresh courage, and opening the library,
she took a book and read these words in letters of
gold :
" Welcome, Beauty ; banish fear,
You are queen and mistress here ;
Speak your wishes, speak your will,
Swift obedience meets them still."
'Alas," said she, with a sigh, " there is nothing I
desire so much as to see my poor father, and to know
CHILDRKX'S STORIKS.
what he is doing." She had no sooner said this than,
to her great amazement, she saw her own home, where
her father had arrived with a very dejeeted counten-
ance ; her sisters went to meet him, and, notwithstand-
ing their endeavours to appear sorrowful,, their joy, felt
for having got rid of their sister, was visible in every
feature. A moment after, everything disappeared, with
Beauty's apprehensions at this proof of Beast's com-
plaisance.
At noon she found dinner ready, and while at table
was entertained with an excellent concert of music,
though without seeing anybody ; but at night, as she
was going to sit down to supper, she heard the noise
Beast made, and could not help being sadly terrified.
"Beauty/' said the monster, "will you give me leave
to see you sup ? '
"That is as you please," answered Beauty, trembling.
"No/' replied the Beast; "you alone are mistress
here ; you need only bid me begone, if my presence is
troublesome, and I will immediately withdraw. Every-
< t/
thing here is yours, and I should be very uneasy if you
were not happy My heart is good, though I am a
monster."
"Among mankind," said Beauty, "there are many
that deserve that name more than you, and I prefer
you, just as you are, to those who, under a human
form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful
heart."
Beauty ate a hearty supper, and had almost con-
quered her dread of the monster ; but she had like to
have fainted away when he said to her, " Beautv, will
you be my wife ? '
It was some time before she durst answer, for
she was afraid of making him angry if she re-
070 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
fused. At last, however, she said, trembling, "No,
Beast."
Immediately the poor monster began to sigh, and
howl so frightfully, that the whole palace echoed. But
Beauty soon recovered her fright, for Beast, having said
in a mournful voice, " Then farewell, Beauty," left the
room, and only turned back now and then to look at
her as he went out.
When Beauty was alone, she felt a great deal of
compassion for poor Beast. " Alas ! ' said she, " 'tis a
thousand pities anything so good-natured should be so
ugly ! '
Beauty spent three months very contentedly in the
place. Every evening Beast paid her a visit, and
talked to her during supper very rationally, with plain,
good common-sense, but never with what the world
calls wit ; and Beauty daily discovered some valuable
qualifications in the monster, till seeing him often had
so accustomed her to his deformity, that, far from
dreading the time of his visit, she would often look on
her watch to see when it would be nine, for the Beast
never missed coming at that hour, There was but one
thing that gave Beauty any concern, which was that
every night, before she went to bed, the monster always
asked her if she would be his wife. One day, she said
to him, " Beast, you make me very unhappy. I wish I
could consent to marry you ; but I am too sincere to
make you believe that will ever happen. I shall
always esteem you as a friend ; endeavour to be
satisfied with this."
" I must," said the Beast, " for alas ! I know too well
my own misfortune ; but then I love you with the
tenderest affection. However, I ought to think myself
CHILDREN'S STOKIKS. 271
happy that you will stay here. Promise me nr\<-r to
leave me ? '
Beauty blushed at these words. She had seen in her
glass that her father had pined himself sick for the loss
of her, and she longed to see him again.
" I could," answered she, " indeed promise never to
leave you entirely, but I have so great a desire to see
my father, that I shall fret to death if you refuse me
that satisfaction."
"I had rather die myself," said the monster,, "than
give you the least uneasiness. I will send you to your
father ; you will remain with him,, and poor Beast shall
die of grief."
" No," said Beauty, weeping/' I love you too well to
be the cause of your death. I give you my promise to
return in a week, for I indeed feel a kind of liking for
you. You have shown me that my sisters are married,
and my brothers gone to the army ; only let me stay a
week with my father, as he is alone."
" You shall be there to-morrow morning," said the
Beast ; " but remember your promise. You need only
lay your ring on the table before you go to bed, when
you have a mind to come back. Farewell, Beauty.''
Beast sighed as usual, bidding her good-night ; and
Beauty went to bed very sad at seeing him so afflicted.
