1. Table of Contents with title-wise navigation-links, added by the transcriber.
2. Typographical errors and hyphenation inconsistencies were silently corrected.
3. Some illustrations appearing before chapter heading in the original, are placed next to heading of relevant chapter.
4.The cover image was created from the title page by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Table of Contents.
JINGLES
WRITTEN FOR DEAR FRIENDS
BY
WINIFRED SACKVILLE STONER, Jr.
(When five and six years of age)
ILLUSTRATED BY
BY
KARL KAE KNECHT
Copyright 1909Smith & Butterfield,
Publishers
Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr.Evansville, Ind.
[Best Wishes to my little friend, Miss Winifred S. Stoner Jr., whose delightful Jingles I like to illustrate--K. K. Knecht]
THE AUTHOR
The author of these little rhymes, which have been previously published in "The Evansville Courier" and several other publications, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, August 19, 1902. From her babyhood days she has been a great lover of poetry and began composing original rhymes when but three years of age.
A Christmas Wish
For All My Friends
While Christmas bells are chiming, oh, may there come to you
A dear sweet little fairy, who's always good and true;
The little HAPPY FAIRY, who drives away dull care,
And makes all things upon the earth seem ever bright and fair.
She'll whisper to good Santa to bring what you most wish;
So if you have been longing for a fine pudding dish,
He will not, as in by-gone years, forget and bring to you
Something that you do not want, though beautiful and new.
The HAPPY FAIRY'S MAGIC is in this wondrous leaf,
Which drives away all "bogies," and banishes all grief;
So if you would be happy, wealthy, wise and well.
Kiss the MAGIC WISHING LEAF from HAPPY FAIRY'S DELL.
PREFACE
This little book is dedicated to all of my relatives and to the following friends:
Mrs. Lucy Dillard Tabb Okeson, Miss Fannie F. Sams. Mr. and Mrs. William Webb, Misses Blanche, Helen and Wydie Webb, Mrs. William Sharp, Mrs. McAlpine, Miss Rebekah McAlpine, Mrs. John C. Taylor, Dr. and Mrs. Adams, Walter and Forestall Adams, Miss Isabelle Nusbaum, Virginia Leigh Morris, Bertram and Virginius Nusbaum, Mr. Albert Warrington, Neely Warrington, Mr. and Mrs. M. G. Nusbaum, Mrs. Charles Rowland, Elsie Rowland, Fred Riddle, Barry and Wilson Dodson, Eugenie and Richard Jones, Christine Neubauer, of Norfolk, Virginia.
Doctor Zamenhof, Warsaw, Poland; Prof. George Macloskie, LL. D. D. Sc., of Princeton University; Mrs. George Macloskia, Princeton, N. J.; M. Edmond Privat, Geneva, Switzerland; Mr. Sharon O. Brown, Providence, R. I.; Mr. Charles E. Randall, Seattle, Washington; Mrs. William Westcott, Holley, N. Y.; Mr. and Mrs. William Warren, Newburgh, Ind.
Mr. Arthur Baker, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Guthrie, Mrs. A. R. Hornbrook, Dr. Walter H. Fox, Miss Berthe Papot, Miss Dorothy Millican, Miss Polly Young, of Chicago, Illinois.
