1JlS^.M.':' IHH&H^HEwHVD^HS^Hpv '''w^m%^%f^^ f J— 1 ^/ i * fv \ /A, \ ^'.^ r ^lamm mT»\ S^ mm -, c, Pi: ■! ' IH^^H 1 ■•''5 M9:«l •];-';■- :j^im mmm FT^r ■» i^n :'^'A#,MS,«»,,a|l\;M , POPULAR RHYMES AND NUESERY TALES. LATELY PUBLISHED, Royal 18mo, with 38 Designs &y W. B. Scott> Director of the School of Design, Newcastle-on-Tyne, hound in illuminated cloth, As, 6d, THE NURSERY RHYMES OF ENGLAND, COLLECTED CHIEFLY FBOM ORAL TRADITION. BY JAMES ORCHARD HALLIWELL, ESQ. FOURTH EDITION. POPULAE EHYMES AND NURSEEY TALES A SEQUEL TO THE ^urserp Elf)pme£S of (^nglantr* BY JAMES ORCHARD HALLIWELL, ESQ. LONDON: JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 4, OLD COMPTON STREET, SOHO SQUARE. MDCCCXLIX. .■> a.jju<.^ 1"^^^ C. AND J. ADLARD, PRINTERS, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE. Tales of my Nursery ! shall that still loved spot, That window corner, ever be forgot. Where through the woodbine when with upward ray Gleam'dthe last shadow of departing day, Still did I sit, and with unwearied eye. Read while I wept, and scarcely paused to sigh ! In that gay drawer, with fairy fictions stored, When some new tale was added to my hoard. While o'er each page my eager glance was flung, 'Twas but to learn what female fate was sung ; If no sad maid the castle shut from light, » I heeded not the giant and the knight. Sweet Cinderella, even before the ball, How did I love thee — ashes, rags, and all ! What bliss I deem'd it to have stood beside, On every virgin when thy shoe was tried ! How long'd to see thy shape the slipper suit ! But, dearer than the slipper, loved the foot. Anon. 939494 PREFACE. It were greatly to be desired that the instructors of our children could be persuaded how much is lost by rejecting the venerable relics of nursery traditional literature, and substituting in their place the present cold, unimaginative, — I had almost said, unnatural, — prosaic good-boy stories. "In the latter case," ob- serves Sir Walter Scott, " their minds are, as it were, put into the stocks, like their feet at the dancing-school, and the moral always consists in good conduct being crowned with success. Truth is, I would not give one tear shed over Little Red Riding Hood for all the benefit to be derived from a hundred histories of Jemmy Goodchild. I think the selfish tendencies will be soon enough acquired in this arithmetical age ; and that, to make the higher class of character, our own wild fictions —like our own simple music — will have more efiect in awakening the fancy and elevating the disposition, than the colder and more elaborate corapositions of modern authors and composers." Deeply impressed with this truth, and firmly con- Vlll PREFACE. vinced of the '^imagination-nourishing" power of the wild and fanciful lore of the old nursery, I have spared no labour in collecting the fragments which have been traditionally preserved in our provinces. The object is not so much to present to the reader a few literary trifles, though even their curiosity and value in several important discussions must not be despised, as to rescue in order to restore; a solemn recompense due from literature for having driven them away ; and to recall the memory to early associations, in the hope that they who love such recollections will not suffer the objects of them to disappear with the present generation. In arranging the materials gathered for this little volume, I have followed, in some respects, the plan adopted by Mr. Robert Chambers, in his elegant work, the Popular Rhymes of Scotland ; but our vernacular anthology will be found to contain so much which does not occur in any shape in that of the sister country, that the two collections have not as much similarity as might have been expected. Together, they will eventu- ally contain nearly all that is worth preserving of what may be called the natural literature of Great Britain. Mr. Chambers, indeed, may be said to have already ex- hausted the subject for his own land in the last edition of his interesting publication, but no systematic attempt has yet been made in the same direction for this country; and although the curiosity and extent of the relics PREFACE. IX I have been enabled to collect have far exceeded my expectations, I am fully aware how much more can yet be accomplished. An additional number of foreign synonymes could also no doubt be collected; though perhaps more easily by foreigners, for Continental works which contain notices of traditional literature are pro- cured with difficulty in England. The following pages, however, contain sufficient of these to exhibit the striking similarities between rhymes prevalent over England, and others which exist in the North of Europe. The collection of Nursery Tales is not as extensive as could have been wished, but the difficulty of procuring the brief traditional stories which were current some century since, now for the most part only recollected in obscure districts, is so great, that no apology is neces- sary for the apparent deficiency of that section. The few which have been obtained are of considerable curiosity and interest ; and I would venture to suggest to all readers of these pages the great obligation they would confer by the communication of any additions. Stories of this kind are undoubtedly to be obtained from oral tradition, and perhaps some of literary importance may yet be recovered. The compiler's best thanks are due to Captain Henry Smith for the very interesting communication of X .PREFACE. rhymes current in the Isle of Wight ; to Mr. George Stephens for several curious fragments, and valuable references to Swedish songs ; and to many kind cor- respondents who have furnished me with rhymes cur- rent in the various districts in which they reside. It is only by a large provincial correspondence that a collection of this kind can be rendered complete, and the minutest information on any of our popular tales or rhymes, forwarded to the address given below, would be most thankfully and carefully acknowledged. Brixton Hill, Surrey ; April, 1849. XI CONTENTS. PA6£ Nursery Antiquities . . . .1 Fireside Nursery Stories . . . 24 Game-Rhymes ..... 101 A LPTT A ret-Ehymes . . . . . 136 Eiddle-Ehymes ..... 141 Nature-Songs . . . . . 155 Proverb-Ehymes .... 181 Places and Families . . . . 188 Superstition-Ehymes .... 206 Custom-Ehymes . . . . . 230 Nursery-Songs . . . . .258 Erratum. — P. 181, 1. 25, for effi read ean. POPULAR SHYMEk^ AND NURSERY TALES. I._NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. Although the names of Scott and Grimm may be enumerated amongst the writers who have acknowledged the ethnological and philosophic value of traditional nursery literature, it is difficult to impress on the public mind the importance of a subject apparently in the last degree trifling and insignificant, or to induce an opinion that the jingles and simple narratives of a garrulous nurse can possess a worth beyond the circle of their own immediate influence. But they who despise the humbler sources of literary illustration must be content to be told, and hereafter to learn, that traces of the simplest stories and most ab- surd superstitions are often more effectual in proving the affinity of different races, and determining other literary questions, than a host of grander and more imposing monuments. The history of fiction is con- tinually efficacious in discussions of this kind, and the identities of puerile sayings frequently answer a similar purpose. Both, indeed, are of high value. The humble chap-book is found to be descended not only from me- dieval romance, but also not unfrequently from the more ancient mythology, whilst some of our simplest nursery-rhymes are chanted to this day by the children of Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, a fact strikingly exhibiting their great antiquity and remote origin. 1 Z NURSERY ANTIQUITIES, The siibject, lio^veyer curious and interesting, is far : too diffuse to be investigated at any length in a work like the present; aod, indeed, the materials are for the r»iosf part so s,C'ittered and difficult of access, that it would require the research of many years to accomplish the task satisfactorily. I shall, then, content myself with indicating a few of the most striking analogies between the rhymes of foreign countries and those of our own, for this portion of the inquiry has been scarcely alluded to by my predecessors. With regard to the tales, a few notices of their antiquity will be found in the prefaces or notes to the stories themselves, and few readers will require to be informed that Whittington's cat realized his price in India, and that Arlotto related the story long before the Lord Mayor was born ; that Jack the Giant-killer is founded on an Edda ; or that the slipper of Cinderella finds a parallel in the history of the celebrated Rhodope. To enter into these discussions would be merely to repeat an oft- told tale, and I prefer offering a few notes which will be found to possess a little more novelty. Of the many who must recollect the nursery jingles of their youth, how few in number are those who have suspected their immense age, or that they were ever more than unmeaning nonsense; far less that their creation belongs to a period before that at which the authentic records of our history commence. Yet there is no exaggeration in such a statement. We find the same trifles which erewhile lulled or amused the English infant, are current in slightly varied forms throughout the North of Europe ; we know that they have been sung in the northern countries for centuries, and that there has been no modern outlet for their dissemination across the German Ocean. The most natural inference is to adopt the theory of a Teutonic origin, and thus give to every genuine child-rhyme, found current in England and Sweden, an immense antiquity. There is NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. 