There are many various versions of this song in English, and it also exists in Danish (Thiele, iii. 133).
Skoe min best!
Hvem kan bedst?
Det kan vor Præst!
Nei mæn kan ban ej!
For det kan vor smed,
Som boer ved Leed.
Shoe my horse!
Who can best?
Why, our priest!
Not he, indeed!
But our smith can,
He lives at Leed.
Perhaps, however, this will be considered more like the common rhyme, "Robert Barnes, Fellow fine," printed in the 'Nursery Rhymes of England,' p. 166. An analogous verse is found in the nursery anthology of Berlin (Kuhn, Kinderlieder, 229), and in that of Sweden (Lilja, p. 14),—
Sko, sko min lille häst,
I morgon frosten blir' vår gäst,
Då bli' hästskorna dyra,
Två styfver för fyra.
Shoe, shoe my little horse,
To-morrow it will be frosty:
Then will horse-shoes be dear,
Two will cost a stiver.
English nurses use the following lines, when a child's shoe is tight, and they pat the foot to induce him to allow it to be tried on:
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,
Give it a stitch and that will do.
Here's a nail, and there's a prod,
And now my shoe is well shod.
Or, occasionally, these lines,—
This pig went to market,
Squeak, mouse, mouse, mousey;
Shoe, shoe, shoe the wild colt,
And here's my own doll dowsy.
The following lines are said by the nurse when moving the child's foot up and down,—
The dog of the kill, [35]
He went to the mill
To lick mill-dust:
The miller he came
With a stick on his back,—
Home, dog, home!
The foot behind,
The foot before:
When he came to a style,
Thus he jumped o'er.