Who cut off their tails with the carving knife,
Did you ever see such fools in your life?
Three blind mice.
and states that the original is to be found in “Deuteromelia; or, the Second Part of Músicks Melodie,” 4to., London, 1609, where the music is also given.
Many other instances of the antiquity of these rhymes will be found under their respective headings.
Amongst the works on Nursery Rhymes which have been consulted, the following may be recommended to those who take an interest in their origin and history.
The Nursery Rhymes of England, collected by James Orchard Halliwell. London. J. R. Smith. 1844.
Arundines Cami, edited by Henry Drury, A.M. Cambridge, 1841. This contains Latin translations of many Nursery Rhymes, of which a few are given in the following pages.
Nursery Rhymes Revised. By J. W. Palmer, 281, Strand, London, 1885.
A Paper on Nursery Rhymes, by Alfonzo Gardiner, see parts VIII. & IX. Yorkshire Notes and Queries, 1887.