Prof. Edwin C. Reed, Washington, D. C.; Mrs. Wilbur F. Crafts, of the Christian Herald: Dr. D. O. S. Lowell, of Roxbury Latin School; Rev. Horace Dutton, of the Christian Endeavor World; Dr. William Gray Nowell, Mr. John Fogg Twombly, Miss Eugenie Ohman, of Boston, Mass.; Edwin and Dorothy Ehrman, of Rockport, Ind.; Dr. W. Addis, Guaymas, Mexico; Mrs. Maybelle Anderson, Haverhill, Mass.; Miss Ella Thomas, Monterey, Cal.; Dorothy Kirk, DesMoines, Iowa, Miss J. E. Hamand, Schaller, Iowa; Mrs. Annie H. McDermid, Fontanelle, Iowa; Mrs. Robert Winthrop Barr and Nelson Barr, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Mrs. Maria T. Bird, Rockland, Maine: Mr. Harry Warren, Mr. Frank Kirkpatrick, Cincinnati, Ohio; Miss Ruth Rickinson, Columbus, Ohio; Dr. Clara Todson and Mr. Joseph Burila, Elgin, Ill.; Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Dungan, Barton, Ohio; Mr. Herbert M. Scott, Moundsville, W. Va.; Miss Mary F. Kelly Brambleton, Va.; Mrs. W. W. Davies, Richmond, Va.; Earl Stratton, Jamestown, N. Y.; Miss Lois L. White and Mrs. W. D. Christman, Washington, Pa.; Max Bosquet, Roanne et Loire, France; Miss Emily Allen, Miss Jessie and Mary Eggleson, Dr. Levi Old, of Norfolk, Va.
Mrs. Linna Hennig Sherman, Miss Adaline Sherman, Mrs. Flora Williams, Mrs. Alma Shafer, Dr. W. S. Hamilton, Prof. Walter Ross, Prof. C. C. Brilles, Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Vester, Mrs. J. W. Bryan, Miss Elizabeth Dean, Miss Margaret O'Brien, of Wheeling, W. Va.
Mrs. John Speed, Memphis. Tenn.; Mr. Frank Royster, Colorado Springs, Col.; Dr. Chase, Galveston, Texas; Prof. John E. McFadyen, Mr. and Mrs. Max Arno Frind, Mr. Robert Sangster, of Toronto, Canada.
Mrs. Lyde Morrow Petty, Miss Edith Edeburn, Leicester and Kenneth Fisher, of Pittsburg, Pa.; Mr. and Mrs. Henry D. King, Mr. James G. Diller, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; Lieutenant Arthur Crenshaw, U. S. N.; Mrs. Arthur Crenshaw, Shanghai, China; Major H. W. Yemans, U. S. A.; Capt. G. W. Kirkpatrick, U. S. A.; Francisko Yamota, Osake, Japan.
Prof. Clayton R. Bowen, Mrs. Margaret Bowen, Meadville, Pa.; Misses Mame, Jennie and Gwen Leo, Master Chap Leo, Mrs. L. H. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Montgomery, Gertrude, Jean and Richard Montgomery. Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Lloyd, Mr. J. C. Spencer, Miss Eleanor Long, of Erie, Pa.
In Evansville, Indiana: The Editors of "THE COURIER," Mr. Henry C. Murphy, Mr. Howard Roosa, Mr. Percy Carroll, Mr. Karl Kae Knecht, Master John Speed Murphy, Miss Josephine Greene, Mr. Alfred Greene, Master Howard Roosa, Miss O'Hara, Mary Sisson, Virginia Whittemore, Marjory Moore, Alice Ashby, Martha Denby, Margaret Ruston, Virginia Clarke, Miss Irene Jenner, Lawrence Jenner, Horace and Fred Cross, Fritz and Ralph Dryborough, Wesley and John Downer, Oscar Uhl, Jep Hardig, Raymond Chesley, Walter Weber, Misses Anna and Ella Runcie, Edna and Alma Speck, Margaret Bacon, Loraine Cutler, Sallie Whittemore, Salibelle Royster, Janie Sonntag, Katherine Imbusch, Otilda, Margaret and Katharine Goslee, Harriet Knauth, Katherine Lewis, Halene Busse, Caroline Patrick, Suzette Dunlevy, Katherine Wellman, Dorothy Hannett, Mrs. M. O. Fowler, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Runcie, Dr. L. D. Brose, Mr. Marshall White, Edgar and Melville Garvin, Dr. and Mrs. W. L. Royster, Ruth Helen Birt, Charles Sherwood, Mr. Neal Waledn, Mary, Frances, Helen and Hugh Harris, Charlie Donnelly, Glenn Kirkpatrick, Bertha White.
Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Wocher, Mrs. Katherine Brown, Mrs. John Candee Dean, Mrs. William Turner, Miss Mary McEvoy, Miss Ethel Black Kealing, of Indianapolis, Ind.
