  Page 1. Attention is directed to the classification of the Nursery Jingles as indicated in the Contents. Several classifications of the Jingles, from one standpoint or another, have been made, that by J. O. Halliwell being the most elaborate, and that by the late Charles Welsh being, perhaps, the most logical. The present classification is to indicate more clearly the content, the source, the point, the "intrinsic motive" of the Jingles. It is hoped that this new classification will at least make conspicuous the scope and variety, and the widely varying sources and themes, of the verses that children have been selecting and scholars have been collecting under the generic name of Nursery Jingles or Mother Goose Verses. There are, of course, different versions of the Jingles, as there are of any truly "popular" form of literature. Of not many Jingles can it be said that any version is the oldest, the authoritative, the real version. The editor, therefore, despairing of finding the most accurate version, has endeavored to find the best. In many instances the best seemed the one he had heard in childhood rather than the one printed in any of the collections. The collection found most useful is Lang's The Nursery Rhyme Book (Frederick Warne & Co., London, 1897). The editor has tried to select those specimens that would give teacher and class as many characteristic Mother Goose elements, touches, rhythms, and styles as possible. Many of the Jingles in this collection have not been printed before—at least, not to the editor's knowledge. He believes, however, that they are all genuine Folk Jingles, and he hopes that their quaintness and novelty will justify their appearance here. Page 13. The poems from Blake are from Poetical Works (George Bell & Sons, London, 1909). The three poems are from the series called Songs of Innocence. Page 15. Christina Rossetti's poems are from Sing-Song (Macmillan & Co., London, 1907). The poems are not given titles in this, the authoritative edition. Page 17. Stevenson's poems are from Complete Poems (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1912). The poems reprinted here are all from the series called A Child's Garden of Verses. There are many good editions of the Child's Garden, the Scribner edition being one of the most beautiful. Page 20. The Lucy Larcom pieces are from Childhood Songs (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1874), and are here used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. Page 22. The four poems of the Taylors' are from E. V. Lucas's edition of The Original Poems and Others (Wells, Gardner, Darton & Co., London, 1903). The readings given here follow the last revision by Ann Taylor, some years after the death of Jane. In the case of "The Star" the more familiar version seemed, to the present editor, the better, but he felt that he should conform to the reading that seems to have the strongest authority. No attempt is made to discriminate between the poems of the two sisters; all the poems are here ascribed to them jointly. Page 26. The first two poems of Watts' are from Divine Songs for Children; the third poem, from Moral Songs, or, to give it its full title, A Slight Specimen of Moral Songs, such as I wish some happy and condescending genius would undertake for the use of children, and perform much better. The two collections of poems for children are to be found in Watts's HorÆ LyricÆ (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1864). The advertisement to this edition states that "the volume is reprinted, with many corrections," from the quarto edition of Watts's entire works, published in 1753. Stanzas 5-10 and stanzas 12 and 14 have been omitted from the text of "A Cradle Hymn." They are given here, that the student may have before him an illustration of how necessary it is occasionally to expurgate material set before children. 5. Blessed babe! what glorious features, 6. Was there nothing but a manger 7. Soft, my child; I did not chide thee, 8. Yet to read the shameful story, 9. See the kinder shepherds round him, 10. See the lovely babe a-dressing; 12. 'Twas to save thee, child, from dying, 14. I could give thee thousand kisses, Page 28. Lewis Carroll's poems reprinted here are from The Hunting of the Snark, and Other Poems (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1903). "Father William" is from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; the others are from Through the Looking-Glass. All three poems are much better fun when read in their original setting. Page 33. Edward Lear's poems are from Nonsense Books (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1888). This includes all four of the Nonsense books by Lear: Book of Nonsense, 1846; Nonsense Songs, Stories, etc., 1871; More Nonsense Pictures, etc., 1872; and Laughable Lyrics: A Fresh Book of Nonsense, etc., 1877. Page 37. The ballad of "Bonny Barbara Allan" is from Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (Frederick Warne & Co., New York, 1880). The spelling is modernized. Stanzas 5-8 have been inserted. They were discovered in Buchanan County, Virginia, by Professor C. Alphonso Smith, of the University of Virginia, and printed in his monograph, Ballads Surviving in the United States (G. Schirmer, New York, 1916). This and dozens of other "popular" ballads are still sung in the mountains of the Southern states; undoubtedly they have been transmitted orally for generations. Page 38. "Sir Patrick Spence" is from