A History of Nursery Rhymes

by Percy B. Green

"This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house, etc.
This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt, etc.
This is the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc.
This is the cow with a crumpled horn that tossed the little dog over the barn, that worried the cat that killed the rat, etc.
This is the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, etc.
This is the man all tatters and torn, that kissed the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, etc.
This is the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tatters and torn to the maiden all forlorn, etc.
This is the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man, etc.
This is the farmer sowing his corn, that fed the cock that crowed in the morn, that wakened the priest all shaven and shorn, that married the man all tatters and torn unto the maiden all forlorn, that milked the cow with a crumpled horn, that tossed the little dog over the barn, that worried the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built."

A Scotch and North of England nursery tale, two centuries old, is cast in the same mould, or rather built on the hymn of the Hebrews found in the Sepher Haggadah. It is given below.

"There was an old woman swept her house and found a silver penny,
And she went to market and bought a kid;
But when she came to drive it home kid would not go.
She went a little further and met a stick, and said to it,
'Stick, stick, beat kid, kid won't go, 'tis a'most midnight, and hame I must go.'
But the stick would not.
She went a little further and met a fire.
'Fire, fire, burn stick, stick won't beat kid, kid won't go, 'tis a'most midnight, and hame I must go.'
But the fire would not.
She went a little further and met with water.
'Water, water, quench fire, fire won't burn stick,' etc.
But the water would not.
She went a little further and met an ox.
'Ox, ox, drink water,' etc.
She went a little further and met a butcher, etc.
She went a little further and met a rope, etc.
She went a little further and met some grease, etc.
'Grease, grease, grease rope.'
She went a little further and met a rat.
'Rat, rat, eat grease,' etc.
She went a little further and met a cat.
'Cat, cat, kill rat,' etc.
The cat began to bite the rat, the rat began to eat the grease, the grease began to grease the rope, the rope to hang the butcher, the butcher to kill the ox, the ox to drink the water, the water to quench the fire, the fire to burn the stick, the stick to beat the kid, and so the kid went home."

In other accounts of the same tale the kid is a pig, the silver penny a crooked sixpence; the pig would not go over the stile, and the old woman could not get her old man's supper ready.

The several prefigurations are not difficult to make out. Very many of the babblings put into the mouths of English children are of foreign origin; the story of "The Kid" was known in Leipsic and sung by German children in 1731, very possibly coming in this way from the Jewish colony.

In Denmark it is also a favourite with the school children.

The other Jewish rhyme, kept in remembrance by modern Jews, is printed at the end of their Passover Service in English and in Hebrew.

One is known as the Chad Gadyâ. It is an arithmetical poem, and begins—

"Who knoweth One?"