K
Notes and Queries, First Series, IX, 320; taken down by S. P. Q. from the recitation of a nurse-maid in Shropshire about 1810. Salopian Shreds and Patches, July 21, 1875, in Miss Burne’s Shropshire Folk-Lore, p. 539.
1
It hails, it rains, in Merry-Cock land,
It hails, it rains, both great and small,
And all the little children in Merry-Cock land
They have need to play at ball.
2
They tossd the ball so high,
They tossd the ball so low,
Amongst all the Jews’ cattle,
And amongst the Jews below.
3
Out came one of the Jew’s daughters,
Dressed all in green:
‘Come, my sweet Saluter,
And fetch the ball again.’
4
‘I durst not come, I must not come,
Unless all my little playfellows come along;
For if my mother sees me at the gate,
She’ll cause my blood to fall.
5
‘She showd me an apple as green as grass,
She showd me a gay gold ring;
She showd me a cherry as red as blood,
And so she entic’d me in.
6
‘She took me in the parlor,
She took me in the kitchen,
And there I saw my own dear nurse,
A picking of a chicken.
7
‘She laid me down to sleep,
With a Bible at my head and a Testament at my feet;
And if my playfellows come to quere for me,
Tell them I am asleep.’