Percy's Reliques, the edition above mentioned. In the editor's opinion, this is the most effective of the several versions of this beautiful ballad. Page 40. This version of "Robin Hood and Allin a Dale" is from Page 43. "Kinmont Willie" is from The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, together with The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1880). Sir Walter, in his introduction to the ballad, states that because the piece had been "much mangled by reciters," "some conjectural emendations have been absolutely necessary to render it intelligible." As no other version of the ballad has ever been discovered, no one knows just how many "conjectural emendations" Sir Walter made. It is safe to say, however, that the poet's taste and antiquarian interests would prevent his taking unwarrantable liberties with the original. In its present form it is one of the finest of the ballads, whatever change it may have suffered in passing through Scott's hands. Page 49. This poem of Longfellow's and "A Psalm of Life," page 83, are from Complete Poetical Works (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1893). They are used by permission. Page 52. "La Belle Dame sans Merci" and the Keats poem on page 75 are Page 53. The Campbell poem is taken from the Complete Poetical Page 55. "Lochinvar" comes from the Poetical Works (Thomas Y. Page 56. This spirited poem of Browning's is from the Complete Page 58. The three poems by Tennyson in this collection are from Poetic and Dramatic Works (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 1898). Page 63. This version of "America" is from the facsimile reproduction of the hymn in the author's handwriting found in A History of Newton, Massachusetts, by S. F. Smith, D.D. (published, 1880, by The American Logotype Company, Boston). The original copy of "America," according to all the evidence, is the one in Dr. Smith's handwriting contained on a slip of waste paper which is now kept in the treasure room of the Harvard Library. In this original version the two notable points of difference from that given here are the reading "breathes" for "breathe" in the third stanza, and "Our God" for "Great God" in the fourth stanza. Page 64. This well-known passage is the first stanza of Canto VI of Scott's The Lay of the Last Minstrel (Poetical Works above described). Page 64. Miller's "Columbus" is from the Bear Edition of Miller's poems Page 65. Mrs. Hemans' poem is from Complete Works (D. Appleton & Page 67. The "Concord Hymn" and "The Rhodora," page 74, are from the Poems (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1899). Page 67. This poem of Holmes' and "The Chambered Nautilus," page 77, are from the Poetical Works (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1895). The latter poem appeared originally in The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. Page 68. "O Captain! My Captain!" is from Leaves of Grass (David Page 70. "To Lucasta" is from Epodes, Odes, Sonnets, Songs, etc., etc., to which is added Aramantha, a Pastoral, by Richard Lovelace, Esq. A New Edition (Chiswick: from the Press of C. Whittingham, 1817). Page 70. Byron's poem is from Hebrew Melodies (London, printed for John Murray, 1815). Page 71. "A Red, Red Rose" is from Complete Poetical Works Page 72. "The Greenwood Tree" is from As You Like It (New Page 72. This well-known sea song by Cunningham is from The Songs of Page 73. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", or "The Daffodils," as it is often called, is from Complete Poetical Works (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, n. d.). The text is that of the edition of 1857. Page 74. "To the Fringed Gentian" is from Poetical Works (D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1909). "To a Waterfowl," page 76, is from the same. Page 79. "The Noble Nature" is from the volume of Ben Jonson's poems in The Canterbury Poets, edited by William Sharp (published by the Walter Scott Publishing Company, London and Newcastle, n. d.). Page 79. This poem of Wotton's is from ReliquÆ WottoniÆ, etc., Who envies none that Chance doth raise, Page 80. This inspiring poem by Clough is found in Poetical Page 80. "For A' That an' A' That" is from The Edinburgh Book of Page 82. The poem by Henley is from Echoes (published by David Nutt, London, 1908). This poem is the fourth of the forty-seven poems in Echoes. The title "Invictus" is not in the original. Page 82. "Opportunity" is from Poems by Edward Rowland Sill Pages 85-86. These six fables are from The Fables of Æsop, translated into English by Samuel Croxall, with new applications, morals, etc., by the Rev. George Fyler Townsend (Frederick Warne & Co., London, 1869). This is the second edition. There are, of course, scores of versions of the Æsopian fables. The one selected is approved by Greek scholars for the fidelity of the translation, while its literary value is unusually high. The tagged-on morals and applications have been pruned away from the text. Pages 87-88. The two fables of Bidpai are to be found in The Page 89. These two metrical fables are from Fables of La Fontaine, translated by Elizur Wright, Jr. (Worthington Company, New York, 1889). The French writer's fables, though usually not original in content, are clever and keen and shrewd, and this translation represents faithfully their thought and spirit. Page 91. Both "The Old Woman and Her Pig" and "The Three Little Pigs" are from English Fairy Tales, third edition (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1910). The stories are from Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes and Tales, but are retold by Jacobs, who, as usual, improves the original without sinning against the mood and spirit of the "popular" story. Page 95. "Hans in Luck" and "The Frog-Prince," are from the translation of Edgar Taylor, London, 1823. This, so far as the editor could determine, was the first translation into English, and it remains one of the best. Page 98. "The Valiant Little Tailor" and "The Elves," are from Grimms Household Tales, translated by Margaret Hunt (George Bell & Sons, London, 1913). The two volumes of Miss Hunt's translation are, together with her notes and Andrew Lang's introduction, an important contribution to the folklore of the "popular" Fairy Story and Nursery Tale. Page 105. "Cinderella" and "Blue Beard," are from The Tales of Mother Goose, translated from the French by Charles Welsh (D. C. Heath & Co., New York, 1901). They are reprinted in this collection by permission of the publishers. The Tales of Mother Goose were published in 1697. There have been dozens of translations, but Welsh's version is perhaps the most satisfactory. Page 110. This version of "Whittington" is from Amusing Prose Chap- Books, chiefly of Last Century, edited by Robert Hays Cunningham (Hamilton, Adams & Co., London, 1889). The version is strikingly similar to the one given by Jacobs in English Fairy Tales, which, Jacobs says, was "cobbled up out of three chapbook versions." Page 117. "The Ugly Duckling" is from Fairy Tales and Stories, translated by H. W. Dulcken (Rand-McNally & Co., Chicago, n. d.). The Dulcken translation published by A. L. Burt Company, New York, n. d., contains the same stories as the Rand-McNally translation, and eleven more. Page 125. "The Flax" is from the translation of Caroline Peachey, Danish Fairy Legends and Tales (George Bell & Sons, London, 1881). This is the "third edition, enlarged." It contains fifty-seven stories. Neither of the Andersen stories used for this collection is a folk story—though, for tradition's sake, they are here placed with genuine folk stories. Of the fifty-seven stories in the Peachey translation, all but ten are entirely original with Andersen, and all of these ten he worked over to suit his purpose. Andersen, then, unlike Grimm, Jacobs, Lang, and others, is not a collector and teller of fairy stories, but a maker of fairy stories—if, indeed, they should be called fairy stories at all. In spirit and purpose and method Andersen belongs with the modern writers of fairy stories—with Macdonald, Stockton, Ingelow, and Barrie, rather than with the "dealers in the genuine article." Page 133. This version of "Jack and the Beanstalk" is from Jacobs' English Fairy Tales above cited. Jacobs states that this telling came from Australia. It is the best version known to the editor—in fact, the only possible change to be desired is in the flippant ending, "The ogre fell down and broke his crown." This is too serious a matter for such lightness! Page 142. The only story of Asbjornsen reprinted in this collection is from Fairy Tales from the Far North (A. L. Burt Company, New York, n. d.). The translator is H. L. Braekstad. Asbjornsen's stories are sterling folk tales, but somewhat too gross and crude for the delicate stomach of the modern child. Page 146. This Negro folk tale is from Told by Uncle Remus Page 155. Mrs. Craik's story is the first tale in The Adventures of a Brownie (Rand-McNally & Co., Chicago, 1911); it is printed here by permission of the publishers. The text, according to the editor, agrees with the standard text (Samson, Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, London, 1872). Page 161. The text of "The King of the Golden River" is that found in Ruskin's Works (American Publishers Corporation, New York, n. d.). The versions commonly found in readers have been sadly mangled by editors—largely on the theory, it would seem, that children cannot understand the meaning of a word of more than two syllables. Page 183. "Aladdin" is from The Arabian Nights Entertainments, translated by Jonathan Scott (printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, London, 1811). The translation is based on Galland's French translation, the first translation into any European language; but Dr. Scott states that the stories are "carefully revised and occasionally corrected from the Arabic." Of the many editions of The Arabian Nights—several of them excellent—this has always seemed, to the editor, the best. The name in Scott's edition is spelled "Alla ad Deen," but the editor has thought it best to use the name most familiar to the English translations. The story has been altered slightly in that part which relates the circumstances following the marriage of the princess and the vizier's son. Quotation marks have been inserted throughout. Page 267. "The Gorgon's Head" is from The Wonder Book (Houghton Page 286. "Theseus" is from The Heroes (Kingsley's Works, Macmillan & Co., London, 1879). One obvious blunder in spelling has been corrected. Page 311. "Thor Goes a-Fishing" is from Mabie's Norse Stories Page 315. "Baldur" is Chapter VI of The Heroes of Asgard, revised and abridged by Charles H. Morss (Macmillan Company, New York, 1909). The preface states that "this volume is really an abridgment of Keary's The Heroes of Asgard, adapting it to classroom use for pupils of about the fourth and fifth grades." The selection is