he cuckoo's a fine bird,

He sings as he flies;

He brings us good tidings,

He tells us no lies.

He sucks little birds' eggs,

To make his voice clear;

And when he sings "cuckoo!"

The summer is near.

The cuckoo's a vine bird,

A zengs as a vlies;

A brengs us good tidins,

And tells us no lies;

A zucks th' smael birds' eggs,

To make his voice clear;

And the mwore a cries "cuckoo!"

The zummer draws near.

I had a little dog, and his name was Blue Bell,

I gave him some work, and he did it very well;

I sent him up stairs to pick up a pin,

He stepped in the coal-scuttle up to the chin;

I sent him to the garden to pick some sage,

He tumbled down and fell in a rage;

I sent him to the cellar to draw a pot of beer,

He came up again and said there was none there.

The cat sat asleep by the side of the fire,

The mistress snored loud as a pig:

Jack took up his fiddle, by Jenny's desire,

And struck up a bit of a jig.

I had a little hobby-horse, and it was well shod,

It carried me to the mill-door, trod, trod, trod;

When I got there I gave a great shout,

Down came the hobby-horse, and I cried out.

Fie upon the miller, he was a great beast,

He would not come to my house, I made a little feast,

I had but little, but I would give him some,

For playing of his bag-pipes and beating his drum.

Pit, Pat, well-a-day,

Little Robin flew away;

Where can little Robin be?

Gone into the cherry tree.

Little Poll Parrot

Sat in his garret,

Eating toast and tea;

A little brown mouse,

Jumped into the house,

And stole it all away.

Snail, snail, come out of your hole,

Or else I will beat you as black as a coal.

Sneel, snaul,

Robbers are coming to pull down your wall;

Sneel, snaul,

Put out your horn,

Robbers are coming to steal your corn,

Coming at four o'clock in the morn.

Burnie bee, burnie bee,

Tell me when your wedding be?

If it be to-morrow day,

Take your wings and fly away.

Some little mice sat in a barn to spin;

Pussy came by, and popped her head in;

"Shall I come in, and cut your threads off?"

"Oh! no, kind sir, you will snap our heads off?"

The sow came in with the saddle,

The little pig rock'd the cradle

The dish jump'd over the table

To see the pot with the ladle.

The broom behind the butt

Call'd the dish-clout a nasty slut:

Oh! Oh! says the gridiron, can't you agree?

I'm the head constable,—come along with me.

"What do they call you?"

"Patchy Dolly."

"Where were you born?"

"In the cow's horn."

"Where were you bred?"

"In the cow's head."

"Where will you die?"

"In the cow's eye."

As I went over the water,

The water went over me.

I saw two little blackbirds sitting on a tree:

The one called me a rascal,

The other called me a thief;

I took up my little black stick,

And knocked out all their teeth.

Four and twenty tailors went to kill a snail,

The best man among them durst 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.

'Twas the twenty-ninth of May, 'twas a holiday,

Four and twenty tailors set out to hunt a snail;

The snail put forth his horns, and roared like a bull,

Away ran the tailors, and catch the snail who wull.

Croak! said the Toad, I'm hungry, I think,

To-day I've had nothing to eat or to drink,

I'll crawl to a garden and jump through the pales,

And there I'll dine nicely on slugs and on snails;

Ho, ho! quoth the Frog, is that what you mean?

Then I'll hop away to the next meadow stream,

There I will drink, and eat worms and slugs too,

And then I shall have a good dinner like you.

Gray goose and gander,

Waft your wings together,

And carry the good king's daughter

Over the one strand river.

Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?

I've been up to London to look at the queen.

Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?

I frighten'd a little mouse under the chair.

I had a little dog, and they called him Buff;

I sent him to the shop for a hap'orth of snuff;

But he lost the bag, and spill'd the snuff,

So take that cuff, and that's enough.

All of a row,

Bend the bow,

Shot at a pigeon,

And killed a crow.

The cock doth crow,

To let you know,

If you be wise,

'Tis time to rise.

There was an owl lived in an oak,

Wisky, wasky, weedle;

And every word he ever spoke

Was fiddle, faddle, feedle.

