V. My father he died, but I can't tell you how, Blowsey boys bubble oh, Under the broom. I sold my six horses and I bought me a cow, I sold my cow, and I bought me a calf; I'd fain have made a fortune, but lost the best half: With my, &c. I sold my calf, and I bought me a cat; I sold my cat, and I bought me a mouse; He carried fire in his tail, and burnt down my house. With my, &c. VI. [The same song as the preceding, dictated by a lady now living in the Isle of Man, but a far better version.] My daddy is dead, but I can't tell you how; Strim stram straddle ho! Bubble ho! pretty boy, Over the brow. I sold my six horses to buy me a cow, And wasn't that a pretty thing to follow the plough? With my, &c. I sold my cow to buy me a calf, For I never made a bargain, but I lost the best half. my, &c. With I sold my calf to buy me a cat, To sit down before the fire, to warm her little back: With my, &c. I sold my cat to buy me a mouse, But she took fire in her tail, and so burnt up my house: With my, &c. VII. [THERE is an old proverb which says that “a cat may look at a king." Whether the same adage applies equally to a female sovereign, and is referred to in the following nursery song, or whether it alludes to the glorious Queen Bess, is now a matter of uncertainty.] Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? VIII. THE rose is red, the grass is green, Kitty the spinner Will sit down to dinner, And eat the leg of a frog: All good people Look over the steeple, And see the cat play with the dog. IX. [Taken from MS. Douce, 357, fol. 124. See Echard's History of England, book iii. chap. 1.] SEE saw, sack-a-day; Monmouth is a pretie boy, Richmond is another, Grafton is my onely joy, And why should I these three destroy, X. [Written in 1641, on the occasion of the marriage of Mary, the eldest daughter of Charles I, with the young Prince of Orange.] WHAT is the rhyme for porringer? XI. [The following nursery song alludes to William III, and George, Prince of Denmark.] WILLIAM and Mary, George and Anne, They turn'd their father out of door, And call'd their brother the son of a whore. XII. OVER the water, over the lee, Charley loves good ale and wine, Charley loves a little girl, As sweet as sugar-candy. XIII. [The following may possibly allude to King George and the Pretender.] JIM and George were two great Lords, They fought all in a churn; And when that Jim got George by the nose, XIV. POOR old Robinson Crusoe ! Poor old Robinson Crusoe ! They made him a coat, Of an old nanny goat, I wonder how they could do so! With a ring a ting tang, And a ring a ting tang, Poor old Robinson Crusoe ! |