The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes.

by Various.

_INTRODUCTION_

The very t.i.tle, Nursery Rhymes, which has come to be a.s.sociated with a great body of familiar verse, is in itself sufficient indication of the manner in which that verse has been pa.s.sed down from generation to generation. Who composed the little pieces it is, save in a few cases, impossible to say: some are certainly very old and were doubtless repeated thousands of times before their first appearance in print. References to certain favourites may be found in the pages of the dramatists of Elizabeth's time.

Attempts are sometimes made to read into these Rhymes a deeper significance than the obvious and simple one which has accounted for their enduring popularity in the Nursery, but this volume has no concern with such profound interpretations, any more than have the little people who love the old jingles best.

The earliest known collection of Nursery Rhymes was published about 1760 by John Newbery, the first publisher who devoted his attention to very young readers. In his book, which included songs from the plays of Shakespeare, some of the Rhymes appeared with t.i.tles which sound strange to our ears; thus "Ding, Dong, Bell" was called "Plato's Song", while "There were Two Birds sat on a Stone" was "Aristotle's Song". To each Rhyme was appended a moral maxim, as for example, to "Is John Smith within?" is added "Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it". Most of the Rhymes in this little Newbery collection, amongst them "There was a little Man and he wooed a little Maid" and "The Wise Men of Gotham", are repeated in the present volume so far as may be in accordance with that early text. Others have been compared with early versions in chap-books issued late in the eighteenth century or early in the nineteenth.

Students divide our rhymes into narrative pieces, historical, folk-lore, game rhymes, counting-out rhymes, jingles, fragments, and so forth, but for the children for whom and by whom they are remembered, and for whose sake they are here collected and pictured anew, they are just--Nursery Rhymes.

THE QUEEN _of_ HEARTS

The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts, All on a summer's day;

The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts, And took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for those tarts, And beat the Knave full sore.

The Knave of Hearts brought back those tarts, And vowed he'd steal no more.

SAINT SWITHIN'S DAY

St. Swithin's day, if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain; St. Swithin's day, if thou be fair, For forty days 't will rain no more.

DANCE TO YOUR DADDIE

Dance to your daddie, My bonnie laddie, Dance to your daddie, my bonnie lamb!

You shall get a fishie On a little dishie, You shall get a fishie when the boat comes hame!

Dance to your daddie, My bonnie laddie, Dance to your daddie, and to your mammie sing!

You shall get a coatie, And a pair of breekies, You shall get a coatie when the boat comes in!

THE MAN IN THE MOON

The man in the moon Came tumbling down And asked the way to Norwich; He went by the south, And burnt his mouth With eating cold pease porridge.

SIMPLE SIMON

Simple Simon met a pie-man, Going to the fair; Says Simple Simon to the pie-man, "Let me taste your ware."

Says the pie-man unto Simon, "First give me a penny."

Says Simple Simon to the pie-man, "I have not got any."

He went to catch a d.i.c.ky-bird, And thought he could not fail, Because he had got a little salt To put upon his tail.

He went to ride a spotted cow, That had got a little calf, She threw him down upon the ground, Which made the people laugh.

Then Simple Simon went a-hunting, For to catch a hare, He rode a goat about the street, But could not find one there.

He went for to eat honey Out of the mustard-pot, He bit his tongue until he cried, That was all the good he got.

Simple Simon went a-fishing For to catch a whale; And all the water he had got Was in his mother's pail.

He went to take a bird's nest, Was built upon a bough; A branch gave way, and Simon fell Into a dirty slough.

He went to shoot a wild duck, But the wild duck flew away; Says Simon, "I can't hit him, Because he will not stay."

Once Simon made a great s...o...b..ll, And brought it in to roast; He laid it down before the fire, And soon the ball was lost.

He went to slide upon the ice, Before the ice would bear; Then he plunged in above his knees, Which made poor Simon stare.

He went to try if cherries ripe Grew upon a thistle; He p.r.i.c.ked his finger very much, Which made poor Simon whistle.

He washed himself with blacking-ball, Because he had no soap: Then, then, said to his mother, "I'm a beauty now, I hope."

He went for water in a sieve, But soon it all ran through; And now poor Simple Simon Bids you all adieu.

TOAD AND FROG