presented here as a splendid specimen of "made-over" literature, as well as, in its own right, a masterpiece of story-telling for children. Page 327. The story of William Wallace is from The Tales of a Page 339. "The Tempest" is from Tales from Shakespeare, with introductions and additions by F. J. Furnivall (Raphael Tuck & Sons, London, 1901). The "Tales" are very uneven in merit, the Comedies being superior, in the editor's opinion, to the Tragedies, and "The Tempest" being considerably the best of the Comedies. It is generally understood that it was Mary Lamb who told the Comedies and Charles who had charge of the Tragedies. Page 349. "The Purple Jar" is from "Rosamond" in a volume entitled Frank, Rosamond, Harry, and Lucy (Frederick Warne & Co., London, n. d.). This is an inexpensive volume containing all of Miss Edgeworth's good stories except those in The Parent's Assistant. One may not care for tales of this sort; but they have their value, both as morality and literature, and "The Purple Jar" is one of the most effective specimens of its kind. Pages 354, 356. The two didactic stories by Aiken and Barbauld are from Evenings at Home; or, the Juvenile Budget opened: consisting of a variety of miscellaneous pieces for the instruction and amusement of young persons (Henry Washbourne, London, 1847). This edition is described as "newly arranged." "Eyes and No Eyes" has been admired and praised by thousands of readers of past generations, among whom Oliver Wendell Holmes and Charles Kingsley are preeminent. Page 363. "Rab and His Friends" is the first sketch in HorÆ SubsecivÆ, First Series (Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, 1893). An accurate and inexpensive edition is that in the Canterbury Classics (Rand-McNally & Co., Chicago). It is one of the most pathetic stories in all literature, conforming precisely to Ruskin's theory that a child's story should be "sad and sweet." Page 375. Mrs. Miller's story of the blue jay is one of the most charming of the stories in True Bird Stories (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1903). It is reprinted in this collection with the permission of the publishers. Page 378. "A Cry in the Night" is the second story in Wood Folk at School (Ginn & Co., Boston, 1903). It is printed here by special arrangement with the publishers. Mr. Long's studies of wild animal life are among the few distinctive contributions to children's literature within this generation. Page 389. The selections from the Bible are from the King James Version. The verse divisions in this version have been ignored in this reprint, as having little literary significance, and the paragraphs indicated by the paragraph marks in the original have been used as the natural units of thought—though the paragraphing does not always represent the thought divisions. Quotation marks have been inserted throughout. From the story of Joseph, Genesis 37-50, it has been thought best to omit the following: all of Chapter 38, Chapter 39: 7-19; Chapter 46: 8- 27; Chapter 49; 1-28. From the story of Samson, Judges 13:24 to end of Chapter 17, one clause in the first verse of Chapter 16 has been omitted. From the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:1-7:29, verses 27-32 from Chapter 5 have been omitted. The discourse of Paul on Charity, First Corinthians, Chapter 13, has been separated into paragraphs. Page 421. The letter of Lewis Carroll is from Life and Letters of Page 425. Irving's essay on "Indian Character" is reprinted from The Page 434. "Of Studies" is from The Essays of Francis Bacon Page 435. Theodore Roosevelt's spirited and characteristic essay on "The American Boy" is to be found among the essays and addresses in The Strenuous Life (Century Company, New York, 1911), and is here used by permission of author and publisher. Page 441. Patrick Henry's celebrated oration is from Sketches of the Life of Patrick Henry, by William Wirt, third edition, corrected by the author, Philadelphia, 1818, which is the first printed version of the speech. No one really knows how much of it is Henry's, how much is Wirt's. Wirt gives much of the oration in the third person, with many "he said's." It is here given in the first person, following almost precisely the version given in Tyler's Patrick Henry (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1898), which, of course, is based on Wirt's version. All the evidence bears out the contention that Wirt's account of the oration is authentic. Page 443. The "Supposed Speech of John Adams" is taken from the Works of Daniel Webster (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1853). The speech is really a portion of Webster's oration on Adams and Jefferson, delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston, August 2, 1826, less than a month after the death of Adams and Jefferson. The "Supposed Speech" is Webster's conception of how Adams might have answered a speaker who had argued against the passing of the Declaration of Independence. Page 446. This reading of the "Gettysburg Address" is taken, punctuation and all, from the autographed copy of the address written for the Baltimore Fair and signed November 19, 1863. The facsimile lithographed copy of this is to be found in Autograph Leaves of Our Country's Authors (Cushings & Bailey, Baltimore, 1864). A full and accurate account of the three versions of the address is found in the Century magazine for February, 1894. |
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