The Nursery Rhymes of England Part 38

Hub a dub dub, Three men in a tub; And who do you think they be?

The butcher, the baker, The candlestick-maker; Turn 'em out, knaves all three!

CCCCXXII.

Hey diddle, d.i.n.ketty, poppety, pet, The merchants of London they wear scarlet; Silk in the collar, and gold in the hem, So merrily march the merchantmen.

CCCCXXIII.

Fiddle-de-dee, fiddle-de-dee, The fly shall marry the humble-bee.

They went to the church, and married was she, The fly has married the humble-bee.

CCCCXXIV.

Hey, dorolot, dorolot!

Hey, dorolay, dorolay!

Hey, my bonny boat, bonny boat, Hey, drag away, drag away!

CCCCXXV.

A cat came fiddling out of a barn, With a pair of bag-pipes under her arm; She could sing nothing but fiddle c.u.m fee, The mouse has married the humble-bee; Pipe, cat,--dance, mouse, We'll have a wedding at our good house.

CCCCXXVI.

Hey! diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laugh'd To see the sport, While the dish ran after the spoon.

CCCCXXVII.

Doodledy, doodledy, doodledy, dan, I'll have a piper to be my good man; And if I get less meat, I shall get game, Doodledy, doodledy, doodledy, dan.

CCCCXXVIII.

Tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee Resolved to have a battle, For tweedle-dum said tweedle-dee Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew by a monstrous crow, As big as a tar-barrel, Which frightened both the heroes so, They quite forgot their quarrel.

CCCCXXIX.

Come dance a jig To my Granny's pig, With a raudy, rowdy, dowdy; Come dance a jig To my Granny's pig, And p.u.s.s.y-cat shall crowdy.

CCCCx.x.x.

p.u.s.s.icat, wussicat, with a white foot, When is your wedding? for I'll come to't.

The beer's to brew, the bread's to bake, p.u.s.s.y-cat, p.u.s.s.y-cat, don't be too late.

CCCCx.x.xI.

Ding, dong, darrow, The cat and the sparrow; The little dog has burnt his tail, And he shall be hang'd to-morrow.

CCCCx.x.xII.

Little d.i.c.ky Dilver Had a wife of silver, He took a stick and broke her back, And sold her to the miller; The miller would'nt have her, So he threw her in the river.

CCCCx.x.xIII.

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig, Home again, home again, dancing a jig; Ride to the market to buy a fat hog, Home again, home again, jiggety-jog.

CCCCx.x.xIV.

Doodle, doodle, doo, The princess lost her shoe; Her highness hopp'd, The fidler stopped, Not knowing what to do.

CCCCx.x.xV.

Rompty-iddity, row, row, row, If I had a good supper, I could eat it now.

CCCCx.x.xVI.

[Magotty-pie is given in MS. Lands. 1033, fol. 2, as a Wilts.h.i.+re word for a magpie. See also 'Macbeth,' act iii, sc. 4. The same term occurs in the dictionaries of Hollyband, Cotgrave, and Minsheu.]

Round about, round about, Magotty-pie, My father loves good ale, And so do I.

CCCCx.x.xVII.

High, ding, c.o.c.katoo-moody, Make a bed in a barn, I will come to thee; High, ding, straps of leather, Two little puppy-dogs tied together; One by the head, and one by the tail, And over the water these puppy-dogs sail.

CCCCx.x.xVIII.

[Our collection of nursery songs may appropriately be concluded with the Quaker's commentary on one of the greatest favourites--Hey! diddle, diddle. We have endeavoured, as far as practicable, to remove every line from the present edition that could offend the most fastidious ear; but the following annotations on a song we cannot be induced to omit, would appear to suggest that our endeavours are scarcely likely to be attended with success.]

"Hey! diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle"--

Yes, thee may say that, for that is nonsense.