When she w T aked the next morning, she found herself
at her father's, and having rung a little bell that was by
her bed-side, she saw the maid come, who, the moment
she saw her, gave a loud shriek, at which the good man
ran upstairs, and thought he should have died with joy
to see his dear daughter again. He held her fast locked
in his arms above a quarter of an hour. As soon as the
first transports were over, Beauty began to think of
rising, and was afraid she had 110 clothes to put on ;
272 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
but the maid told her that she had just found, in the
next room, a large trunk full of gowns, covered with
gold and diamonds. Beauty thanked good Beast for
his kind care, and taking one of the plainest of them,
she intended to make a present of the others to her
sisters. She scarcely had said so, when the trunk dis-
appeared. Her father told her that Beast insisted on
her keeping them herself, and immediately both gowns
and trunk came back again.
Beauty dressed herself ; and in the meantime they
sent to her sisters, who hastened thither with their
husbands. They were both of them very unhappy.
The eldest had married a gentleman, extremely hand-
o /
some, indeed, but so fond of his own person that he
neglected his wife. The second had married a man of
wit, but he only made use of it to plague and torment
every one. Beauty's sisters sickened with envy when
they saw her dressed like a Princess, and look more
beautiful than ever. They went dow r n into the garden
to vent their spleen, and agreed to persuade her to stay
a week longer with them, which probably might so
enrage the Beast as to make him devour her. After
they had taken this resolution, they w^ent up and
behaved so affectionately to their sister that poor
Beauty w r ept for joy, and, at their request, promised to
stay seven nights longer.
In the meantime, Beauty was unhappy. The tenth
night she dreamed she was in the palace garden, and
that she saw Beast extended 011 the grass plot, who
seemed just expiring, and, in a dying voice, reproached
her with her ingratitude. Beauty started out of her
sleep, and bursting into tears, reproached herself for her
ingratitude, and her insensibility of his many kind and
agreeable qualifications. Having said much on this, she
CHILDRF.VS STORIKS. 273
rose, put her ring on the table, and lav down again.
Scarcely was she in bed before she fell asleep ; and
when she wakened next morning, she was overjoved to
find herself in the Beast's palace. She put on one of
her richest suits to please him, and waited for evening
with the utmost impatience ; at last the wished for
hour came., the clock struck nine, yet no Beast
appeared. After having sought for him cver\ where,
she recollected her dream, and flew to the canal in the
garden. There she found poor Beast stretched out
quite senseless, and, as she imagined, dead. She threw
herself upon him without any dread, and finding his
heart beat still, she fetched some water from the canal,
and poured it 011 his head.
Beast opened his eyes, and said to Beauty, " You
forgot your promise, and I was so afflicted at having
lost you that I resolved to starve myself. But since I
have the happiness of seeing you once more, I die
satisfied."
"No, dear Beast," said Beauty, "you must not die ;
live to be my husband. From this moment I give you
my hand, and swear to be none but yours."
Beauty scarcely had pronounced these words, when
the palace sparkled with lights and fireworks, instru-
ments of music everything seemed to portend some
great event ; but nothing could fix her attention. She
turned to her dear Beast, for whom she trembled with
fear ; but how great was her surprise ! Beast had
disappeared, and she saw at her feet one of the loveliest
Princes that ever eye beheld, who returned her thanks
for having put an end to the charm under which he
had so long resembled a beast. Though this Prince
was worthy of all her attention, she could not forbear
asking where Beast was.
274 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
" You see him at your feet," said the Prince ; " a
wicked fairv had condemned me to remain under that
J
shape till a beautiful virgin should consent to marry
me. In offering you my crown, I can't discharge the
obligations I have to vou."
^ "- 1
Beauty, agreeably surprised, gave the charming
Prince her hand to rise ; they went together into the
castle, and Beauty was overjoyed to find, in the great
hall, her father and his whole family, whom the beauti-
ful lady, that appeared to her in her dream, had con-
veyed thither.
" Beauty," said this lady, " come and receive the
rt-ward of your judicious choice ; you are going to be a
great Queen. I hope the throne will not lessen your
virtue, nor make you forget yourself. As for you,
ladies," said the fairv to Beauty's two sisters, " I know
/
your hearts and all the malice they contain. Become
*' *'
two statues : but under this transformation, still retain
your reason. You shall stand before your sister's
7 *
palace gate, and be it your punishment to behold her
happiness."
Immediately the fairy gave a stroke with her wand,
and, in a moment, all that were in the hall were
transported into the Prince's palace. His subjects re-
ceived him with joy. He married Beauty, and lived
with her many years ; and their happiness,, as it was
founded on virtue, was complete.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY.
