CXXXI.

ELIZABETH, Elspeth, Betsy and Bess,
They all went together to seek a bird's nest.
They found a bird's nest with five eggs in,
They all took one, and left four in.

CXXXII.

As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits:

Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,

How many were there going to St. Ives?

CXXXIII.

[THE HOLLY TREE.]

HIGHTY, tighty, paradighty clothed in green, The king could not read it, no more could the

queen;

They sent for a wise man out of the East, Who said it had horns, but was not a beast!

CXXXIV.

SEE, see what shall I see?

A horse's head where his tail should be.

CXXXV.

[AN EGG.]

HUMPTY DUMPTY sate on a wall,
Humpty dumpty had a great fall;

Three score men and three score more
Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was before.

CXXXVI.

[The allusion to Oliver Cromwell satisfactorily fixes the date of the riddle to belong to the seventeenth century.]

[A RAINBOW.]

PURPLE, yellow, red, and green,

The king cannot reach it nor the queen;
Nor can old Noll, whose power's so great:
Tell me this riddle while I count eight.

CXXXVII.

PEASE-porridge hot, pease-porridge cold,
Pease-porridge in the pot, nine days old.
Spell me that in four letters.

CXXXVIII.

As I was going o'er Westminster bridge,
I met with a Westminster scholar;
He pulled off his cap an' drew off his glove,
And wished me a very good morrow.

What is his name?

CXXXIX.

[From MS. Sloane, 1489, fol. 16, written in the time of Charles I.] THERE were three sisters in a hall, There came a knight amongst them all; Good morrow, aunt, to the one, Good morrow, aunt, to the other, Good morrow, gentlewoman, to the third, you were my aunt,

If

As the other two be,

I would say good morrow,
Then, aunts, all three.

CXL.

[From the same Manuscript.]

CONGEAL'D water and Cain's brother,

That was my lover's name, and no other.

CXLI.

[TEETH AND GUMS.]

THIRTY white horses upon a red hill,
Now they tramp, now they champ, now they

stand still.

CXLII.

[COALS.]

BLACK we are, but much admired;
Men seek for us till they are tired.
We tire the horse, but comfort man :
Tell me this riddle if you can.

CXLIII.

[The man had one eye, and the tree two apples upon it.]
THERE was a man who had no eyes,
He went abroad to view the skies:
He saw a tree with apples on it,

He took no apples off, yet left no apples on it.

CXLIV.

[CLEOPATRA.]

THE moon nine days old,

The next sign to cancer,

Pat rat without a tail,

And now, sir, for your answer.

CXLV.

[A CANDLE.] LITTLE Nancy Etticoat,

In a white petticoat,

And a red nose;

The longer she stands,

The shorter she grows.

CXLVI.

[PAIR OF TONGS.]

LONG legs, crooked thighs,
Little head and no eyes.

CXLVII.

[A HORSE-SHOER.]

WHAT shoe-maker makes shoes without leather,
With all the four elements put together?
Fire and water, earth and air,
Ev'ry customer has two pair.

CXLVIII.

[CURRANTS.]

HIGGLEDY piggledy

Here we lie,

Pick'd and pluck'd,

And put in a pie.

My first is snapping, snarling, growling,
My second's industrious, romping, and prowling.
Higgledy piggledy

Here we lie,

Pick'd and pluck'd,

And put in a pie.

CXLIX.

THOMAS A TATTAMUS took two Ts,
To tie two tups to two tall trees,

To frighten the terrible Thomas a Tattamus!
Tell me how many Ts there are in all THAT.

CL.

KING Charles walked and talked

Half an hour after his head was cut off!