The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes
To the Youngest Baby of All with the Love of the Compiler and the Artist.
Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow
BLACKIE & SON LTD., 50 OLD BAILEY, LONDON, AND 17 STANHOPE STREET, GLASGOW BLACKIE & SON (INDIA) LTD., BOMBAY; BLACKIE & SON (CANADA) LTD., TORONTO
CURLY LOCKS Thou shalt sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam. And feed upon strawberries sugar and cream.
The big book of Nursery Rhymes Edited by Walter Jerrold Illustrated by Charles Robinson Published by Blackie and Son, Ltd London
THE very title, Nursery Rhymes, which has come to be associated with a great body of familiar verse, is in itself sufficient indication of the manner in which that verse has been passed down from generation to generation. Who composed the little pieces it is, save in a few cases, impossible to say: some are certainly very old and were doubtless repeated thousands of times before their first appearance in print. References to certain favourites may be found in the pages of the dramatists of Elizabeth's time.
Attempts are sometimes made to read into these Rhymes a deeper significance than the obvious and simple one which has accounted for their enduring popularity in the Nursery, but this volume has no concern with such profound interpretations, any more than have the little people who love the old jingles best.
The earliest known collection of Nursery Rhymes was published about 1760 by John Newbery, the first publisher who devoted his attention to very young readers. In his book, which included songs from the plays of Shakespeare, some of the Rhymes appeared with titles which sound strange to our ears; thus Ding, Dong, Bell was called Plato's Song , while There were Two Birds sat on a Stone was Aristotle's Song . To each Rhyme was appended a moral maxim, as for example, to Is John Smith within? is added Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it . Most of the Rhymes in this little Newbery collection, amongst them There was a little Man and he wooed a little Maid and The Wise Men of Gotham , are repeated in the present volume so far as may be in accordance with that early text. Others have been compared with early versions in chap-books issued late in the eighteenth century or early in the nineteenth.
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THE QUEEN OF HEARTS
SAINT SWITHIN'S DAY
DANCE TO YOUR DADDIE
THE MAN IN THE MOON
SIMPLE SIMON
TOAD AND FROG
LITTLE JACK HORNER
THE WOOING
HANDY PANDY
THE KILKENNY CATS
BLOW WIND BLOW
ONE, TWO, THREE, AND FOUR LEGS
BLUE BELL BOY
COCK-A-DOODLE-DO
JOHN COOK'S GREY MARE
BUZ AND HUM
TOMMY TITTLEMOUSE
A AND B AND SEE
DOCTOR FOSTER
DAFFY DOWN DILLY
QUEEN ANNE
HO MY KITTEN
LAVENDER BLUE
THE QUARRELSOME KITTENS
THE FLY AND THE HUMBLE-BEE
CAT AND DOG
BOBBY SHAFT
THE LITTLE CLOCK
LITTLE MAID
BAT, BAT
CHRISTMAS
PETER WHITE
SLEEP BABY SLEEP
UP PIPPEN HILL
A FALLING OUT
TOM, THE PIPER'S SON
PEG
A DIFFICULT RHYME
THE OLD WOMAN TOSSED IN A BASKET
POOR OLD ROBINSON CRUSOE
TWO LITTLE DOGS
SATURDAY, SUNDAY
MERCHANTS OF LONDON
THE OWL IN THE OAK
GEORGY PORGY
TO MARKET
THE LITTLE GUINEA-PIG
A NICK AND A NOCK
PANCAKE DAY
HUSH-A-BYE BABY
IN MARBLE HALLS
JACK SPRAT'S PIG
ROBIN-A-BOBIN
BANDY-LEGS
A APPLE PIE
THE PUMPKIN EATER
HUSH-A-BYE, BABY
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
COCK-A-DOODLE-DO
HUSH, BABY, MY DOLLY
I HAD A LITTLE PONY
SNAIL
MY LADY WIND
LITTLE JENNY WREN
POOR ROBIN
PUSSY CAT
DANCE, LITTLE BABY
OF WASHING
DICKERY, DICKERY, DARE
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
A FROG HE WOULD AWOOING GO
THE MOUSE AND THE MILLER
LITTLE BETTY BLUE
OF THE CUTTING OF NAILS
THE ORANGE STEALER
I LOVE SIXPENCE
DIDDLEY-DIDDLEY-DUMPTY
SAMMY SOAPSUDS
THE ROSE IS RED
THE WIND
A WARNING
FINGERS AND TOES
COCK-CROW
MY MAID MARY
ROBIN AND WREN
BUY ME A MILKING-PAIL
HUMPTY-DUMPTY
WHAT ARE LITTLE BOYS MADE OF?
THERE WAS A LITTLE MAN
A MEDLEY
THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM
TO THE BIRDS
HEY! DIDDLE, DIDDLE
TWO LITTLE BIRDS
THE LITTLE COCK SPARROW
DAME TROT
IF
HOW DO YOU DO?