There was formerly, in a distant country,, a king and
queen, the most . beautiful and happy in the w T orld :
having nothing but the want of children to participate
in the pleasures they enjoyed. This was their whole
CHILDHKN'S STOHIKS. 275
concern ; physicians, waters, vows, and offerings were
tried, but all to no purpose. At last, however, the
queen proved with child, and in due time she was
brought to bed of a daughter. At the christening, the
})rincess had seven fairies for her god-motherSj who
were all thev could find in the whole kingdom, that
every one might give her a gift.
The christening being over, a grand feast was pre-
pared to entertain and thank the fairies. Before eaeli
of them was placed a magnificent cover, with a spoon, a
knife, and a fork, of pure gold and excellent workman-
ship, set with divers precious stones ; but,, as they were
all sitting down at the table,, they saw come into the
hall a very old fairy, whom they had not invited,
because it was near fifty years since she had been out
of a certain tower, and was thought to have been either
dead or enchanted.
The king ordered her a cover, but could not furnish
her with a case of gold as the others had, because he
had only seven made for the seven fairies. The old
*t
fairy, thinking she was slighted by not being treated in
the same manner as the rest, murmured out some
threats between her teeth.
One of the young fairies who sat by her, overheard
O /
how she grumbled, and judging that she might give the
little princess some unlucky gift, she went, as soon as
she rose from the table, and hid herself behind the
hangings, that she might speak last, and repair, as
much as possibly she could, the evil which the old fairy
might intend.
In the meantime, all the fairies began to give their
gifts to the princess in the following manner :
The youngest gave her a gift that she should be the
. < O <7>
most beautiful person in the world.
o;<i CHILDREN'S STORIES.
The third, that she would have a wonderful grace in
everything that she did.
The fourth, that she would sing perfectly well.
And the sixth, that she would play on all kinds
of musical instruments to the utmost degree of per-
fection.
The old fairy's turn coming next, she advanced
forward, and, with a shaking head which seemed to
show more spite than age, she said, "That the princess
would have her hands pierced with a spindle, and die
of the wound."
This terrible gift made the whole company tremble,
and every one of them fell a-crying.
V /
At this very instant, the young fairy came out from
behind the curtains, and spoke these words aloud :
" Assure yourselves, O king and queen, that your
daughter shall not die of this disaster. It is true I
have not power to undo what my elder has done. The
princess shall indeed pierce her hand with a spindle ;
but instead of dying, she shall only fall into a profound
sleep, which shall last a hundred years, at the expira-
tion of which a king's son shall come, and awake her
^' i * '
om it.
The king, to avoid this misfortune told by the old
splenetic and malicious fairy, caused immediately his
royal proclamation to be issued forth, whereby every
person was forbidden, upon pain of death, to spin with
a distaff' or spindle ; nay, even so much as to have a
spindle in any of their houses.
About fifteen or sixteen years after, the king and
queen being gone to one of their houses of pleasure,
the young princess happened to divert herselt by going
up and down the palace, when, going up from one
apartment to another, she at length came into a little
CHILDHKN'S STOHIKS. J77
room at the top of tin- tower, where an old woman was
sitting- all alone, and spinning with her spindle.
This good woman had not heard of the kind's pro-
clamation against spindles.
"What are you doing there, (Joody .' said the
princess.
" I am spinning, my pretty child," said the old
woman., who did not know who she was.
" Ha ! " said the princess, " that is very pretty ; liow
do you do it ? Give it to me, that I may see if I can
do so."
The old woman, to satisfy the child's curiosity,
granted her request. She had no sooner taken it into
her hand, than, whether being very hasty at it and
somewhat unhandv, or that the decree of the spiteful
* s
fairy had ordained it, is not to be certainly ascertained,
but, however, it immediately ran into her hand, and
she directly fell down upon the ground in a sw^oon.
The good old woman, not knowing what to do in this
affair, cried out for help. People came in from every
quarter in great numbers. Some threw water upon the
princess's face, unlaced her, struck her 011 the palms of
her hands, and rubbed her temples with Hungary
water ; but all they could do did not bring her to
herself.
