—A man going over a hill, and a fly lighting on his head. MS. ibid.
[THE FOUR SISTERS.]
I have four sisters beyond the sea,
Para-mara, dictum, domine.
And they did send four presents to me,
Partum, quartum, paradise, tempum,
Para-mara, dictum, domine!
The first it was a bird without e'er a bone;
Para-mara, dictum, &c.
The second was a cherry without e'er a stone;
Partum, quartum, &c.
The third it was a blanket without e'er a thread,
Para-mara, dictum, &c.
The fourth it was a book which no man could read,
Partum, quartum, &c.
How can there be a bird without e'er a bone?
Para-mara, dictum, &c.
How can there be a cherry without e'er a stone?
Partum, quartum, &c.
How can there be a blanket without e'er a thread?
Para-mara, dictum, &c.
How can there be a book which no man can read?
Partum, quartum, &c.
When the bird's in the shell, there is no bone;
Para-mara, dictum, &c.
When the cherry's in the bud, there is no stone;
Partum, quartum, &c.
When the blanket's in the fleece, there is no thread;
Para-mara, dictum, &c.
When the book's in the press, no man can read;
Partum, quartum, &c.
Several versions of this metrical riddle are common in the North of England, and an ingenious antiquary has suggested that it is a parody on the old monkish songs! It will remind the reader of the Scottish ballad of Captain Wedderburn's Courtship,
O hold away from me, kind sir,
I pray you let me be;
For I will not go to your bed,
Till you dress me dishes three:
Dishes three you must dress to me,
And I must have them a',
Before that I lie in your bed,
Either at stock or wa'.
O I must have to my supper
A cherry without a stone;
And I must have to my supper
A chicken without a bone:
And I must have to my supper
A bird without a ga',
Before I lie into your bed,
Either at stock or wa'.
When the cherry is in the bloom,
I'm sure it hath no stone;
And when the chicken is in its shell,
I'm sure it hath no bone:
The dove it is a gentle bird,
It flies without a ga',
And we shall both lie in ae bed,
And thou's lie next the wa'.
The belief that a pigeon or dove has no gall forms the subject of a chapter in Browne's Vulgar and Common Errors, iii. 3. The gall-bladder does not exist in the dove.
[THE DEMANDS JOYOUS.]
It is not generally known that many of our popular riddles are centuries old. Yet such is the fact, and those whose course of reading has made them acquainted with ancient collections are not unfrequently startled by observing a quibble of the fifteenth or sixteenth century go the round of modern newspapers as a new invention, or perhaps as an importation from America! A few months ago, an instance of this species of resuscitation took place in the publication of the question, "Which were made first, elbows or knees?" This was an enigma current in England in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and is found in a manuscript in the British Museum written before the close of the sixteenth century.
The earliest collection of riddles printed in this country came from the press of Wynkyn de Worde in the year 1511, in black letter, under the title of the "Demaundes Joyous." Only one copy of this tract, which was "imprynted at London, in Flete Strete, at the sygne of the Sonne," is known to exist, and it is now preserved in the public library at Cambridge. It is chiefly a compilation from an early French tract under a similar title, but which is far more remarkable for its grossness. The reader may be amused with the following specimens, and perhaps recognise some of them as old favorites:
"Demand. Who bore the best burden that ever was borne?—R. The ass on which our Lady rode when she fled with our Lord into Egypt. D. What became of that ass?—R. Adam's mother did eat her. D. Who is Adam's mother?—R. The earth.