THERE WAS A LITTLE BOY
THE MAN IN THE WILDERNESS
THOMAS A'TATTAMUS
LITTLE GIRL, LITTLE GIRL
OLD KING COLE
LENGTHENING DAYS
HARK, HARK! THE DOGS DO BARK
BESSY BELL AND MARY GRAY
WEE WILLIE WINKIE
BAA, BAA, BLACK SHEEP
EARLY RISING
THE TAILORS AND THE SNAIL
BUTTONS
SULKY SUE
HECTOR PROTECTOR
JERRY AND JAMES AND JOHN
THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE
NEEDLES AND PINS
THE SONG OF MYSELF
TIT-TAT-TOE
THE WAY TO LONDON TOWN
CÆSAR'S SONG
GREEN GRAVEL
WASH ME AND COMB ME
TEN FINGERS
THE CODLIN WOMAN
OF PIGS
GOOD KING ARTHUR
SOLOMON GRUNDY
THREE BLIND MICE
CROSS-PATCH
YANKEE DOODLE
TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR
BOYS AND GIRLS
SING IVY
PUSSYCAT MEW
GOOSEY, GOOSEY, GANDER
THE MAN AND HIS CALF
RIDE A COCK-HORSE
SEEKING A WIFE
DOCTOR FAUSTUS
POLLY, PUT THE KETTLE ON
THE BLACKSMITH
THE FOUNT OF LEARNING
OF ARITHMETIC
OVER THE WATER TO CHARLEY
THREE JOLLY WELSHMEN
THE DAYS OF THE MONTH
A VARIED SONG
A DILLER, A DOLLAR.
A PIE SAT ON A PEAR-TREE
THE GIRL IN THE LANE
THREE MEN IN A TUB
LITTLE MISS MUFFET
THE BOY AND THE OWL
COCK ROBIN'S COURTING
FOR EVERY EVIL
WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY
ANDREW
MARY'S CANARY
THE CUCKOO
A SWARM OF BEES
ROBIN AND RICHARD
THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF COCK ROBIN
LADY-BIRD, LADY-BIRD
THE LOVING BROTHERS
NOTHING-AT-ALL
FORTUNE-TELLING BY CHERRY-STONES
LITTLE BO-PEEP
TO BED!
OF GOING TO BED
GRACE BEFORE MEAT
THERE WAS A BUTCHER
WINTER HAS COME
MONDAY'S CHILD
JACK AND JILL
CHARLEY, CHARLEY
THE PIPER'S COW
SHAVE A PIG
TONGS
GOING TO ST. IVES
MERRY ARE THE BELLS
MORE ABOUT JACK JINGLE
ROBIN, THE BOBBIN
ALL FOR WANT OF A NAIL
CURLY LOCKS
ST. VALENTINE'S DAY
THE KING OF FRANCE
THE LATEST NEWS
THE LIGHT-HEARTED FAIRY
I LIKE LITTLE PUSSY
PUNCH AND JUDY
THE OBSTINATE PIG
BOW-WOW, SAYS THE DOG
THE BURNY BEE
DANTY BABY
THE DOVE AND THE WREN
TOMMY'S CAKE
THE MAN OF THESSALY
CUSHY COW
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN
TELL-TALE-TIT
ELIZABETH, ELSPETH, BETSY, AND BESS
SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE
THREE CHILDREN SLIDING
RIDE AWAY, RIDE AWAY
MOTHER GOOSE
DEAR, DEAR!
THE LION AND THE UNICORN
THE LITTLE MOUSE
THE NUT-TREE
POLLY FLINDERS
BRIAN O'LIN
MARGERY DAW
NONSENSE
ANOTHER FALLING OUT
LITTLE BOY BLUE
LITTLE TOM TUCKER
OLD WOMAN, OLD WOMAN
UP HILL AND DOWN DALE
LUCY LOCKET
FORTUNE-TELLING BY DAISY PETALS
BABY BUNTING
THE MOUSE RAN UP THE CLOCK
ONE MISTY MOISTY MORNING
THE LITTLE HUSBAND
TO THE HAYFIELD
THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR
THE LITTLE MOPPET
SIMON BRODIE'S COW
A CARRION CROW
NANNY ETTICOAT
GOOD-FRIDAY SONG
I SAW A SHIP A SAILING
ONE, TWO.
LITTLE ROBIN REDBREAST
DIDDLE DIDDLE DUMPLING
MARY, MARY
JACK JINGLE
BETTY WINKLE'S PIG
THREE BRETHREN OUT OF SPAIN
WHAT CARE I?
THE THREE KITTENS
THE LADY AND THE SWINE
THE JOLLY MILLER
FEETIKINS
TOM THE PIPER'S SON
DOCTOR FELL
THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER
BILLY, BILLY
MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, AND JOHN
JOHNNY
SING, SING!
PETER PIPER
NANCY DAWSON
LONDON BRIDGE
MASTER I HAVE
ROCK-A-BY, BABY
THE FARMER AND HIS DAUGHTER
A STRANGE SIGHT
I'LL TRY
THE FOX AND THE GOOSE
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
THE DIVISION OF LABOUR
KING PIPPIN'S HALL
IF
COFFEE AND TEA
A WONDERFUL THING
MY BOY TAMMIE
THE LITTLE MAN WITH A GUN
IF WISHES WERE HORSES
CLAP HANDIES
TAFFY WAS A WELSHMAN
THERE WAS A MAN
JACK'S FIDDLE
A WAS AN ARCHER
THREE SHIPS
THE CROOKED SONG
A, B, C
COMICAL FOLK
DING, DONG, BELL
BOBBY SNOOKS
SIX LITTLE MICE
WING, WANG, WADDLE, OH
THE HART
OLD CHAIRS TO MEND
SEE, SEE!
OLD MOTHER HUBBARD
TO BABYLON
MY BLACK HEN
I'LL TELL YOU A STORY