Eachard, a learned clergyman of the Church of England, published a work in 1671, We thus find this nursery romance descending in all its purity for nearly two centuries. It may be even older than the time of Charles II., for it does not appear as a novelty in the quotation we have just given. Be this as it may, the oldest edition I know of was printed some half-century since by Marshall, in Aldermary Churchyard, entitled "The Tragical Death of A. Apple-pye, who was cut in pieces and eat by twenty-five gentlemen, with whom all little people ought to be very well acquainted," which runs as follows: A. apple-pye, B. bit it, C. cut it, D, dealt it, E. eat it, F. fought for it, G. got it, H. had it, J. join'd for it, K. kept it, L. long'd for it, M. mourn'd for it, N. nodded at it, O. open'd it, P. peep'd in it, Q. quarter'd it, R. ran for it, S. stole it, T. took it, V. viewed it, W. wanted it; X. Y. Z. and Ampersy-and, They all wish'd for a piece in hand. At last they every one agreed Upon the apple-pye to feed; But as there seem'd to be so many, Those who were last might not have any. Unless some method there was taken, That every one might save their bacon. They all agreed to stand in order Around the apple-pye's fine border. Take turn as they in hornbook stand, From great A down to &, In equal parts the pye divide, As you may see on t'other side.
Then follows a woodcut of the pie, surrounded by a square of the letters, though it is not very easy to perceive how the conditions of the problem are to be fulfilled. The remainder of the book, a small 32mo., is occupied with "A Curious Discourse that passed between the twenty-five letters at dinner-time,"— Says A, give me a good large slice. Says B, a little bit, but nice. Says C, cut me a piece of crust. Take it, says D, it's dry as dust. Says E, I'll eat now fast, who will. Says F, I vow I'll have my fill. Says G, give it me good and great. Says H, a little bit I hate. Says I, I love the juice the best, And K the very same confest. Says L, there's nothing more I love, Says M, it makes your teeth to move. N noticed what the others said; O others' plates with grief survey'd. P praised the cook up to the life. Q quarrel'd 'cause he'd a bad knife. Says R, it runs short, I'm afraid. S silent sat, and nothing said. T thought that talking might lose time; U understood it at meals a crime. W wish'd there had been a quince in; Says X, those cooks there's no convincing. Says Y, I'll eat, let others wish. Z sat as mute as any fish, While Ampersand he licked the dish.
The manner in which a practical moral good was to be inferred from this doggerel is not very apparent, but Mr. Marshall had a way of his own in settling the difficulty. The finale must not be omitted: "Having concluded their discourse and dinner together, I have nothing more to add, but that, if my little readers are pleased with what they have found in this book, they have nothing to do but to run to Mr. Marshall's at No. 4, in Aldermary Churchyard, where they may have several books, not less entertaining than this, of the same size and price. But that you may not think I leave you too abruptly, I here present you with the picture of the old woman who made the apple-pye you have been reading about. She has several more in her basket, and she promises, if you are good children, you shall never go supperless to bed while she has one left. But as good people always ask a blessing of God before meals, therefore, as a token that you are good, and deserve a pye, you must learn the two following graces, the one to be said before the meals, the other after; and the Lord's Prayer every night and morning." Two graces and the Lord's Prayer conclude the tract. The following alphabet or literal rhyme refers to Carr, Earl of Somerset, the favorite of James I: J. C. U. R. Good Mounseir Car U. R. A. K. As most men say, U. O. K. P. With a nullytye, S. X. his yf (wife), Hath broke your backe. MS. Sloane 1489, f. 9, vo. A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K., if you look you'll see; L. M. N. O. P. Q. R. S. T. U. V. W. X. Y. Z. Heigh ho! my heart is low, It's W for I know who,
A very favorite class of rhymes with children, though the solutions are often most difficult to guess. Nursery riddle-rhymes are extremely numerous, and a volume might be filled with them without much difficulty. Many of the most common ones are found in manuscript collections of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I'm in every one's way, My four horns every day In every way play, And my head is nailed on at the top!
—A turnstile. There was a king met a king Says the king to the king, I've been in the wood, Pray lend me your dog, Call him, call him! Call him as you and I,
—The dog's name was Been, and the name of the persons who met each other was King. This riddle was obtained recently from oral tradition. I observe, however, a version of it in MS. Harl. 1962, of the seventeenth century. The cuckoo and the gowk, The laverock and the lark, The twire-snipe, the weather-bleak; How many birds is that?
