In an old MS. by Aubrey, in the British Museum, he states that this was a prayer regularly used by people when they went to bed. Then Ody, in his Candle in the Dark, 1656, tells that it was frequently used by old people as a charm, and was repeated three times before going to bed. Launcelot Sharpe, in his Towneley Mysteries, 1838, relates that he had often, when a boy, heard similar words used in Kent as a prayer.

Since about the time of the Crimean War—and more immediately after then than now—the children of Glasgow have shouted in the streets:—

Saw ye the Forty-Second? Saw ye them gaun awa'? Saw ye the Forty-Second Marching to the Broomielaw? Some o' them had boots an' stockin's, Some o' them had nane ava; Some of them had tartan plaidies, Marching to the Broomielaw.

At an earlier period they had:—

Wha saw the Cotton-spinners? Wha saw them gaun awa'? Wha saw the Cotton-spinners Sailing frae the Broomielaw? Some o' them had boots an' stockin's, Some o' them had nane ava; Some o' them had umbrellas For to keep the rain awa'.

There are many similar entertainments which these suggest. But to follow in extent the out-door rhymes of the bairns would carry us beyond the prescribed limits of this chapter. None have been cited, so far, that do not belong absolutely to the nursery; and the collection of these even, though fairly ample, is not so full as it might be. We will conclude with a few, each of which forms a puzzle or conundrum—some of them, in all conscience, gruesome enough, and full of terrible mystery—but, individually, well calculated to awaken thought and stir imagination in any youthful circle.

As I gaed owre the Brig o' Perth I met wi' George Bawhannan; I took aff his head, and drank his bluid, And left his body stannin'. [A bottle of wine.] As I looked owre my window at ten o'clock at nicht, I saw the dead carrying the living. [A ship sailing.] Hair without and hair within, A' hair, and nae skin. [A hair rope.] Three feet up, cauld and dead, Twa feet doun, flesh and bluid; The head o' the livin' in the mouth o' the dead: An auld man wi' a pot on his head. [Last line is the answer.] There was a man o' Adam's race, Wha had a certain dwellin' place; It was neither in heaven, earth, nor hell, Tell me where this man did dwell. [Jonah in the whale's belly.] A ha'penny here, an' a ha'penny there, Fourpence-ha'penny and a ha'penny mair; A ha'penny weet, an' a ha'penny dry, Fourpence-ha'penny an' a ha'penny forby— How much is that? [A shilling.] There was a prophet on this earth, His age no man could tell; He was at his greatest height Before e'en Adam fell. His wives are very numerous, Yet he maintaineth none; And at the day of reckoning He bids them all begone. He wears his boots when he should sleep, His spurs are ever new; There's no a shoemaker on a' the earth Can fit him wi' a shoe. [A cock.] Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tot, A wee, wee man in a red, red coat; A staff in his hand and a stane in his throat, Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tot. [A cherry.] There was a man made a thing, And he that made it did it bring; But he 'twas made for did not know Whether 'twas a thing or no. [A coffin.] Pease-porridge het, pease-porridge cauld, Pease-porridge in a pot ten days auld; Spell me that in four letters. [T-H-A-T.] I sat wi' my love, and I drank wi' my love, And my love she gave me light; I'll give any man a pint o' wine To read my riddle right. [He sat in a chair made of his mistress's bones, drank out of her skull, and was lighted by a candle made of the substance of her body.] Mouth o' horn, and beard o' leather; Ye'll no guess that were ye hanged in a tether. [A cock.] Bonnie Katie Brannie stands at the wa', Gi'e her little, gi'e her muckle, she licks up a': Gi'e her stanes, she eats them—but water, she'll dee, Come, tell this bonnie riddleum to me. [The fire.] Down in yon meadow There sails a boat; And in that boat The King's son sat. I'm aye telling ye, But ye're no calling, Hoo they ca' the King's son In the boat sailing. [Hoo, or Hugh.] As I gaed owre Bottle-brig, Bottle-brig brak'; Though ye guess a' day, Ye winna guess that. [The ice.] If Dick's father is John's son, What relation is Dick to John? [His grandson.] The brown bull o' Baverton, Gaed owre the hill o' Haverton; He dashed his head atween twa stanes And was brought milk-white hame. [Corn sent to the mill and ground.] A beautiful lady in a garden was laid, Her beauty was fair as the sun; In the first hour of her life she was made a man's wife, And she died before she was born. [Eve.] The minister, the dominie, and Mr. Andrew Lang, Went to the garden where three pears hang: Each one took a pear—how many pears then? [Two: the three persons were one.] Mou'd like the mill-door, luggit like the cat; Though ye guess a' day, ye'll no guess that. [An old-fashioned kail-pot.] There stands a tree at our house-end, It's a' clad owre wi' leather bend: It'll fecht a bull, it'll fecht a bear, It'll fecht a thousand men o' wear. [Death.] Lang man legless, Gaed to the door staffless: Goodwife, put up your deuks and hens; For dogs and cats I carena. [A worm.] As I gaed to Falkland to a feast, I met me wi' an ugly beast: Ten tails, a hunder nails, And no a fit but ane. [A ship.] As I cam' owre the tap o' Trine, I met a drove o' Highland swine: Some were black, and some were brawnet, Some o' them was yellow tappit. Sic a drove o' Highland swine Ne'er cam' owre the tap o' Trine. [A swarm of bees.] Infir taris, inoknonis; Inmudeelis, inclaynonis. Canamaretots? [In fir tar is, in oak none is; In mud eel is, in clay none is. Can a mare eat oats?] Wee man o' leather Gaed through the heather, Through a rock, through a reel, Through an auld spinning-wheel, Through a sheep-shank bane. Sic a man was never seen. Wha had he been? [A beetle.] The robbers cam' to our house When we were a' in; The house lap out at the windows, And we were a' ta'en. [Fish caught in a net.]