6 nothing improbable in the supposition, for the preserva- tion of the relics of primitive literature often bears an inverse ratio to their importance. Thus, for example, a well-known English nursery rhyme tells us, — There was an old man, Aud he had a calf. And that's half; He took him out of the stall. And put him on the wall. And that's all. A composition apparently of little interest or curiosity ; but Arwidsson, unacquainted with the English rhyme, produces the following as current in Sweden, Svenska Fornsanger, iii. 488, which bears far too striking a similarity to the above to have had a different origin, — Gubben och gumman hade en kalf, Ocli nu ar visan half ! Och begge sa korde de halfven i vaU, Och nu ar visan all ! We could not, perhaps, select a better instance of this kind of similarity in nepial songs as current throughout the great northern states of Europe than the pretty stanza on the ladybird. Variations of this familiar song belong to the vernacular literature of England, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. The ver- sion at present current in the North of England is as follows : Lady-cow, lady-cow, fly thy way home. Thy house is on fire, thy children ah gone; All but one that ligs under a stone, Ely thee home, lady-cow, ere it be gone !* • In Norfolk the lady-bird is called bump-bee, and the following lines are current : Burnie bee, burnie bee, Tell me when your wedding be. If it be to-morrow day, Take your wings and fly away. 4 NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. These lines are said by children, when they throw the beautiful little insect into the air, to make it take flight. Two Scottish variations are given by Mr. Chambers, p. 1 70. In Germany it is called the Virgin Mary's chafer, Marienwilrmchen, or the May-chafer, Maihdferchen^ or the gold-bird, Guldvogel, In Sweden, gold-hen, gold- cow, or the Virgin Mary's maid. In Denmark, our Lord's hen, or our Lady's hen. We may first mention the German song translated by Taylor as frequently alluded to by writers on this subject. The second verse is the only one preserved in England. Lady-bird ! lady-bird ! pretty one ! stay ! Come sit on my finger, so happy and gay ; With me shall no mischief betide thee ; Xo harm would I do thee, no foeman is near, I only would gaze on thy beauties so dear. Those beautiful wingiets beside thee. Lady-bird ! lady-bird ! fly away home ; Thy house is a-fire, thy children will roam ! List ! list ! to their cry and bewailing ! The pitiless spider is weaving their doom. Then, lady-bird ! lady-bird ! fly away home ! Hark ! hark ! to thy children's bewailing. Ply back again, back again, lady-bird dear ! Thy neighbours will merrily welcome thee here ; With them shah no perils attend thee ! They'll guard thee so safely from danger or care, They'll gaze on thy beautiful wingiets so fair. And comfort, and love, and befriend thee ! In Das Knaben Wunderhorn, Arnim und Brentano, 1808, iii. 82, 83, 90, we have three German songs re- lating to the lady-bird. The first two of these are here given : Ber Guldvogel. Guldvogel, flieg aus, EJieg auf die Stangen, Kasebrode langen ; Mir eins, dir eins, Alle gate G'scUcn eins. NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. *' Gold-bird, get thee gone, fly to thy perch, bring cheese-cakes, one for me, one for thee, and one for all good people." Maikaferchen, Maikaferchen, fliege weg ! Dein Hausgen brennt, Dein Miitterchen flennt, Dein Vater sitzt auf der Schwelle, riieg in Himmel aus der Holle. '' May-bird, May-bird, fly away. Thy house burns, thy mother weeps, thy father stays at his threshold, fly from hell into heaven !" — The third is not so similar to our version. Another German one is given in Kuhn und Schwark, Norddeutsche Sagen, 1848, p. 375 : Maikaferchen, fliege, Dein Yater ist im Kriege, Dein Mutter ist in Pommerland, Pommerland ist abgebrannt ! Maikaferchen, fliege. *' May-bird, fly. Thy father is in the war, thy mother is in Pomerania, Pomerania is burnt! May- bird, fly." — See, also, Erk und Irmer, Die Deutschen Volksheder, Berlin, 1839, iv. 7, Das Maikaferlied. For the two pretty Swedish songs which follow I am in- debted to the MS. of Mr. Stephens. The first is com- mon in the southern parts of that country, the other in the northern. Guld-hona, guld-ko ! Elyg oster, flyg vester, Dit du fljger der bor din alskade ! " Gold-he^i, gold-cow ! fly east, fly west, you will fly where your sweetheart is." Jungfru Marias Nyckelpiga ! Flyg oster, flyg vester, Flyg dit der min karesta bor !* * This is a very remarkable coincidence with an English rhyme : Fly, lady-bird, fly ! North, south, east, or west; Fly to the pretty girl That I love best. NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. **Fly, our holy Virgin's bower-maid! fly east, fly west, fly where my loved-one dwelleth." In Denmark they sing (Thiele, iii. 134) : Ely, %, our Lord's own hen ! To-morrow the weather fair will be. And eke the next day too * Accumulative tales are of very high antiquity. The original of *' the House that Jack Built" is well known to be an old Hebrew hymn in Sepher Haggadah. It is also found in Danish, but in a somewhat shorter form ; (See Thiele, Danske Folkesagn, II. iii. 146, Ber har du det Huus S07n Jacob hygde ;) and the English version is probably very old, as may be inferred from the mention of "the priest all shaven and shorn." A version of the old woman and her sixpence occurs in the same collec- tion, II. iv. 161, Konen och Grisen Fick, the old wife and her piggy Fick, — " There was once upon a time an old woman who had a little pig hight Fick, who would never go home late in the evening. So the old woman said to her stick : ' Stick, beat Fick, I say ! Piggie v/ill not go home to-day !' " This chant-tale is also common in Sweden. One copy has been printed by N. Lilja in his Violen en Samling Jullekar, Barnsanger och Sagor, i. 20, Gossen och GetenN'dppa, the boy and the goat Neppa, — "There was once a yeoman who had a goat called Neppa, but Neppa would never go home from the field. The yeo- man was therefore forced to promise his daughter in marriage to whoever could get Neppa home. Many tried their fortune in vain, but at last a sharp boy offered to ward the goat. All the next day he followed Neppa, and when evening came, he said, ' Now will we * The lady-bird, observes Mr. Chambers, is always connected with fine weather in Germany and the north. NURSERY ANTiaUITIES. 7 homeward go V but Neppa answered, ' Pluck me a tuft or so/ " &c. The story is conducted in an exactly similar manner in which the denouement is brought about in the English tale.* The well-known song of "There was a lady lov'd a swine," is found in an unpublished play of the time of Charles I. in the Bodleian Library, MS, BodL 30 ; There was a lady lov'd a hogge ; Hony, quoth shee, Woo't thou lie with me to-night ? Ugh, quoth hee. A similar song is current in Sweden, as we learn from Arwidsson, Svenska Fornsanger, iii. 482, who gives a version in which an old woman, who had no children, took a little foal, which she called Longshanks, and rocked and nursed it as if it had been her own child ;t Gumman ville vagga Och inga barn hade hon ; Da tog hon in Eolmigen sin, Och lade den i vaggan sin. Vyssa, vyssa, langskanken nmi, Langa ben har du ; Lefver du till sommaren, Blir du lik far din. Another paradoxical song-tale, respecting the old woman who went to market, and had her petticoats cut off at her knees " by a pedlar whose name was Stout," * Two other variations occur in Arwidsson, Svenska Fornsanger, 1842, iii. 387-8, and Mr. Stephens tells me he has a MS. Swedish copy entitled the Schoolboy and the Birch. It is also well known in Alsace, and is printed in that dialect in Stober's Elsassisches Volksbiichlein, 1842, pp. 93-5. Compare, also, Kuhn und Schwark, Norddeutsche Sagen, Marchen und Gebrauche, 1848, p. 358, " Diefra, dos hippel un dos hindel." t It is still more similar to a pretty little song in Chambers, p. 188, com- mencing, *' There was a miller's dochter." 8 NURSERY ANTiaUITTES. is found in some sliape or other in most countries in Europe. A Norwegian version is given by Asbjornsen og Moe, Norske Folkeeventyr, 1843, and, if I recollect rightly, it is also found in Grimm. The riddle-rhyme of *^Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall" is, in one form or other, a favorite throughout Europe. A curious Danish version is given by Thiele, iii. 148 : Lille Trnie Laae paa Hylde ; Lille TrHle Taldt ned af Hylde. Ingen Mand I hele Land Lille Trille curere kan. Which may be thus translated : Little Trille Lay on a shelf : Little Trille Thence pitch'd himself: Not all the men In our land, I ken, Can put Little Trille right again. And Mr. Stephens has preserved two copies in his MS. Swedish collections. The first is from the pro- vince of Upland : TliiUe Lille Satt pa take' ; Thille LHle Trilla'ner; Ingen lakare i hela verlden Thille Lille laga kan. Thille Lille On the roof-tree sat ; Thille Lille Down fell flat ; Never a leech the world can show That Thille Lille can heal, I trow. Another from the province of Smaland : NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. 