Mrs. Anna Chase Brainard, Dr. S. Y. Howell, Mr. Edward F. Graham, Mr. Russell R. Johnson, of Buffalo, N. Y., Dr. and Mrs. W. Baker, Terre Haute, Ind.
Plate 1
[AUTHOR AT ONE YEAR OLD]
The Pet's Christmas Carol
"Tweet-tweet-tweet!" sang the canary,
Which meant that he was very merry,
Because his little mistress Nell,
On Christmas eve had fed him well.
"Bow-wow-wow!" sang the gay young pup,
"My master's gone away to sup,
But though he won't be here for tea,
Just see the meal he left for me!"
"Mew-mew-mew!" sang the mamma cat,
"Such milk as this will make me fat,
And oh, I feel so very gay
This cold and frosty Christmas day."
Each mamma cow sang "Moo-moo-moo!"
And gentle dove sang "Coo-coo-coo!"
And every horse and sheep and pig,
And duck and chicken, small and big,
A carol sang on Christmas eve,
Because a FEAST each did receive.
A Great Surprise
(Written for Mother and Daddy.)
On the nineteenth day of August, in the year of nineteen two,
Most kind and gracious Madame Stork right over Norfolk flew,
And brought to my dear mother there a wonderful surprise,
A little red brown baby girl with large blackberry eyes.
Now, mother she had asked the stork to bring to her much joy,
And drop a bundle at her door containing a wee boy,
But when the stork made a mistake and brought just little me,
She thought that I was better far than any boy could be.
And wrapped me in the blanket which she'd planned for my wee brother,
And which my dear "MA MIE" had knit to help my busy mother.
She changed the name of Lionel to little Winifred,
And all the things for brother planned, she gave to me instead.
Santa's Reindeer In The Sky
(Written for Grandmother Sackville.)
[SANTA'S AEROPLANE]
Long, long ago, before this earth had any girls and boys
To hang their stockings on the shelf, expecting Christmas toys,
Good Santa was a big white cloud that floated in the sky;
if you had lived in those old days, you'd seen him floating by.
But when the children came to rule upon good Mother Earth,
She took kind Santa from the sky and made him God of Mirth;
To bring at every Christmas time good gifts to girls and boys
And make them all so happy with a lot of lovely toys.
Far, far among the icebergs, in the cold and freezing zone,
She built for him a palace, where he lives almost alone,
With only good old Mrs. Claus to keep him company,
And sometimes Cousin Nicholas for two days or for three.
Wise Mother Earth she knew this clime would suit good Santa well,
For here no foolish, idle folks would ever come to dwell;
Nor pay the good Saint visits which would waste his precious time,
While he could work much faster here than in a warmer clime.
But never did he suffer from the icebergs at the Pole,
As Fairies kept his fireplace all full of red hot coal;
Or heaped bright burning logs on it as full as it could hold,
So Santa never felt at all old Jack Frost's biting cold.
Likewise these Fairies brought to him and his most faithful spouse,
Just everything that they could need to keep a cozy house,
And even cooked their victuals and brought them every day
Exactly at the proper time, upon a huge hot tray.
And after they had eaten all the dainties on the tiny,
The good kind fairies they would come and take the tray away;
So Mrs. Claus had no excuse for being cross or sad,
Since no experience she had had with Bridgets getting mad.
When Santa finished all his toys, he put them in a sack,
Where he intended carrying them upon his great broad back,
But Mother Earth surprised the saint and to his palace led
Eight lovely prancing reindeer and a large commodious sled.
These reindeer were the cousins of swift Pegasus, the steed
Who helped the hero Perseus when he was in great need;
And like the flying hero horse, they lived up in the sky,
'Till Mother Earth had need of them to help old Santa fly.
And so on every Christmas eve for full ten hundred years,
Good Santa and his reindeer fleet have banished childrens' tears,
By bringing them 'most all the gifts their little hearts could wish,
And filling stockings, shoes and plates and great round pudding dish.