—Three, for the second name in each line is a synonyme. The cuckoo is called a gowk in the North of England; the lark, a laverock; and the twire-snipe and weather-bleak, or weather-bleater, are the same birds. Hoddy-doddy, With a round black body! Three feet and a wooden hat; What's that?
—An iron pot. In the country, an iron pot with three legs, and a wooden cover, the latter raised or put on by means of a peg at the top, is used for suspending over a fire, or to place on the hearth with a wood fire. Riddle me, riddle me, what is that Over the head and under the hat?
—Hair. From Kent. The fiddler and his wife, The piper and his mother, Ate three half-cakes, three whole cakes, And three quarters of another. How much did each get?
—The fiddler's wife was the piper's mother. Each one therefore got ½ + 1 + ¼ or 1-¾. There was a little green house, And in the little green house There was a little brown house, And in the little brown house There was a little yellow house, And in the little yellow house There was a little white house, And in the little white house There was a little heart.
—A walnut. A flock of white sheep Here they go, there they go,
—The teeth and gums. Old Father Greybeard, If you'll give me your finger,
—Greybeard, says Moor, Suffolk Words, p. 155, was the appropriate name for a fine large handsome stone bottle, holding perhaps three or four, or more gallons, having its handle terminating in a venerable Druidic face. This riddle appears to be alluded to in MS. Harl. 7316, p. 61: I'm a dull senseless blockhead, 'tis true, when I'm young, And like old grandsire Greyberd without tooth or tongue, But by the kind help and assistance of arts I sometimes attain to politeness of parts: What God never sees, What the king seldom sees; What we see every day: Read my riddle,—I pray.
—An equal. This riddle is well known in Sweden. The following version was given me by Mr. Stephens: Jag ser det dagligen; Kungen ser det sÄllan; Gud ser det aldrig. "I see it daily; The king sees it seldom; God sees it never." As white as milk, And not milk; As green as grass, And not grass; As red as blood, And not blood; As black as soot, And not soot!
—A bramble-blossom. The land was white, It'll take a good scholar
—Paper and writing. As high as a castle, As weak as a wastle; And all the king's horses Cannot pull it down.
—Smoke. A wastle is a North country term for a twig or withy, possibly connected with A. S. wÆdl. I've seen you where you never was, And where you ne'er will be; And yet you in that very same place
—The reflection of a face in a looking-glass. Banks full, braes full, Though ye gather all day, Ye'll not gather your hands full.
—The mist. From Northumberland. Sometimes thus: A hill full, a hole full, Ye cannot catch a bowl full.
A young man and a young woman quarrelled, and the former, in his anger, exclaimed,— Three words I know to be true, All which begin with W.
The young woman immediately guessed the enigma, and replied in a similar strain,— I too know them, And eke three which begin with M.
—Woman wants wit. Man much more. The calf, the goose, the bee, The world is ruled by these three.
—Parchment, pens, and wax. A house full, a yard full, And ye can't catch a bowl full.
—Smoke. As I was going o'er London bridge, Not a man in all England
—Ice. I had a little sister, They called her Pretty Peep; She wades in the waters, She climbs up the mountains, My poor little sister,
—A star. This charming little riddle is always a great favorite with children. As I was going o'er yon moor of moss, I met a man on a gray horse; He whipp'd and he wail'd, I ask'd him what he ail'd; He said he was going to his father's funeral, Who died seven years before he was born!
—His father was a dyer. As I look'd out o' my chamber window, I sent my maid to pick it up. But she couldn't pick it all.
—Snuff. From Yorkshire. Black within, and red without, Four corners round about.
—A chimney. From Yorkshire. As I was going o'er London bridge, I met a drove of guinea pigs; They were nick'd and they were nack'd, And they were all yellow back'd.
—A swarm of bees; not a very likely family to meet in that neighbourhood, at least nowadays, but some of the authors of these poems seem to have been continually traversing London bridge. Higher than a house, higher than a tree; Oh! whatever can that be?
—A star. From Yorkshire. Which weighs heavier— A stone of lead Or a stone of feather?
—They both weigh alike. Lilly low, lilly low, set up on an end, See little baby go out at town end.