9 Lille Bulle Trilla' ner a skulle ; Ingen man i detta Ian' Lille Bulle laga kan. Down on the shed Lille Bulle rolled ; Never a man in all this land Lille Bulle helpen can. It will now only be necessary to refer to the similari- ties pointed out in other parts of this work, to convince the reader that, at all events, a very fair case is made out for the truth of the positions we have contended for, if, indeed, sufficient evidence of their absolute truth is not adduced. They who are accustomed to researches of this kind, are too well aware of the facility with which the most plausible theories are frequently nullified by subsequent discovery ; but there appears in the pre- sent case to be numerous conditions insoluble by any other supposition than that of a common origin, and we are therefore fully justified in adopting it as proved. Turning to the nursery rhymes of our own country, it will tend materially to strengthen the results to which we have arrived, if we succeed in proving their antiquity in this island. We shall be enabled to do so satisfactorily, and to show that they are not the modern nonsense some folks may pronounce them to be. They illustrate the history and manners of the people for centuries. Here, for instance, is a relic in the form of a nursery rhyme, but in reality part of a political song, referring to the rebellious times of Richard the Second.* My father he died, I cannot teU how. But he left me six horses to drive out my plough 1 With a wimmy lo ! wommy lo ! Jack Straw ^ hlazey-hoys ! Wimmy lo ! wommy lo ! wob, wob, wob ! • I am here, and in a few other cases, quoting from myself. It may be necessary to say so, for my former collections on this subject have been appropriated— " convey, the wise it call" — in a work by a learned Doctor, the preface to which is an amusing instance of plagiarism. 10 NURSERY ANTiaUITIES. An infant of the nineteenth century recalling our recol- lection to Jack Straw and his " blazey-boys !" Far better this than teaching history with notes " suited to the capacity of the youngest." Another refers to Joanna of Castile, who visited the court of Henry the Seventh in 1506: I had a little nut-tree, nothing would it bear But a golden nutmeg and a silver pear ; The King of Spain's daughter came to visit me. And all for the sake of my little nut-tree. We have distinct evidence that the well-known rhyme,* The King of France went up the hill, With twenty thousand men : The King of France came down the hill, And ne'er went up again — was composed before 1588. It occurs in an old tract called Pigges Corantoe, 1642, where it is entitled " Old Tarlton's Song," referring to Tarlton the jester, who died in 1588. The following one belongs to the seventeenth century : As I was going by Charing Cross, I saw a black man upon a black horse ; They told me it was King Charles the First ; Oh dear, my heart was ready to burst ! Political nursery-rhymes, or rather political rhymes of a jingling character, which, losing their original ap- plication, are preserved only in the nursery, were pro- bably common in the seventeenth century. The two just quoted have evidently an historical application. The manuscript miscellanies of the time of James I. and Charles I. contain several copies of literal rhymes not very unlike "A, B, C, tumble-down D." In the reign ♦ An early variation occurs in MS. Sloane 1489 : The king of France, and four thousand men. They drew their swords, and put them up again. NURSEEY ANTIQUITIES. 11 of Charles 11. political pasquinades constantly partook of the genuine nursery character. We may select the following example, of course put into the mouth of that sovereign, preserved in MS. Douce 357, f. 124, in the Bodleian Library : See-saw, sack-a-day; Monmouth is a pretie boy, Richmond is another, Grafton is my onely joy. And why should I these three destroy To please a pious brother ? *' What is the rhyme for porringer ?" was written on occasion of the marriage of Mary, the daughter of James Duke of York, afterwards James II., with the young Prince of Orange : and the following alludes to William III. and George Prince of Denmark : Wilham and Mary, George and Anne,' Pour such children had never a man : They put their father to flight and shame. And call'd their brother a shocking bad name. Another nursery song on King William is not yet obsolete, but its application is not generally known My authority is the title of it in MS. Harl. 7316 : As I walk'd by myself. And talked to myself. Myself said unto me. Look to thyself, Take care of thyself, Por nobody cares for thee. I answer' d myself. And said to myself In the self-same repartee, Look to thyself, Or not look to thyself. The seK-same thing will be. To this class of rhymes I may add the following 12 NUKSERY ANTIQUITIES. on Dr. Sacheverel, which was obtained from oral tra- dition : Doctor Sacheverel Did very well, But Jacky Dawbin Gave him a warning. When there are no allusions to guide us, it is only by accident that we can hope to test the history and an- tiquity of these kind of scraps, but we have no doubt whatever that many of them are centuries old. The. following has been traced to the time of Henry VL, a singular doggerel, the joke of which consists in saying it so quickly that it cannot be told whether it is English or gibberish : In fir tar is. In oak none is, In mud eel is. In clay none is. Goat eat ivy. Mare eat oats. " Multiplication is vexation," a painful reality to schoolboys, was found a few years ago in a manuscript dated 1570; and the memorial lines, "Thirty days hath September," occur in the Return from Parnassus, an old play printed in 1606. Our own reminiscences of such matters, and those of Shakespeare, may thus have been identical ! "To market, to market, to buy a plum-bun," is partially quoted in Florio's New World of Words, 1611, in V. 'Abomba.' The old song of the " Carrion Crow sat on an Oak," was discovered by me in MS. Sloane 1489, of the time of Charles I., but under a different form : Hie, hoc, the carrion crow, Por I have shot something too low : I have quite missed my mark. And shot the poor sow to the heart ; Wife, bring treacle in a spoon. Or else the poor sow's heart will down. NURSERY ANTiaUITIES. 13 " Sing a song of sixpence" is quoted by Beaumont and Fletcher. ''Buz, quoth the blue fly," which is printed in the nursery halfpenny books, belongs to Ben Jonson's Masque of Oberon ; the old ditty of " Three Blind Mice" is found in the curious music book entitled Deuteromelia, or the Second Part of Musicke's Melodic, 1609 ; and the song, "When I was a little girl, I wash'd my mammy's dishes," is givenby Aubrey in MS. Lansd. 231 . "A swarm of bees in May," is quoted by Miege, 1687. And so on of others, fragments of old catches and popular songs being constantly traced in the appa- rently unmeaning rhymes of the nursery. Most of us have heard in time past the school address to a story-teller : Liar, liar, lick dish, Turn about the candlestick. Not very important lines, one would imagine, but they explain a passage in Chettle's play of the Tragedy of Hoffman, or a Revenge for a Father, 4to. Lond. 1631, which would be partially inexplicable without such assistance : Lor. By heaven ! it seemes hee did, but all was vaine ; The flinty roekes had cut his tender scull, And the rough water wash't away his raine. Luc. Lyer, Iyer, Hcke dish ! The intention of the last speaker is sufl&ciently intelli- gible, but a future editor, anxious to investigate his author minutely, might search in vain for an explana- tion of licke dish. Another instance * of the antiquity of children's rhymes I met with lately at Stratford-on- Avon, in a MS. of the seventeenth century, in the col- lection of the late Captain James Saunders, where, amongst common-place memoranda on more serious * A dance called Hey, diddle, diddle, is mentioned in the play of Kin Cambises, written about 1561 , and the several rhymes commencing with the words may have been original adaptations to that dance-tune. 2 14 NURSERY ANTiaUITIES. subjects, written about the year 1630, occurred a ver- sion of one of our most favorite nursery songs : I had a little bonny nagg, His name was Dapple Gray ; And he would bring me to an ale-house A mile out of my way. ** Three children sliding on the ice" is founded on a metrical tale published at the end of a translation of Ovid de Arte Amandi, 1662.* The lines. There was an old woman Liv'd under a hill. And if she ben't gone, She lives there still- form part of an old catch, printed in the Academy of Complements, ed. 1714, p. 108. The same volume (p. 140) contains the original words to another catch, which has been corrupted in its passage to the nursery: There was an old man had three sons. Had three sons, had three sons ; There was an old man had three sons, Jeffery, James, and Jack. Jeffery was hang'd and James was drown' d. And Jack was lost, that he could not be found. And the old man fell into a swoon, Tor want of a cup of sack ! It is not improbable that Shakespeare, who has alluded so much and so intricately to the vernacular rural litera- ture of his day, has more notices of nursery-rhymes and tales than research has hitherto elicited. I am only acquainted with one reference to the former. '^ Pillicock sat on Pillicock hill," which is quoted by Edgar in King Lear, iii. 4, and is found in Gammer Gur ton's Garland, and in most modern collections of English nursery-rhymes. The secret meaning is not very deli- cate, nor is it necessary to enter into any explanation * See the whole poem in my Nursery Rhymes of England, ed. 1842, u 19. NUESERY ANTIQUITIES. 