A History of Nursery Rhymes

by Percy B. Green

NURSERY CHARMS.

To charm away the hiccup one must repeat these four lines thrice in one breath, and a cure will be certain—

"When a twister twisting twists him a twist,
For twisting a twist three twists he must twist;
But if one of the twists untwists from the twist,
The twist untwisting untwists all the twist."

AN ESSEX CHARM FOR A CHURN, 1650 A.D.

"Come, butter, come; come, butter, come,
Peter stands at the gate
Waiting for his buttered cake;
Come, butter, come."

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The late Sir Humphry Davy is said to have learnt this cure for cramp when a boy—

"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, ease us, I beg!
The devil has tied a knot in my leg;
Crosses three † † † we make to ease us,
Two for the robbers and one for Jesus."

A CHARM AGAINST GHOSTS.

"There are four corners at my bed,
There are four angels there.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
God bless the bed that I lay on."