A gunner chanced to come that way,

Wisky, wasky, weedle;

Says he, "I'll shoot you, silly bird."

Fiddle, faddle, feedle.

When the snow is on the ground,

Little Robin Red-breast grieves;

For no berries can be found,

And on the trees there are no leaves.

The air is cold, the worms are hid,

For this poor bird what can be done?

We'll strew him here some crumbs of bread,

And then he'll live till the snow is gone.

A pie sate on a pear-tree,

A pie sate on a pear-tree,

A pie sate on a pear-tree,

Heigh O, heigh O, heigh O!

Once so merrily hopp'd she,

Twice so merrily hopp'd she,

Thrice so merrily hopp'd she,

Heigh O, heigh O, heigh O!

There was an old crow

Sat upon a clod:

There's an end of my song,

That's odd!

Cuckoo, Cuckoo,

What do you do?

In April

I open my bill;

In May

I sing night and day;

In June

I change my tune;

In July

Away I fly;

In August

Away I must.

"Robert Barnes, fellow fine,

Can you shoe this horse of mine?"

"Yes, good sir, that I can,

As well as any other man:

There's a nail, and there's a prod,

And now, good sir, your horse is shod."

Catch him, crow! carry him, kite!

Take him away till the apples are ripe;

When they are ripe and ready to fall,

Home comes [Johnny,] apples and all.

Dickery, dickery, dare,

The pig flew up in the air;

The man in brown soon brought him down,

Dickery, dickery, dare.

Hickety, pickety, my black hen,

She lays eggs for gentlemen;

Gentlemen come every day

To see what my black hen doth lay.

Pussy sat by the fire-side

In a basket full of coal-dust;

Bas-

ket,

Coal-

dust,

In a basket full of coal-dust!

Little Robin Red-breast

Sat upon a rail:

Niddle naddle went his head,

Wiggle waggle went his tail.

Little Robin Red-breast,

Sat upon a hirdle;

With a pair of speckled legs,

And a green girdle.

Johnny Armstrong kill'd a calf,

Peter Henderson got the half;

Willy Wilkinson got the head,

Ring the bell, the calf is dead!

Hie hie, says Anthony,

Puss in the pantry

Gnawing, gnawing

A mutton mutton-bone;

See now she tumbles it,

See now she mumbles it,

See how she tosses

The mutton mutton-bone.

A long-tail'd pig, or a short-tail'd pig,

Or a pig without e'er a tail,

A sow-pig, or a boar-pig,

Or a pig with a curly tail.

Once I saw a little bird,

Come hop, hop, hop;

So I cried, little bird,

Will you stop, stop, stop?

And was going to the window,

To say how do you do?

But he shook his little tail,

And far away he flew.

Lady-cow, lady-cow, fly thy way home,

Thy house is on fire, thy children all gone,

All but one that ligs under a stone,

Fly thee home, lady-cow, ere it be gone.

Riddle me, riddle me, ree,

A hawk sate upon a tree;

And he says to himself, says he,

Oh dear! what a fine bird I be.

Eat, Birds, eat, and make no waste,

I lie here and make no haste;

If my master chance to come,

You must fly, and I must run.

Pussy cat Mole,

Jump'd over a coal,

And in her best petticoat burnt a great hole.

Poor pussy's weeping, she'll have no more milk,

Until her best petticoat's mended with silk.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Upon my word and honour.

There was a little one-eyed gunner

Who kill'd all the birds that died last summer.

There was a piper, he'd a cow,

And he'd no hay to give her

He took his pipes and played a tune,

Consider, old cow, consider!

The cow considered very well,

For she gave the piper a penny,

That he might play the tune again,

Of corn rigs are bonnie!

As titty mouse sat in the witty to spin,

Pussy came to her and bid her good ev'n,

"Oh, what are you doing, my little 'oman?"

"A spinning a doublet for my gude man."

"Then shall I come to thee and wind up thy thread,"

"Oh no, Mrs. Puss, you'll bite off my head."

Shoe the colt,

Shoe the colt,

Shoe the wild mare,

Here a nail,

There a nail,

Yet she goes bare.