15 on the subject. It may, however, be worthy of remark, that the term pillicock is found in a manuscript (Harl. 913) in the British Museum of the thirteenth century. English children accompanied their amusements with trivial verses from a very early period, but as it is only by accident that any allusions to them have been made, it is difficult to sustain the fact by many examples. The Nomenclator or Remembrancer of Adrianus Junius, translated by Higins, and edited by Fleming, 8vo. 1585, contains a few notices of this kind ; p. 298, "/3a<7t\tv5a, the playe called one penie, one penie, come after me ; X^Tpivha, the play called selling of peares, or how many plums for a penie; p. 299, xo*»'o^t^*^^"j a kinde of playe called Clowt, clowt. To beare about, or my hen hath layd ; iTroorpafctor/ios, a kind of sport or play with an oister shell or a stone throwne into the water, and making circles yer it sinke, &c. ; it is called, A ducke and a drake. And a halfe penie cake." This last notice is particularly curious, for similar verses are used by boys at the present day at the game of water- skimming. The amusement itself is very ancient, and a description of it may be seen in Minucius Felix, Lugd. Bat. 1652, p. 3. There cannot be a doubt but that many of the inexplicable nonsense-rhymes of our nursery belonged to antique recreations, but it is very seldom their original application can be recovered. The well- known doggerel respecting the tailor of Bicester may be mentioned as a remarkable instance of this, for it is one of the most common nursery-rhymes of the present day, and Aubrey, MS. Lansd. 231, writing in the latter part of the seventeenth century, preserved it as part of the formula of a game called leap-candle, " The young girls in and about Oxford have a sport called Leap- Candle, for which they set a candle in the middle of the 16 NUBSEEY ANTIQUITIES. room in a candlestick, and then draw up their coats into the form of breaches, and dance over the candle back and forth, with these words : The tailor of Biciter, He has but one eye, He cannot cut a pair of green galagaskins. If he were to die. This sport in other parts is called Dancing the Candle Rush." It maybe necessary to observe that galagaskins were wide loose trousers. The rhyme of Jack Horner has been stated to be a satire on the Puritanical aversion to Christmas pies and suchlike abominations. It forms part of a metrical chap-book history, founded on the same story as the Friar and the Boy, entitled " The Pleasant History of Jack Horner, containing his witty tricks, and pleasant pranks, which he played from his youth to his riper years : right pleasant and delightful for winter and summer's recreation," embellished with frightful wood- cuts, which have not much connexion with the tale. The pleasant history commences as follows : Jack Horner was a pretty lad. Near London he did dwell, His father's heart he made full glad. His mother lov'd him well. While little Jack was sweet and young, If he by chance should cry. His mother pretty sonnets sung. With a lul-la-ba-by. With such a dainty curious tone, As Jack sat on her knee. So that, e'er he could go alone. He sung as well as she. A pretty boy of curious wit. All people spoke his praise. And in the corner would he sit In Christmas holy days. When friends they did together meet. To pass away the time — NURSEEY ANTIQUITIES. 17 Why, little Jack, he sure would eat His Christmas pie in rhyme. And said, Jack Horner, in the comer, Eats good Christmas pie. And with his thumbs pulls out the plumbs, And said. Good boy am I ! Here we have an important discovery ! Who before suspected that the nursery-rhyme was written by Jack Horner himself? Few children's rhymes are more common than those relating to Jack Sprat and his wife, ** Jack Sprat could eat no fat," &c. ; but it is little thought they have been current for two centuries. Such, however, is the fact, and when Howell published his collection of Proverbs in 1659, p. 20, the story related to no less exalted a personage than an archdeacon : Archdeacon Pratt would eat no fatt. His wife would eat no lean ; 'Twixt Archdeacon Pratt and Joan his wife. The meat was eat up clean. On the same page of this collection we find the com- mencement of the rigmarole, " A man of words and not of deeds," which in the next century was converted into a burlesque song on the battle of Culloden ! * * The following nursery game, played by two girls, one personating the mistress and the other a servant was obtained from Yorkshire, and may be interpreted as a dialogue between a lady and her Jacobite maid : jMdy, Jenny, come here ! So I hear you have been to see that man. Maid* What man, madam ? iMdy, Why, the handsome man. Jtfaid. Why, madam, as I was a-passing by, Thinking no harm, no not in the least, not I, I did go in. But had no ill intention in the thing. For, as folks say, a cat may look at a king. Lady. A king do you call him ? You rebellious slut ! Maid. I did not call him so, dear lady, but — Lady. But me none of your buttings, for not another day Shall any rebel in my service stay ; I owe you twenty shillings — there's a guinea ! Go, pack your clothes, and get about your business, Jenny. 2§ 18 NURSERY ANTiaUITIES. Double Dee Double Day, Set a garden full of seeds ; When the seeds began to grow. It's like a garden full of snow. When the snow began to melt, Like a ship without a belt. When the ship began to sail. Like a bird without a tail. When the bird began to fly, Like an eagle in the sky. When the sky began to roar. Like a lion at the door. When the door began to crack, Like a stick laid o'er my back. When my back began to smart. Like a penknife in my heart. When my heart began to bleed, Like a needleful of thread. When the thread began to rot. Like a turnip in the pot. When the pot began to boil. Like a bottle full of oil. When the oil began to settle. Like our Geordies bloody battle. The earliest copy of the saying, " A man of words and not of deeds," I have hitherto met with, occurs in MS. Harl. 1927, of the time of James L Another version, written towards the close of the seventeenth century, but unfitted for publication, is preserved on the last leaf of MS. Harl. 6580. Many of the metrical nonsense-riddles of the nursery are of considerable antiquity. A collection of conun- drums formed early in the seventeenth century by Randle Holmes, the Chester antiquary, and now pre- served in MS. Harl. 1962, contains several which have been traditionally remembered up to the present day. Thus we find versions of " Little Nancy Etticoat in a NURSERY ANTiaUlTIES. 19 white petticoat," "Two legs sat upon three legs," "As round as an apple," and others.* During the latter portion of the seventeenth century numerous songs and games were introduced which were long remembered in the English nursery. " Questions and Commands" was a common game, played under various systems of representation. One boy would enact king, and the subjects would give burlesque an- swers, e. g. : K. King I am ! S. I am your man. K. What service will you do ? S. The best and worst, and all I can ! A clever writer in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1 738, says this was played during the Commonwealth in ridi- cule of sovereignty ! He humorously adds, continually quoting games then current: "During all Oliver's time, the chief diversion was, ' The parson hath lost his fud- dling-cap,' which needs no explanation. At the Resto- ration succeeded love-games, as ' 1 love my love with an A,' a * Flower and a lady,' and * I am a lusty wooer ;' changed in the latter end of this reign, as well as all King James II.' s, to ' I am come to torment you.' At the Revolution, when all people recovered their hberty, the children played promiscuously at what game they liked best. The most favorite one, however, was ' Puss in the corner.' " The same writer also mentions the game of " I am a Spanish merchant." The following nursery-rhyme is quoted in Parkin's Reply to Dr. Stukeley's second number of the Origines Roystonianse, 4to. 1748, p. 6, but I am not aware that it is still current : — • A vast number of these kind of rhymes have become obsolete, and old manuscripts contain many not very intelligible. Take the following as a specimen ; Ruste duste tarbotell, Bagpipelorum hybattell. — MS. Harl. 7332, xvij. cent^ 20 NURSEUY ANTiaUITIES. Peter White will ne'er go right, And would you know the reason why ? He follows his nose where'er he goes, And that stands all awry. The tale of *^01d Mother Hubbard " is undoubtedly of some antiquity, were we merely to judge of the rhyme of laughing to coffin in the third verse.* " There was an old woman toss'd up in a blanket" is supposed to be the original song of " Lilliburlero, or Old Woman, whither so high ?" the tune to which was published in 1678.f *'Come, drink old ale with me," a nursery catch, with an improper meaning now lost, is found in MS. Harl. 7332, of the seventeenth century. " Round about, round about, magotty-pie," is probably as old, magot-pie being an obsolete term for a magpie. For a similar reason, the antiquity of " Here am I, little Jump- ing Joan," may be inferred. Jumping Joan was the cant term for a lady of little reputation. J The well- known riddle, " As I was going to St. Ives," occurs in MS. Harl. 7316, of the early part of the last century ; and the following extract from Poor Robin's Almanack for 1693, may furnish us with the original of the cele- brated ballad on Tom of Ishngton, though the latter buried his troublesome wife on Sunday : " How one saw a lady on the Saturday, married her on the Sunday, she was brought to bed on the Monday, the child christned on the Tuesday, it died on the Wednesday, was buried on the Thursday, the bride's portion was paid on the Friday, and the bridegroom ran clear away on the Saturday!" The antiquity of a rhyme is not unfrequently deter- * The first three verses are all the origlnaL The rest is modern, and was added when Mother Hubbard was the first of a series of eighteen-penny books published by Harris. t Chappeirs National Airs, p. 89. t Beaumont and Fletcher, ed. Dyce, viii. 176. The tune of Jumping Joan is mentioned in MS. Harl. 7316, p. G7. NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. 