"Half a pound of twopenny rice, Half a pound of treacle, Stir it up and make it nice, Pop goes the weasel."

In 1754 mothers used to say to their children--

"Come when you're called, Do what you're bid, Shut the door after you, Never be chid."

A GAME.

"A great big wide-mouth waddling frog, Two pudding ends would choke a dog."

"Little Nanny Natty Coat Has a white petticoat, The longer she lives The shorter she grows."

_Answer_--A candle.

"As I was going down Sandy Lane I met a man who had seven wives; each wife had a bag, each bag held a cat, each cat a kit. Now riddle-me-ree, how many were going down Sandy Lane?"

_Answer_--One going down; the others were going up.

"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 sent them to bed."

"Robert Rowley rolled a round roll round, A round roll Robert Rowley rolled round; Round rolled the round roll Robert Rowley rolled round."

"Little General Monk Sat upon a trunk Eating a crust of bread; There fell a hot coal And burnt into his clothes a hole, Now little General Monk is dead.

Keep always from the fire, If it catch your attire You too, like General Monk, will be dead."

MORE FRAGMENTS.

"With hartshorn in his hand Came Doctor Tom-t.i.t, Saying, 'Really, good sirs, It's only a fit.'"

"Cowardly, cowardly custard, Eats his mother's mustard."

"Tommy Trot, a man of law, Sold his bed and lay on straw, Sold the straw and slept on gra.s.s To buy his wife a looking-gla.s.s."

"Goosey, goosey, gander, Whither shall I wander, Upstairs, downstairs, In my lady's chamber?"

"Dilly, dilly, dilly, dilly, Come here and be killed."

A nursery-tale rhyme of Henry VIII.'s time:--

"The white dove sat on the castell wall, I bend my bow and shoote her I shall; I put hir in my cloue, both fethers and all; I layd my bridle on the shelfe.

If you will any more sing it yourself."

"This little pig went to market, This one stayed at home, This one had a sugar-stick, This one had none, And this one cried out wee, wee, wee, I'll tell my mother when I get home."

"Little Bo Peep she lost her sheep, And could not tell where to find them; Let them alone and they'll come home, Carrying their tails behind them."

"See-saw, Margery Daw, sold her bed and lay in the straw; Was not she a dirty s.l.u.t to sell her bed and lie in the dirt?"

"Four-and-twenty tailors went to kill a snail, The best man among them dare not touch her tail; She put out her horns like a little Kyloe cow, Run, tailors, run, or she'll kill you all e'en now."

"I had a little moppet, I put it in my pocket, And fed it on corn and hay, There came a proud beggar And swore he would wed her, and stole my little moppet away."

"Hub-a-dub dub, Three men in a tub, The butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker, They all jumped out of a rotten potato."

"Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John Went to bed with his stockings on; One shoe off, one shoe on, Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John."

"Jack and Jyll went up the hill To fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jyll came tumbling after."