The Real Mother Goose

Excerpt

LITTLE BO-PEEP
  Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
    And can't tell where to find them;
  Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
    And bring their tails behind them.

  Little Bo-Peep fell fast asleep,
    And dreamt she heard them bleating;
  But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
    For still they all were fleeting.

  Then up she took her little crook,
    Determined for to find them;
  She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
    For they'd left all their tails behind 'em!

  It happened one day, as Bo-peep did stray
    Unto a meadow hard by--
  There she espied their tails, side by side,
    All hung on a tree to dry.

  She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye,
    And over the hillocks she raced;
  And tried what she could, as a shepherdess should,
    That each tail should be properly placed.


LITTLE BOY BLUE
  Little Boy Blue, come, blow your horn!
  The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.
  Where's the little boy that looks after the sheep?
  Under the haystack, fast asleep!


RAIN

  Rain, rain, go away,
  Come again another day;
  Little Johnny wants to play.

THE CLOCK
There's a neat little clock,--
  In the schoolroom it stands,--
And it points to the time
  With its two little hands.

And may we, like the clock,
  Keep a face clean and bright,
With hands ever ready
  To do what is right.



WINTER
Cold and raw the north wind doth blow,
Bleak in the morning early;
All the hills are covered with snow,
And winter's now come fairly.



FINGERS AND TOES
Every lady in this land
Has twenty nails, upon each hand
Five, and twenty on hands and feet:
All this is true, without deceit.

A SEASONABLE SONG
Piping hot, smoking hot.
    What I've got
    You have not.
Hot gray pease, hot, hot, hot;
Hot gray pease, hot.

DAME TROT AND HER CAT
Dame Trot and her cat
  Led a peaceable life,
When they were not troubled
  With other folks' strife.

When Dame had her dinner
  Pussy would wait,
And was sure to receive
  A nice piece from her plate.


THREE CHILDREN ON THE ICE
Three children sliding on the ice
    Upon a summer's day,
As it fell out, they all fell in,
    The rest they ran away.

Oh, had these children been at school,
    Or sliding on dry ground,
Ten thousand pounds to one penny
    They had not then been drowned.

Ye parents who have children dear,
    And ye, too, who have none,
If you would keep them safe abroad
    Pray keep them safe at home.


CROSS PATCH
Cross patch, draw the latch,
  Sit by the fire and spin;
Take a cup and drink it up,
  Then call your neighbors in.


THE OLD WOMAN UNDER A HILL
There was an old woman
  Lived under a hill;
And if she's not gone,
  She lives there still.


TWEEDLE-DUM AND TWEEDLE-DEE
Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee
    Resolved to have a battle,
For Tweedle-dum said Tweedle-dee
    Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew by a monstrous crow,
    As big as a tar barrel,
Which frightened both the heroes so,
    They quite forgot their quarrel....