Betty Pringle had a little pig,

Not very little and not very big,

When he was alive he lived in clover,

But now he's dead, and that's all over.

So Billy Pringle he laid down and cried,

And Betty Pringle she laid down and died;

So there was an end of one, two, and three:

Billy Pringle he,

Betty Pringle she,

And the piggy wiggy.

Cock Robin got up early,

At the break of day,

And went to Jenny's window,

To sing a roundelay.

He sang Cock Robin's love

To the pretty Jenny Wren,

And when he got unto the end,

Then he began again.

I had two pigeons bright and gay,

They flew from me the other day;

What was the reason they did go?

I cannot tell for I do not know.

Jack Sprat's pig,

He was not very little,

Nor yet very big;

He was not very lean,

He was not very fat;

He'll do well for a grunt,

Says little Jack Sprat.

Barnaby Bright he was a sharp cur,

He always would bark if a mouse did but stir;

But now he's grown old, and can no longer bark,

He's condemn'd by the parson to be hanged by the clerk.

Pussy cat eat the dumplings, the dumplings,

Pussy cat eat the dumplings.

Mamma stood by,

And cried, Oh, fie!

Why did you eat the dumplings?

The robin and the wren,

They fought upon the parrage pan;

But ere the robin got a spoon,

The wren had eat the parrage down.

Little Bob Robin,

Where do you live?

Up in yonder wood, sir,

On a hazel twig.

The winds they did blow,

The leaves they did wag;

Along came a beggar boy,

And put me in his bag.

He took me up to London,

A lady did me buy,

Put me in a silver cage,

And hung me up on high.

With apples by the fire,

And nuts for to crack,

Besides a little feather bed

To rest my little back.

I had a little cow, to save her,

I turned her into the meadow to graze her;

There came a heavy storm of rain,

And drove the little cow home again.

The church doors they stood open,

And there the little cow was cropen:

The bell-ropes they were made of hay,

And the little cow eat them all away:

The sexton came to toll the bell,

And pushed the little cow into the well!

In the month of February,

When green leaves begin to spring,

Little lambs do skip like fairies,

Birds do couple, build, and sing.

Pussy sits behind the fire,

How can she be fair?

In comes the little dog,

Pussy, are you there?

So, so, Mistress Pussy,

Pray how do you do?

Thank you, thank you, little dog,

I'm very well just now.

The dove says coo, coo, what shall I do?

I can scarce maintain two.

Pooh, pooh, says the wren, I have got ten,

And keep them all like gentlemen!

Bow, wow, wow,

Whose dog art thou?

Little Tom Tinker's dog,

Bow, wow, wow.

Pitty Patty Polt,

Shoe the wild colt!

Here a nail;

And there a nail;

Pitty Patty Polt.

How d' 'e dogs, how? whose dog art thou,

Little Tom Tinker's dog! what's that to thou?

Hiss! bow, a wow, wow!

Bobbin-a-Bobbin bent his bow,

And shot at a woodcock and kill'd a yowe:

The yowe cried ba, and he ran away,

But never came back 'till midsummer-day.

A little cock sparrow sat on a green tree, (tris)

And he cherruped, he cherruped so merry was he; (tris)

A little cock-sparrow sat on a green tree,

And he cherruped, he cherruped so merry was he.

A naughty boy came with his wee bow and arrow, (tris)

Determined to shoot this little cock sparrow, (tris)

A naughty, &c.

Determined, &c.

This little cock sparrow shall make me a stew, (tris)

And his giblets shall make me a little pie too, (tris)

Oh, no! said ye sparrow I won't make a stew,

So he flapped his wings and away he flew!

Snail, snail, put out your horns,

I'll give you bread and barleycorns.

Dame, what makes your ducks to die?

What the pize ails 'em? what the pize ails 'em?

They kick up their heels, and there they lie,

What the pize ails 'em now?

Heigh, ho! heigh, ho!

Dame, what makes your ducks to die?

What a pize ails 'em? what a pize ails 'em?

Heigh, ho! heigh, ho!

Dame, what ails your ducks to die?

Eating o' polly-wigs, eating o' polly-wigs.

Heigh, ho! heigh, ho!