21 mined by the use of an obsolete expression. Tims it may be safely concluded that the common nursery ad- dress to the white moth is no modern composition, from the use of the term dustipoll, a very old nickname for a miller, which has long fallen into disuse : Millery, millery, dustipoll, How many sacks have you stole ? Pour and twenty and a peck : Hang the miller up by his neck ! The expression is used by Robin Goodfellow in the old play of Grim, the Collier of Croydon, first printed in 1662, but written considerably before that period : Now, miller, miller, dustipole, ril clapper-claw your jobbernole !* A very curious ballad, written about the year 1 720, in the possession of Mr. Crofton Croker, establishes the antiquity of the rhymes of *^ Jack-a-Dandy," "Boys and girls come out to play," "Tom Tidler's on the Friar's ground," "London bridge is broken down," "Who comes here, a grenadier," and " See, saw, sacradown," besides mentioning others we have before alluded to. The ballad is entitled, "Namby Pamby, or a Panegyric on the New Versification, addressed to A. F., Esq." Nanty Panty, Jack-a-Dandy, Stole a piece of sugar-candy. From the grocer's shoppy shop. And away did hoppy hop. In the course of the ballad, the writer thus introduces the titles of the nursery rhymes, — Namby Pamby's double mUd, Once a man, and twice a child ; * " Oh, madam, I will give you the keys of Canterbury," must be a very ancient song, as it mentions chopines, or high corlc shoes, and appears, from another passage, to have been written before the invention of bell- pulls. The obsolete term delve» to dig, exhibits the antiquity of the rhyme «*One, two, buckle my shoe." Minikin occurs in a rhyme printed in the Nursery Rhymes of England, p. 145 ; coif, ibid. p. 150 ; snaps, small frag- ments, ibid. p. 190 ; moppet ^ a little pet, ibid. p. 193, (Sec. 22 NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. To his hanging sleeves restor'd, Now he fools it like a lord ; Now he pumps his little wits All by little tiny bits. Now, methinks, I hear him say, Boys and girls, come out to play. Moon do's shine as bright as day : Now my Nam by Pamby's* found Sitting on the Friar's ground. Picking silver, picking gold, — Namby Pamby's never old : Bally-cally they begin, Namby Pamby still keeps in. Namby Pamby is no clown — London Bridge is broken down ; Now he courts the gay ladee. Dancing o'er the Lady Lee : Now he sings of Lickspit Liar, Burning in the brimstone fire ; Lyar, lyar, Lickspit, lick. Turn about the candlestick. Now he sings of Jacky Horner, Sitting in the chimney corner, Eating of a Christmas pie, Putting in his thumb, oh ! fie ! Putting in, oh 1 fie, his thumb. Pulling out, oh ! strange, a plumb ! Now he acts the grenadier. Calling for a pot of beer : Where's his money ? He's forgot — Get him gone, a Sunken sot ! Now on cock-horse does he ride. And anon on timber stride, Se and saw, and sack'ry down, London is a gallant town 1 This ballad is a very important illustration of the history of these puerile rhymes, for it establishes the » Namby Famby is said to have been a nickname for Ambrose Phillips. Another ballad, written about the same time as the above, alludes to the rhyme of " Goosy Goosy, Gander." NURSERY ANTIQUITIES. 23 fact that some we might aptly consider modern are at least more than a century old ; and who would have thought such nonsense as, Who comes here ? A grenadier ! What do you want ? A pot of beer ! Where's your money ? I've forgot ! Get you gone, You drunken sot ! could have descended in all its purity for several gene- rations, even although it really may have a deep meaning and an unexceptionable moral ? Having thus, I trust, shown that the nursery has an archaeology, the study of which may eventually lead to important results, the jingles and songs of our child- hood are defended from the imputation of exclusive frivolity. We may hope that, henceforth, those who have the opportunity will not consider it a derogatory task to add to these memorials. But they must hasten to the rescue. The antiquities of the people are rapidly disappearing before the spread of education ; and before many years have elapsed, they will be lost, or recorded only in the collections of the antiquary, perhaps re- quiring evidence that they ever existed. This is the latest period at which there is a chance of our arresting their disappearance. If, unfortunately, the most valuable relics of this kind are wholly lost, many, doubtlessly, remain in the remote districts sufficiently curious to reward the collector ; and it is to be hoped they will not be allowed to share the fate of Wade and his boat Guingelot. 24 II.— FIRESIDE NURSERY STORIES. The efforts of modern romance are so greatly supe- rior to the best fictions of a former age, that old wives' tales are not so readily tolerated as they were in times past. We question whether any one in these days, save a very grave antiquary, could read two chapters of the Morte Arthure without a yawn. Let us, then, turn to that simpler class of narratives which bears the same relation to novels that rural ballads do to the poem ; and ascertain whether the wild interest which, in the primitive tales erewhile taught by nurse, first awakened our imagination, can be so reflected as to render their resuscitation agreeable. We rely a good deal for the success of the experiment on the power of association ; for though these inventions may, in their character, be suited to the dawn of intellect, they not infrequently bear the impress of creative fancy, and their imperceptible influence over the mind does not always evaporate at a later age. Few persons, indeed, there are, even amongst those who aflect to be insignificantly touched by the imagi- nation, who can be recalled to the stories and carols that charmed them in their childhood wholly without emotion. An afl'ectation of indifference in such matters is, of course, not unusual, for most thoughts springing from early associations, and those on which so many minds love to dwell, may not be indiscriminately di- vulged. It is impossible they should be generally ap- preciated or understood. Most of us, however, are liable to be occasionally touched by allusions breathing of happy days, bearing our memories downward to be- hold the shadows of joys that have long passed away like a dream. They now serve only " to mellow our occasions," like that "old and antique song" which relieved the passion of the Duke Orsino. FTRESTDE STORIES. 25 TEENY-TINY.^ Once upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman lived in a teeny-tiny house in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put on her teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take a teeny- tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny way, she came to a teeny-tiny gate ; so the teeny -tiny woman opened the teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard. And when this teeny- tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to her teeny-tiny self, ''This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny soup for my teeny-tiny supper." So the teeny-tiny woman put the teeny-tiny bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her teeny-tiny house. Now when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house, she was a teeny-tiny tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard- And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which said, "Give me my bone!'* And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny- tiny frightened, so she hid her teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes, and went to sleep again. And when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny voice again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder, "Give me my bone!" This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes. And when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny * This simple tale seldom fails to rivet the attention of children, especially if well told. The last two words should be said loudly with a start. It was obtained from oral tradition, and has not, I believe, been printed. 3 26 FIRESIDE STORIES. time, the teeny-tiny voice from the teeny^iny cupboard said again a teeny-tiny louder, " Give me my bone !" And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in her loudest teeny-tiny voice, " Take it !" THE STORY OF MR. VINEGAR.* Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar lived in a vinegar bottle. Now one day, when Mr. Vinegar was from home, Mrs. Vinegar, who was a very good housewife, was busily sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom brought the whole house clitter-clatter, clitter- clatter, about her ears. In a paroxysm of grief she rushed forth to meet her husband. On seeing him she exclaimed, *'0h, Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar, we are ruined, we are ruined : I have knocked the house down, and it is all to pieces 1" Mr. Vinegar then said, "My dear, let us see what can be done. Here is the door ; I will take it on my back, and we will go forth to seek our fortune." They walked all that day, and at night- fall entered a thick forest. They were both excessively tired, and Mr. Vinegar said, " My love, I will climb up into a tree, drag up the door, and you shall follow." He accordingly did so, and they both stretched their weary limbs on the door, and fell fast asleep. In the middle of the night Mr. Vinegar was disturbed by the sound of voices beneath, and to his inexpressible dismay perceived that a party of thieves were met to divide their booty. "Here, Jack," said one, "here's five pounds for you ; here. Bill, here's ten pounds for you ; here, Bob, here's three pounds for you." Mr. Vinegar could listen no longer ; his terror was so intense that * This story was obtained from oral tradition in the West of England. It is undoubtedly a variation of the '♦ Hans im Gliick" of Grimm, which is current in Germany. FIKESIDE STORIES. 