—A candle. Lillylow is a North country term for the flame of a candle. Low, A.-S. lig, is universal. At the end of my yard there is a vat, Four-and-twenty ladies dancing in that: Some in green gowns, and some with blue hat: He is a wise man who can tell me that.
—A field of flax. Jackatawad ran over the moor, Never behind, but always before!
—The ignis fatuus, or Will o' the Wisp. Jackatawad is a provincial term for this phenomenon. Black'm, saut'm, rough'm, glower'm, saw, Click'm, gatt'm, flaug'm into girnigaw.
—Eating a sloe. A North country riddle, given by Brockett. Girnigaw is the cavity of the mouth. There was a man rode through our town, Gray Grizzle was his name; His saddle-bow was gilt with gold; Three times I've named his name.
—Gaffer Was. From Yorkshire. There was a man went over the Wash, Grizzle grey was his horse; Bent was his saddle-bow: I've told you his name three times, And yet you don't know!
—The same as the last. From Norfolk. I am become of flesh and blood, Yet there's neither flesh nor blood I make kings that they fall out, And yet there's neither flesh nor blood
—A pen. Riddles similar to this are current in most languages. Mr. Stephens has kindly furnished me with the following one obtained in Sweden: Af kÖtt och blod Är jag upprunnen, Men ingen blod Är i mig funnen; MÅnga herrar de mig bÄra, Med hvassa knifvar de mig skÄra. MÅngen har jag gifvit Ära, MÅngen har jag tagit af, MÅngen har jag lagt i graf. Of flesh and blood sprung am I ever; But blood in me that find ye never. Many great lords bear me proudly, With sharp knives cutting me loudly. Many I've graced right honorably: Rich ones many I've humble made; Many within their grave I've laid!
The pen has been a fertile subject for the modern riddle-writer. The best production of the kind was printed a few months ago in the Times newspaper, contributed by Miss Agnes Strickland. Into my house came neighbour John, With three legs and a wooden one; If one be taken from the same, Then just five there will remain.
—He had a IV legged stool with him, and taking away the left-hand numeral, there remains V. Link lank, on a bank, Ten against four.
—A milkmaid. Two legs sat upon three legs, With four legs standing by; Four then were drawn by ten: Read my riddle ye can't, However much ye try.
—An amplification of the above, the milkmaid of course sitting on a three-legged stool. Over the water, And under the water, And always with its head down!
—A nail in the bottom of a ship. As straight as a maypole, As bent as a bucker,
I do not know the solution of this riddle. A bucker is a bent piece of wood by which slaughtered sheep are hung up by their expanded hind legs, before being cut out. Hitty Pitty within the wall, Hitty Pitty without the wall: If you touch Hitty Pitty, Hitty Pitty will bite you.
—A nettle. MS. Harl. 1962, xvii. cent. The first letter of our fore-fadyr, A worker of wax, An I and an N; The colour of an ass: And what have you then?
—Abindon, or Abingdon, in Berks. An ancient rebus given in Lelandi Itin. ed. 1744, ii. 136. I saw a fight the other day; A damsel did begin the fray. She with her daily friend did meet, Then standing in the open street; She gave such hard and sturdy blows, He bled ten gallons at the nose; Yet neither seem to faint nor fall, Nor gave her any abuse at all.
—A pump. MS. Harl. 1962, xvij. cent. A water there is I must pass, A broader water never was; And yet of all waters I ever did see, To pass over with less jeopardy.
—The dew. From the same MS. There is a bird of great renown, Useful in city and in town; None work like unto him can do; He's yellow, black, red, and green, A very pretty bird I mean; Yet he's both fierce and fell: I count him wise that can this tell.
—A bee. From the same MS. As I went over Hottery Tottery, I looked into Harbora Lilly; I spied a cutterell Playing with her cambril. I cryed, Ho, neighbour, ho! Lend me your cue and your goe, To shoot at yonder cutterell Playing with her cambril, And you shall have the curle of her loe.
—A man calling to his neighbour for a gun to shoot a deer, and he should have her humbles. MS. ibid. As I went through my houter touter, I see one Mr. Higamgige Come over the hill of Parley. But if I had my carly verly, I would have bine met with Mr. Higamgige Come over the hill of Parley.
—A man going over a hill, and a fly lighting on his head. MS. ibid. |