The {rood fairy who had saved her life, bv con-
O V
demning her to sleep one hundred years, was in the
kingdom of Matakin, twelve thousand leagues off, when
this accident befel the princess ; but she was instantly
informed of it by a little dwarf, w r ho had boots of seven
leagues : that is, boots with which he could tread over
O
seven leagues of ground at one stride. The fairy left
the kingdom immediately, and arrived at the palace in
about an hour after, in a fiery chariot drawn by dragons.
278 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
The king- handed her out of the chariot, and she
approved of everything he had done : but, as she had a
very great foresight, she thought that when the
prim-ess- should awake, she might not know what to do
with herself, being all alone in this old palace ; there-
fore, she touched with her wand everything in the
palace, except the king and queen, governesses, maids
<>f honour, ladies of the bed-chamber, gentlemen, officers,
stewards, cooks, under-cooks, scullions, guards, with
their beef-eaters, pages, and footmen. She likewise
touched all the horses that were in the stables, as well
pads as others, the great dog in the outer court, and
the little spaniel bitch which lay by her on the bed.
Immediately on her touching them they all fell
asleep, that they might not wake before their mistress,
and that they might be ready to wait upon her when
she wanted them. The very spits at the fire, as full as
they could be of partridges and pheasants, and every-
thing in the place, whether animate or inanimate, fell
asleep also.
All this was done in a moment, for fairies are not
long in doing their business.
And now the king and queen, having kissed their
child without waking her, went out of the palace, and
put forth a proclamation that nobody should come near
it. This, however, was unnecessary, for in less than a
quarter of an hour there got up all around the park
such a vast number of trees, great and small bushes,,
and brambles, twined one within the other, that neither
man nor beast could pass through, so that nothing
could be seen but the very tops of the towers of the
palace, and not that even, unless it was a good way off.
Nobody doubted but the fairy gave therein a very
extraordinary sample of her art, that the princess,
CHILDREN'S STORIES. 279
while she remained sleeping, might ha\ c nothing h.
fear from any curious people.
When a hundred years had gone and past, the son
of a king then reigning, and who was of another family
from that of the sleeping princess. bring out a-lnmting
on that side of the country, asked what these towers
were which he saw in the midst of a great thick wood.
Every one answered according as they had heard ;
some said it was an old ruinous castle, haunted In-
spirits ; others, that all the sorcerers and witches kept
their Sabbath, or weekly meeting, in that place.
The most common opinion was that an ogre lived
there, and that he carried thither all the little children
he could catch, that he might eat them up at his
leisure, without anybody being able to follow him,
as haying himself only power to pass through tin-
wood.
The prince was at a stand, not knowing what to
believe, when an aged man spoke to him thus :
" May it please your highness, it is about fifty years
since I heard from my father, who heard my grand-
father say that there was then in this castle a princess,
the most beautiful that was ever seen, that she must
sleep there for a hundred years, and would be wakened
by a king's son, for whom she was reserved."
The young prince was all on fire at these words,
believing, without considering the matter, that he
could put an end to this rare adventure, and, pushed
on by love and honour, resolved that moment to look
into it.
Scarce had he advanced towards the wood, when all
the great trees, the bushes, and brambles, gave way of
their own accord, and let him pass through. He went
up to the castle, which he saw at the end of a large
Q 80 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
a\cmie. which he went into; and what not a little
Mil-prised him was he saw none of his people could
follow him, because the trees closed again as soon as he
passed through them.
However, he did not cease from valiantly continuing
his way. He came into a spacious outward court,
where everything he saw might have frozen up the
most hardy person with horror. There reigned all
over a most frightful silence ; the image of death
everywhere showed itself, and there was nothing to be
seen but stretch ed-out bodies of men and animals., all
seeming to be dead.
He, however, very well knew, by the rosy faces and
the pimpled noses of the beef-eaters, that they were
only asleep ; and their goblets, wherein still remained
some few drops of wine, plainly showing that they all
had fallen asleep in their cups.
He then, crossing a court paved with marble, went
upstairs, and came into the guard-chamber, where the
guards were standing in their ranks, with their muskets
upon their shoulders, and snoring as loud as they
could. After that, he went through several rooms full
of gentlemen and ladies all asleep, some standing, and
others sitting.
At last he came into a chamber all gilt with gold ;
here he saw upon a bed, the curtains of which were all
open, the finest sight that ever he beheld a princess,
who appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years of
age, and whose resplendent beauty had in it something
divine. He approached w T ith trembling and admiration,
and fell down before her on his knees. And now the
enchantment was at an end ; the princess awaked, and
looked on him with eyes more tender than the first
view might seem to admit of.