27 he trembled most violently, and shook down the door on their heads. Away scamperd the thieves, but Mr. Vinegar dared not quit his retreat till broad daylight. He then scrambled out of the tree, and went to lift up the door. What did he behold but a number of golden guineas! *' Come down, Mrs. Vinegar," he cried, " come down, I say; our fortune's made, our fortune's made! come down, I say." Mrs. Vinegar got down as fast as she could, and saw the money with equal delight. ** Now, my dear," said she, *^ I'll tell you what you shall do. There is a fair at the neighbouring town ; you shall take these forty guineas and buy a cow. I can make butter and cheese, which you shall sell at market, and we shall then be able to live very comfortably." Mr. Vinegar joyfully assents, takes the money, and goes off to the fair. When he arrived, he walked up and down, and at length saw a beautiful red cow. It was an excellent milker, and perfect in every respect. Oh ! thought Mr. Vinegar, if I had but that cow I should be the happiest man alive ; so he ojffers the forty guineas for the cow, and the owner declaring that, as he was a friend, he'd oblige him, the bargain was made. Proud of his purchase, he drove the cow backwards and forwards to show it. By-and-by he saw a man playing the bagpipes, Tweedle dum, tweedle dee ; the children followed him about, and he appeared to be pocketing money on all sides. Well, thought Mr. Vinegar, if I had but that beautiful instrument I should be the happiest man alive — my fortune would be made. So he went up to the man, " Friend," says he, " what a beautiful instrument that is, and what a deal of money you must make." " Why, yes," said the man, " I make a great deal of money, to be sure, and it is a wonderful instrument." " Oh !" cried Mr. Vinegar, " how I should like to possess it !" "Well," said the man, "as you are a friend, I don't much mind parting with it ; you shall have it for that red cow." "Done," said the delighted Mr. Vinegar ; so 28 FIRESIDE STORIES. the beautiful red cow was given for the bagpipes. He walked up and down with his purchase, but in vain he attempted to play a tune, and instead of pocketing pence, the boys followed him hooting, laughing, and pelting. Poor Mr. Vinegar, his fingers grew very cold, and, heartily ashamed and mortified, he was leaving the town, when he met a man with a fine thick pair of gloves. '* Oh, my fingers are so very cold," said Mr. Vinegar to himself ; " if I had but those beautiful gloves I should be the happiest man alive." He went up,to the man, and said to him, " Friend, you seem to have a capital pair of gloves there." "Yes, truly," cried the man ; "and my hands are as warm as possible this cold November day." " Well," said Mr. Vinegar, " I should like to have them." " What will you give ?" said the man ; "as you are a friend, I don't much mind letting you have them for those bagpipes." "Done," cried Mr. Vinegar. He put on the gloves, and felt perfectly happy as he trudged homewards. At last he grew very tired, when he saw a man coming towards him with a good stout stick in his hand. " Oh," said Mr. Vinegar, " that I had but that stick ! I should then be the happiest man alive." He accosted the man — " Friend ! what a rare good stick you have got." " Yes," said the man, " I have used it for many a long mile, and a good friend it has been, but if you have a fancy for it, as you are a friend, I don't mind giving it to you for that pair of gloves." Mr. Vinegar's hands were so warm, and his legs so tired, that he gladly exchanged. As he drew near to the wood where he had left his wife, he heard a parrot on a tree calling out his name — " Mr. Vinegar, you fooHsh man, you blockhead, you simpleton ; you went to the fair, and laid out all your money in buying a cow ; not content with that, you changed it for bag- pipes, on which you could not play, and which were not worth one tenth of the money. You fool, you — you had no sooner got the bagpipes than you changed FIRESIDE STORIES. 29 them for the gloves, which were not worth one quarter of the money ; and when you had got the gloves, you changed them for a poor miserable stick ; and now for your forty guineas, cow, bagpipes, and gloves, you have nothing to show but that poor miserable stick, which you might have cut in any hedge." On this the bird laughed immoderately, and Mr. Vinegar, falling into a violent rage, threw the stick at its head. The stick lodged in the tree, and he returned to his wife without money, cow, bagpipes, gloves, or stick, and she instantly gave him such a sound cudgelling that she almost broke every bone in his skin. THE STORY OF CHICKEN-LICKEN.* As Chicken-licken went one day to the wood, an acorn fell upon her poor bald pate, and she thought the sky had fallen. So she said she would go and tell the king that the sky had fallen. So chicken-licken turned back, and met Hen-len. " Well, hen-len, where are you going?" And hen-len said, "Fm going to the wood for some meat." And chicken-licken said, " Oh ! hen-len, don*t go, for I was going, and the sky fell upon my poor bald pate, and I'm going to tell the king." So hen-len turned back with chicken-Ucken, and met Cock-lock. " Oh ! cock-lock, where are you going ?" And cock-lock said, "I'm going to the wood for some meat." Then hen-len said, "Oh! cock-lock, don't go, for I was going, and I met chicken-licken, and chicken- licken had been at the wood, and the sky had fallen on her poor bald pate, and we are going to tell the king." So cock-lock turned back, and met Duck-luck. " Well, duck-luck, where are you going ?" And duck-luck said, " I'm going to the wood for some meat." Then cock- lock said, " Oh ! duck-luck, don't go, for I was going, • A shorter and very different version of this is given by Mr. Chambers, p. 211, 3§ 30 FIRESIDE STORIES. and I met hen-len, and hen-len met chicken-licken, and chicken-licken had been at the wood, and the sky had fallen on her poor bald pate, and we are going to tell the king." So duck-luck turned back, and met Drake-lake. '' Well, drake-lake, where are you going?" And drake- lake said, *' I'm going to the wood for some meat." Then duck-luck said, '' Oh ! drake-lake, don't go, for I was going, and I met cock-lock, and cock-lock met hen-len, and hen-len met chicken-licken, and chicken- licken had been at the wood, and the sky had fallen on her poor bald pate, and we are going to tell the king." So drake-lake turned back, and met Goose-loose. "Well, goose-loose, where are you going?" And goose- loose said, " I'm going to the wood for some meat." Then drake-lake said, '* Oh ! goose-loose, don't go, for I was going, and I met dack-luck, and duck-luck met cock-lock, and cock-lock met hen-len, and hen-len met chicken-licken, and chicken-licken had been at the wood, and the sky had fallen on her poor bald pate, and we are going to tell the king." So goose-loose turned back, and met Gander-lander. "Well, gander-lander, where are you going?" And gander-lander said, " I'm going to the wood for some meat." Then goose-loose said, " Oh 1 gander-lander, don't go, for I was going, and I met drake-lake, and drake-lake met duck-luck, and duck-luck met cock-lock, aud cock-lock met hen-len, and hen-len met chicken- licken, and chicken-licken had been at the wood, and the sky had fallen on her poor bald pate, and we are going to tell the king." So gander-lander turned back, and met Turkey- lurkey. " Well, turkey-lurkey, where are you going ?" And turkey-lurkey said, " I'm going to the wood for some meat." Then gander-lander said, "Oh! turkey- lurkey, don't go, for I was going, and I met goose-loose, and goose-loose met drake-lake, and drake-lake met FIUESIDE STORIES. 31 duck-luck, and duck-luck met cock-lock, and cock-lock met hen-len, and hen-len met chicken-licken, and chicken-licken had been at the wood, and the sky had fallen on her poor bald pate, and we are going to tell the king." So turkey-lurkey turned back, and walked with gander-lander, goose-loose, drake4ake, duck-luck, cock- lock, hen-len, and chicken-licken. And as they were going along, they met Fox-lox. And fox-lox said, " Where are you going, my pretty maids ?" And they said, " Chicken-licken went to the wood, and the sky fell upon her poor bald pate, and we are going to tell the king." And fox-lox said, *' Come along with me, and I will show you the way." But fox-lox took them into the fox's hole, and he and his young ones soon ate up poor chicken-licken, hen-len, cock-lock, duck-luck, drake-lake, goose-loose, gander-lander, and turkey- lurkey, and they never saw the king, to tell him that the sky had fallen ! THE MISER AND HIS WIFE.