But when last Christmas came around, good Mother Earth she said,
"Dear Santa I have something fine for you to use instead
Of your good, faithful reindeer and your big old fashioned sled,
For here's a lovely aeroplane all painted shining red."
The wise old lady then declared that he could safely fly
With this machine 'most anywhere away up in the sky,
And travel far, far faster than reindeer who were fleet
But stumbled sometimes on the roofs made slippery with sleet.
The aeroplane could carry well a larger load of toys,
So he could visit more good girls and also little boys,
Who live in far off heathen lands where everyone's a sinner,
But that's no reason each should do without a Christmas dinner.
With this machine he'd save some time to look out for each pet
Of all the little girls and boys as they so oft forget
To treat their pets most kindly upon the Christmas morn
In memory of the Saviour, who on this day was born.
And likewise all the horses, the cows and pigs and sheep,
For men so seldom think of them when Christmas time they keep;
And even wild, fierce animals, and fishes in the sea,
Should all be made quite happy at Christmas time to be.
"I do not like this plan at all of giving up my sled
And my good faithful reindeer," so good old Santa said.
But Mother Earth she laughed at him and said she would repay
The reindeer, whom she would send home, straight to the milky way.
But Santa was old fashioned and had great fears to fly
Without his sled and reindeer, he'd used in years gone by,
And begged that on his maiden trip these true old friends to take
To help him should the aeroplane prove but a wicked fake.
The laughing Earth she granted him this very small request,
And early on glad Christmas eve (the eve of all most blest),
He started forth upon his trip, did good old Santa, dear,
Guiding his Wright aeroplane with feelings of great fear.
But Mother Earth showed she was wise and knew just what was best
To help the good old tired saint while on his children quest;
And fast the good Wright aeroplane it flew both low and high,
So Santa took the Earth's advice, and though he heaved a sigh,
He dropped the poor old worn out sled as he was passing by,
And people said, who saw it fall, "A METEOR FROM THE SKY!"
Then kissing each good reindeer, he bade them all farewell,
And left them in the MILKY WAY, forever there to dwell.
And you, my little children, who have heard the tiny hoofs
Of the little flying steeds pattering on the roofs,
If you would like to catch a glimpse of Santa's good reindeer,
Then wait until it's dark some night, and when the sky is clear,
You'll see them very plainly in the broad light MILKY WAY,
And there for all the time to come, these steeds will romp and play.
Written for my Godmother, Mrs. Lucy Dillard Tabb Okeson, of Norfolk, Va.
When I was one year old,
So often I've been told,
Dear "Ma Mie" sang to me
This cunning poetry:
"Mousie, pousie, wousie,
In the Boush Street Housie,"
And always from that time
I've loved to make a rhyme,
So if it be my fate
To write a poem great,
Then dearest, sweet "Ma Mie,"
The praise belongs to thee.
Nissen, The Santa Claus of Norway
[Nissen]
(The story told in this rhyme was sent to the author by her globe-trotting friend, Mrs. William Westcott, from Christiana, Norway.)
How glad I am that I was born in this land very dear,
Where children have a Santa Claus of whom they have no fear;
A Santa who is always kind, remembering one and all,
When every year at Christmas time, he pays us all a call.
In far away chill Norway, there NISSEN is the name
Of the Christmas visitor who bears good Santa's fame;
But he's a naughty brownie, so short and very small;
Not a bit like Santa, who is large and fat and tall.
But like our good gift giver, his beard is long and white,
And he wears a coat of furs and many colors bright;
But instead of bringing goodies to good girls and to boys,
Nice new clothes and books and games and lots of wondrous toys.
He expects that all the big folks and also little ones,
Should leave his favorite dishes, such as puddings, cakes and buns,
Outside of every doorway, so that he may eat at will
Of these luscious dainties until he has had his fill.
Then after eating all the cakes his "Tummy-tum" can hold,
He milks the cows and splits the wood (at least so I've been told),
But never thinks to bring nice gifts to little girls and boys,
Whose parents have to trim their trees and buy them all their toys.