( HILDRKN'S STOHIKS. -jsi
"Is it you, inv prince?' she said to liiiu ; " von
have waited a long time."
The prince, charmed with these words, and much
more with the manner in which they were spoken,
assured her that he loved her better than himself.
Their discourse was so well conducted that they did
weep more than talk : there was very little eloquence,
but a great deal of love. He was more at a loss than
C)
she was, and no wonder, as she had time to think on
what to say to him ; for it is very probable, though tin-
history mentions nothing of it, that the good fairy,
during so long a sleep, had given her agreeable dreams.
In short, they talked four hours together, and vet said
J
not half of what they had got to say.
In the meantime, all in the palace awaked, every one
thinking on his particular business ; and as all of them
were not in love, they were ready to die with hunger.
The chief lady of honour, being as sharp set as the
others, grew very impatient, and told the princess
aloud that the supper was served up. The prince
helped the princess to rise, she being entirely dressed.
and very magnificent, though his royal highness did
not forget to tell her that she was dressed like his
o
grandmother, and had a point-band peeping over a
high collar ; but, however, she looked no less beautiful
o
and charming for all that.
They went into the great hall of looking glasses,
where they supped, and were served by the officers of
the princess ; the violins and hautboys played all old
tunes, but very excellent, though it was now about a
hundred years since they had lived. And after supper
without any loss of time, the lord almoner married
them in the chapel of the castle, and the chief lady of
honour drew the curtains.
19
282 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
They had but very little sleep that night, the
princess had no occasion ; and the prince left her the
next morning to return into the city, where his father
had been in great pain anxious for his return.
The prince told him he had lost his way in the forest
as he was hunting, and had lain at the cottage of a
collier, who had given him some brown bread and
cheese.
The king, his father, who was a very good man,
readily believed him ; but his mother, the queen, could
not be persuaded that this was altogether true ; and
seeing that he went almost every day a-hunting, and
that he had always found some excuse for so doing,
though he had lain out three or four nights together,
she began to suspect (and very justly too) his having
some little private amour, which he then endeavoured
that she should remain ignorant of.
Now these frequent excursions, which he then made
from the palace, were the times that he retired to the
princess, with whom he lived in this manner for about
two years, and by whom he had two fine children, the
eldest of whom was a girl, whom they named Morning,
and the youngest a boy, whom they named Day,
because he was a great deal handsomer and much more
beautiful and comely than the sister.
The queen's jealousy increasing, she several times
spoke to her son, desiring him to inform her after
what manner he spent his time, alleging that, as he
saw her so very uneasy, he ought in duty to satisfy
her. But he never dared to trust her with his secret,
for she was of the race of ogres, and the king would
certainly not have married her had it not been for her
vast riches.
CHILDREN'S STOKJKS.
It was whispered among tin- court that she had an
ogrish inclination, and that whenever she saw am
little children going by, she had all the difficultv in the
world to refrain from falling UJKHI tliein ; so the prince
would never tell her one word.
But when the king was dead, which happened about
two years afterwards, and he saw himself lord and
n^Pter, he then openly declared his marriage, and went
in great ceremony to conduct his queen to the palace.
They made a very magnificent entry into the city, with
their two children beside them.
Some time after., the king went to make war with
the Emperor Caiitalabute, his neighbour.
He left the government of the kingdom to the queen,
his mother, and earnestly recommended to her the care
of his w T ife and children .
As soon as he was departed, the queen sent for her
daughter-in-law to come to her, and then sent her to a
country house among the woods, that she might with
more ease and secrecy gratify her inclinations.
Some days after she went to this country house
herself, and calling for the clerk of the kitchen, she
said to him, " I have a mind to eat little Morning for
my dinner to-morrow."
" Ah, madam," cried the clerk of the kitchen in a
very great surprise.
" No excuse," replied she, interrupting him ; " I will
have it so," and this she spoke in the tone of an
ogress, seeming to have a strong desire to taste fresh
meat. " And to make the dish more delicious," added
she, " I will eat her with sauce made of Robert."