* Once upon a time there was an old miser, who lived with his wife near a great town, and used to put by every bit of money he could lay his hands on. His wife was a simple woman, and they lived together with- out quarrelling, but she was obliged to put up with very hard fare. Now, sometimes, when there was a sixpence she thought might be spared for a comfortable dinner * ** Let us cast away nothing," says Mr. Gifford, " for we know not what use we may have for it." So will every one admit whose reading has been sufficiently extensive to enable him to judge of the value of the simplest traditional tales. The present illustrates a passage in Ben Jonson in a very remarkable manner, — Say we are robb'd. If any come to borrow a spoon or so ; I will not liavc Good Fortune or God's Blessing Let in, while I am busy. 32 FIRESIDE STORIES. or supper, she used to ask tlie miser for it, but he would say, "No, wife, it must be put by for Good Fortune." It was the same with every penny he could get hold of, and notwithstanding all she could say, almost every coin that came into the house was put by " for Good Fortune." The miser said this so often, that some of his neigh- bours heard him, and one of them thought of a trick by which he might get the money. So the first day that the old chuff was away from home, he dressed him- self like a wayfaring man, and knocked at the door. "Who are you?" said the wife. He answered, "lam Good Fortune, and I am come for the money which your husband has laid by for me." So this simple woman, not suspecting any trickery, readily gave it to him, and, when her good man came home, told him very pleasantly that Good Fortune had called for the money which had been kept so long for him. THE THREE QUESTIONS. There lived formerly in the county of Cumberland a nobleman who had three sons, two of whom were comely and clever youths, but the other a natural fool, named Jack, who was generally dressed in a party-coloured coat, and a steeple-crowned hat with a tassel, as became his condition. Now the King of the East Angles had a beautiful daughter, who was distinguished by her great ingenuity and wit, and he issued a decree that whoever should answer three questions put to him by the princess should have her in marriage, and be heir to the crown at his decease. Shortly after this decree was published, news of it reached the ears of the nobleman's sons, and the two clever ones determined to have a trial, but they were sadly at a loss to prevent their idiot brother from going with them. They could not, by any means, get rid of him, and were compelled at length to let Jack accom- FIRESIDE STORIES. 33 pany tliem. They had not gone far, before Jack shrieked with laughter, saying, " Fve found an egg." ** Put it in your pocket," said the brothers. A httle while after- wards, he burst out into another fit of laughter on finding a crooked hazel stick, which he also put in his pocket : and a third time, he again laughed extravagantly because he found a nut. That also was put with his other treasures. When they arrived at the palace, they were imme- diately admitted on mentioning the nature of their business, and were ushered into a room where the prin- cess and her suite were sitting. Jack, who never stood on ceremony, bawled out, " What a troop of fair ladies weVe got here !" "Yes," said the princess, "we are fair ladies, for we carry fire in our bosoms." " Do you," said Jack, "then roast me an egg,'* pulling out the egg from his pocket. " How will you get it out again ?" said the princess. "With a crooked stick," replied Jack, producing the hazel. " Where did that come from?" said the princess. " From a nut," answered Jack, pulling out the nut from his pocket. And thus the "fool of the family," having been the first to answer the questions of the princess, was married to her the next day, and ultimately succeeded to the throne. THE CAT AND THE MOUSE.* The cat and the mouse Play'd in the malt-house : The cat bit the mouse's tail off. Pray, puss, give me my tail. No, says the cat, FU not give you your tail, till you go to the cow, and fetch me some milk : First she leapt, and then she ran. Till she came to the cow, and thus began, — * This tale has been traced back fifty years, but it is probably consider- ably older. 34 FIRESIDE STORIES. Pray, Cow, give me milk, that 1 may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again. No, said the cow, I will give you no milk, till you go to the farmer and get me some hay. First she leapt, and then she ran. Till she came to the farmer, and thus hegao, — Pray, Farmer, give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again. No, says the farmer. Til give you no hay, till you go to the butcher and fetch me some meat. First she leapt, and then she ran, Till she came to the butcher, and thus began, — Pray, Butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again. No, says the butcher, I'll give you no meat, till you go to the baker and fetch me some bread. First she leapt, and then she ran, Till she came to the baker, and thus began, — Pray, Baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher may give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again. Yes, says the baker, I'll give you some bread, But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head. Then the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and butcher gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave mouse hay, and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse gave cat milk, and cat gave mouse her own tail' again ! FIRESIDE STORIES. 35 THE PRINCESS OF CANTERBURY. In days of yore, when this country was governed by several sovereigns, amongst them was the King of Canterbury, who had an only daughter, wise, fair, and beautiful. She was unmarried, and according to a custom not unusual in those days, of assigning an arbi- trary action for the present of a lady's hand, the king issued a proclamation that whoever would watch one night with his daughter, and neither sleep nor doze, should have her the next day in marriage ; but if he did either, he should lose his head. Many knights attempted to fulfil the condition, and, having failed in the attempt, forfeited their lives. Now it happened that a young shepherd, grazing his flock near the road, said to his master, "Zur,* I zee many gentlemen ride to the court at Canterbury, but I ne'er zee 'em return again." " 0, shepherd," said his master, " I know not how you should, for they attempt to watch with the king's daughter, according to the decree, and not performing it, they are all beheaded." " Well," said the shepherd, " I'll try my vorton ; zo now vor a king's daughter, or a headless shepherd !" And taking his bottle and bag, he trudged to the court. In his way thither, he was obliged to cross a river, and pulling off his shoes and stockings, while he was passing over he observed several pretty fish bobbing against his feet ; so he caught some, and put them into his pocket. When he reached the palace, he knocked at the gate loudly with his crook, and having mentioned the object of his visit, he was immediately conducted to a hall, where the king's daughter sat ready prepared to receive her lovers. He was placed in a luxurious chair, and * The present Kentish dialect does not adopt this form, but anciently some of the peculiarities of what is now the western dialect of England extended all over the southern counties. 36 FIRESIDE STORIES. rich wines and spices were set before him, and all sorts of delicate meats. The shepherd, unused to such fare^ eat and drank plentifully, so that he was nearly dozing before midnight. " shepherd," said the lady, ** I have caught you napping !" " Noa, sweet ally, I was busy a-feeshing." *^ A-fishing !" said the princess- in the utmost astonishment : '* Nay, shepherd, there is no fish-pond in the hall." *'No matter v or that, I have been feeshing in my pocket, and have just caught one." ''Oh me!" said she, "let me see it." The shepherd slily drew the fish out of his pocket, and pretending to have caught it, showed it her, and she declared it was the finest she ever saw. About half an hour after- wards, she said, " Shepherd, do you think you could get me one more ?" He replied, " Mayhap I may, when I have baited my hook ;" and after a little while he brought out another, which was finer than the first, and the princess was so delighted that she gave him leave to go to sleep, and promised to excuse him to her father. In the morning the princess told the king, to his great astonishment, that the shepherd must not be be- headed, for he had been fishing in the hall all night ; but when he heard how the shepherd had caught such beautiful fish out of his pocket, he asked him to catch one in his own. The shepherd readily undertook the task, and bidding the king lie down, he pretended to fish in his pocket, having another fish concealed ready in his hand, and giving him a sly prick with a needle, he held up the fish, and showed it to the king. His majesty did not much relish the operation, but he as- sented to the marvel of it, and the princess and shep- herd were united the same day, and lived for many years in happiness and prosperity. FIRESIDE STORIES. 37 LAZY JACK.