Besides, this naughty NISSEN is cross at times and bad,
And does all sorts of horrid tricks, which I think very sad
At Christmas, when we all should be so kind to one another
And treat each person whom we meet as if he were our brother.
But NISSEN steals away the cows and even horses fleet,
From all the people who forget to bake him puddings sweet;
And if above a whisper one should dare to speak or sing
About this cranky fellow, then this evil he will bring
Upon the one who dared to throw, his name upon the breeze,
As from that time the guilty one must sneeze and sneeze and sneeze.
Now in our land we sing loud praise of Santa all the time,
And tell about his goodness great, in prose and jingling rhyme;
And yet it seems the more we sing about the jolly elf,
The more he brings each year to us upon the mantel shelf.
But children in far Norway are better girls and boys
Than we who live in this fair land and think so much of toys,
That we forget about the pets while feeding our own selves,
Like thoughtless, greedy little pigs or naughty selfish elves.
While Norway children in the fall they work to gather corn,
And save it for the birds they feed on every Christmas morn,
So we should follow in their steps and feed the wee birds crumbs,
Before we start to feast ourselves on Christmas sugar plums.
After The Fourth Was Over
(Written for Uncle Lionel Sackville.)
[NISSEN PLAYING TRICKS]
After the Fourth was over, after the play was done,
Poor little John and Willie forgot that they'd had some fun;
John, with his eyes all bandaged, Willie with one eye gone,
Had changed from joyous boys, who rose with the FOURTH'S bright dawn,
Determined to shoot great cannons and frighten some silly girls,
To tie big crackers to dogs' tails, and make the pin wheels whirl.
Tommy with one hand bound up and with a bepowdered face,
Alex with two burned fingers and bones nearly all out of place;
Edgar with one leg broken and poor little Peter with two,
Thought that they'd had enough sorrow to last them a whole life through,
But mother, who heard them crying, while soothing her darlings to sleep,
Was thankful that some of the pieces she yet was able to keep,
And sad for the weeping mother of poor naughty, unlucky Jim,
As the booming JULY CELEBRATION blew the whole head off of him.
A Kitten Gone To Waste
(This story was told to the author by Mrs. William Warren, of Newburgh, Indiana.)
When little Mary Alice was only three years old,
She went upon a visit to Aunt Maria Hold,
A lady who was noted for saving everything,
From gold and silver dollars down to a turkey wing.
She soon taught Mary Alice to never throw away
A single bit of anything which might be used "some day,"
And Alice, who was clever, she learned to put away
All bits of ribbon, cloth and lace, and chicken feathers gay.
Each day she kept quite busy hunting something more
Which she could take to Auntie or add to her own store;
And one day in excitement, she ran in greatest haste,
Crying, "Oh, dear Auntie, sumfins don to waste!
A perfectlee dood kitty is thrown out on the dump
Of the kitchen ash-pile, behind the garden pump!"
The New Baby
(Written for Alfred Greene, Jr., Evansville, Indiana.)
When Alfred saw the baby wee the stork to him had brought,
He stood quite silent for a while and thought and thought and thought
Until he'd solved the problem about the CURIOUS ONE
Who'd traveled far from Storkland, though she couldn't walk nor run.
Then to his mother he declared in accents of dismay,
"Dear mother we must send this kid back to her home to-day,
'Cause someone's cheated us I know and brought us an old child
With bald head and without a tooth and like an Indian wild."
Whenever it begins to cry it almost lifts the roof,
So mother, dear, I think 'tis best for you to keep aloof
From the old ugly Indian thing and send it to Stork-land,
Then you and I'll be glad again and go to hear the band.
Woes Caused By Whooping Bugs
(Written for Cousin Harvey Stoner, Jr.)
If you don't believe that whooping cough causes lots of woe,
Just catch a few of whooping germs and then I guess you'll know
That whoopee-whoop! and wheepee-wheeps! are not one bit of fun,
When you see others playing games where all must jump and run,
For if you jump or if you run, you start the whoop-oop-oop!
And even when you're tired you can't sleep for the croup,
Caused by the awful whooping bugs, which lurk within your throat