This poor man, knowing very well how dangerous it
was to play tricks with ogresses, took his great knife
and went up into little Morning's chamber. She was
284 CHILDREN'S STORIES.
then four years old, and came up to him leaping and
laiiii-liinr, to take him about the neck, and asked him
for some sugar-candy, on which he began to weep, and
the kniiV fell out of his hand ; and he went into the
l,,u-k yard and killed a lamb, which he dressed with
such o-ood sauce that his mistress assured him she had
never eaten anything so good in all her life.
He had at the same time taken up little Morning,
and carried her to his wife, in order that she might be
concealed in a lodging which he had at the bottom of
the courtyard.
The queen's lascivious appetite (according to her own
apprehensions) being once humoured, she again began
to long for another dainty bit. Accordingly, a few
days after, she called for the clerk of the kitchen, and
told him that she intended that night to sup out of
little Day. He answered never a word, being resolved
mi
to cheat her as he had done before. He went to find
little Day, and saw him with a foil in his hand, with
which he was fencing with a monkey, the child being
but three years old. He took him up in his arms and
carried him to his wife, that she might conceal him in
her chamber, along with his sister ; and, in the room of
little Day, cooked up a young kid very tender, which
the ogress praised as much as the former, saying it was
wonderfully good.
All hitherto was mighty well ; but a few evenings
after this craving, the ogress said to the clerk of the
kitchen, " I will also eat the young queen with the
same sauce that I had with the children."
\ow was the critical time, for the poor clerk de-
spaired of being able to deceive her.
The young queen was turned of twenty years of age^
not counting the hundred years she had been asleep.
CHILDKKVS STOKIKS.
Though her skin was somewhat tough, vet slic was fair
and beautiful : and how to find a beast in the vanl so
firm that he might kill and cook to appease her canine
appetite, was what pu//led him greatly, and made him
totally at a loss what to do.
He then took a resolution that he must save his own
life, and cut the queen's throat ; and going into her
chamber with an intent to do it at once, he put himself
into as great a fury as he could, went into the queen's
room with his dagger in his hand. However, his
humanity would not allow him to surprise her ; but he
told her, with a great deal of respect, the orders he had
received from the queen her mother.
" Do it," said she, stretching out her neck ; " execute
your orders, and I shall go and see my children, whom
I so dearly love." For she thought them dead ever
since they had been taken from her.
" No, fair princess ! " cried the humane clerk of the
kitchen, all in tears ; " you shall see your children
again. But then you shall go with me to my lodgings,
where I have concealed them ; and I shall deceive the
queen once more by giving her another young kid in
your stead.'
ti
Upon this he forthwith conducted her to her chamber,
where he left her to embrace her children, and cry
aloud with them ; and he then went and dressed a
young kid, which the queen had for supper, and de-
voured it with the same appetite as though it had been
the young queen.
Now was she exceedingly delighted with this un-
heard of cruelty ; and she had invented a story to tell
the king at his return how the mad wolves had eaten
up the queen, his wife, with her two children.
CHILDREN'S STORIES.
OIK- evening- some time after, as she was, according
to her usual custom, rambling about the court and
yards of the palace to see if she could smell any fresh
meat, she heard, in a ground room, little Day crying,
for his mother was going to whip him because he had
been guilty of some faultf and she heard at the same
time little Morning soliciting pardon for her brother.
The ogress presently knew the voice of the queen
and her children, and being quite in a rage to think she
had been thus deceived, she commanded the next morn-
ing, by break of day, in a most terrible voice, whicli
made every one tremble, that they should bring into
the middle of the court a very large tub, which she
caused to be filled with toads, vipers, snakes, and all
sorts of serpents, in order to throw into it the queen
and her children, the clerk of the kitchen, his wife
and maid : all of whom she had given orders to have
brought thither, with their hands tied behind them, to
suffer the vengeance of the incensed ogress.
They were brought out accordingly, and the execu-
tioners were going to throw them into the tub, when
the king fortunately entered the court in his carriage,
and asked with the utmost astonishment, what w r as
meant by this horrid spectacle, no one daring to tell
him.
When the ogress saw w T hat had happened, she fell
into a violent passion, and threw herself head fore-
most into the tub, and was instantly devoured by the
ugly creatures she had ordered to be thrown into it by
others.
The king could not but grieve, being very sorry,
for she was his mother ; but he soon comforted him-
self with his beautiful wife, and his two pretty children.
CHILDREN'S STOHII.S. 287
And after all things were settled, IK- \\cll regarded
the clerk of the kitchen for his wisdom, humanity, and
compassion.
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MAY 1 1945