* Once upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with his mother on a dreary common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her living by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but bask in the sun in the hot weather, and sit by the corner of the hearth in the winter time. His mother could not persuade him to do anything for her, and was obliged at last to tell him that if he did not begin to work for his porridge, she would turn him out to get his living as he could. This threat at length roused Jack, and he went out and hired himself for the day to a neighbouring farmer for a penny ; but as he was coming home, never having had any money in his possession before, he lost it in passing over a brook. "You stupid boy," said his mother, "you should have put it in your pocket." "I'll do so another time," replied Jack. The next day Jack went out again, and hired himself to a cowkeeper, who gave him a jar of milk for his day's work. Jack took the jar and put it into the large pocket of his jacket, spilling it all, long before he got home. " Dear me !" said the old woman ; "you should have carried it on your head." "I'll do so another time," replied Jack. The following day Jack hired himself again to a farmer, who agreed to give him a cream cheese for his services. In the evening, Jack took the cheese, and went home with it on his head. By the time he got home the cheese was completely spoilt, part of it being lost, and part matted with his hair. "You stupid lout," said his mother, "you should have carried it very carefully in your hands." " I'll do so another time," replied Jack. The day after this Jack again went out, and hired * From oral tradition in Yorkshire. 4 38 FIRESIDE STOKIES. himself to a baker, who would give him nothing for his work but a large tom-cat. Jack took the cat, and began carrying it very carefully in his hands, but in a short time Pussy scratched him so much that he was compelled to let it go. When he got home, his mother said to him, '* You silly fellow, you should have tied it with a string, and dragged it along after you." '^I'll do so another time," said Jack. The next day Jack hired himself to a butcher, who rewarded his labours by the handsome present of a shoulder of mutton. Jack took the mutton, tied it to a string, and trailed it along after him in the dirt, so that by the time he had got home the meat was completely spoilt. His mother was this time quite out of patience with him, for the next day was Sunday, and she was obliged to content herself with cabbage for her dinner. "You ninnyhammer," said she to her son, " you should have carried it on your shoulder." '* I'll do so another time," replied Jack. On the Monday Jack went once more, and hired him- self to a cattle-keeper, who gave him a donkey for his trouble. Although Jack was very strong, he found some difficulty in hoisting the donkey on his shoulders, but at last he accomplished it, and began walking slowly home with his prize. Now it happened that in the course of his journey there lived a rich man with his only daughter, a beautiful girl, but unfortunately deaf and dumb ; she had never laughed in her life, and the doctors said she would never recover till somebody made her laugh.* Many tried without success, and at last the father, in despair, offered her in marriage to the first man wlio could make her laugh. This young lady happened to be looking out of the window when Jack was passing with the donkey on his shoulders, the legs sticking up in the air, and the sight was so comical and • An incident analogous to this occurs in Grimm, Die Goldene Cans. See Edgar Taylor's Gammer Grethel, 1839, p. 5. FIRESIDE STORIES. 39 strange, that she burst out into a great fit of laughter, and immediately recovered her speech and hearing. Her father was overjoyed, and fulfilled his promise by mar- rying her to Jack, who was thus made a rich gentleman. They lived in a large house, and Jack's mother lived with them in great happiness until she died. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL.* Long before Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there reigned in the eastern part of England a king who kept his court at Colchester. He was witty,, strong, and valiant, by which means he subduedTTiis enemies abroad, and secured peace among his subjects at home. Nevertheless, in the midst of his glory, his queen died, leaving behind her an only daughter, about fifteen years of age. This lady, from her courtly car- riage, beauty, and affability, was the wonder of all that knew her ; but, as covetousness is said to be the root of all evil, so it happened in this instance. The king hearing of a lady who had likewise an only daughter, for the sake of her riches had a mind to marry; though she was old, ugly, hook-nosed, and humpbacked, yet all this could not deter him from marrying her. Her daughter, also, was a yellow dowdy, full of envy and ill- nature ; and, in short, was much of the same mould as her mother. This signified nothing, for in a few weeks the king, attended by the nobility and gentry, brought his intended bride to his palace, where the marriage rites were performed. They had not been long in the court before they set the king against his own beautiful daughter, which was done by false reports and accusa- tions. The young princess, having lost her father's * This story is abridged from the old chap-book of the Three Kings of Colchester. The incident of the heads rising out of the well is very similar to one introduced in Peele's Old Wives Tale, 1595, and the verse is also of a similar character. 40 FIRESIDE STORIES. love, grew weary of the court, and one day meeting with her father in the garden, she desired him, with tears in her eyes, to give her a small subsistence, and she would go and seek her fortune ; to which the king consented, and ordered her mother-in-law to make up a small sum according to her discretion. She went to the queen, who gave her a canvass bag of brown bread and hard cheese, with a bottle of beer; though this was but a very pitiful dowry for a king's daughter. She took it, returned thanks, and proceeded on her journey, passing through groves, woods, and valleys, till at length she saw an old man sitting on a stone at the mouth of a cave, who said, " Good morrow, fair maiden, whither away so fast?" "Aged father," says she, *^1 am going to seek my fortune." *'What has thou in thy bag and bottle ?" " In my bag I have got bread and cheese, and in my bottle good small beer ; will you please to partake of either?" "Yes," said he, "with all my heart." With that the lady pulled out her provisions, and bid him eat and welcome. He did so, and gave her many thanks, saying thus : " There is a thick thorny hedge before you, which will appear impassable, but take this w^and in your hand, strike three times, and say, ' Pray, hedge, let me come through,' and it will open imme- diately ; then, a little further, you will find a well ; sit down on the brink of it, and there will come up three golden heads, which will speak : pray do whatever they require." Promising she would follow his directions, she took her leave of him. Arriving at the hedge, and pursuing the old man's directions, it divided, and gave her a passage; then, going to the well, she had no sooner sat down than a golden head came up singing — - Wash me, and comb me, And lay me down softly. And lay me on a bank to dry. That I may look pretty, When somebody comes by. FIUESIDE STORIES. 41 *' Yes," said she, and putting forth her hand, with a silver comb performed the office, placing it upon a primrose bank. Then came up a second and a third head, making the same request, which she complied with. She then pulled out her provisions and ate her dinner. Then said the heads one to another, " What shall we do for this lady who hath used us so kindly?" The first said, " I will cause such addition to her beauty as shall charm the most powerful prince in the world." The second said, " I will endow her with such perfume, both in body and breath, as shall far exceed the sweetest flowers." The third said, " My gift shall be none of the least, for, as she is a king's daughter, I'll make her so fortunate that she shall become queen to the greatest prince that reigns." This done, at their request she let them down into the well again, and so proceeded on her journey. She had not travelled long before she saw a king hunting in the park with his nobles ; she would have avoided him, but the king having caught a sight of her, approached, and what with her beauty and perfumed breath, was so powerfully smitten, that he was not able to subdue his passion, but commenced his courtship immediately, and was so successful that he gained her love, and, conducting her to his palace, he caused her to be clothed in the most magnificent manner. This being ended, and the king finding that she was the king of Colchester's daughter, ordered some chariots to be got ready, that he might pay the king a visit. The chariot in which the king and queen rode was adorned with rich ornamental gems of gold. The king, her father, was at first astonished that his daughter had been so fortunate as she was, till the young king made him sensible of all that happened. Great was the joy at court amongst all, with the exception of the queen and her club-footed daughter, who were ready to burst with malice, and envied her happiness ; and the greater 4^ 4? FIRESIDE STORIES. was their madness because she was now above them all. Great rejoicings, with feasting and dancing, continued many days. Then at length, with the dowry her father gave her they returned home. The deformed daughter perceiving that her sister had been so happy in seeking her fortune, would needs do the same ; so disclosing her mind to her mother, all preparations were made, and she was furnished not only with rich apparel, but sweetmeats, sugar, almonds, i&c, in great quantities, and a large bottle of Malaga sack. Thus provided, she went the same road as her sister, and coming near the cave, the old man said, "Young woman, whither so fast?" *^What is that to you," said she* "Then," said he, "what have you in your bag and bottle?" She answered, "Good things, which you shall not be troubled with." "Won't you give me some?" said he. " No, not a bit, nor a drop, unless it would choke you." The old man frowned, saying, "Evil fortune attend thee." Going on, she came to the hedge, through which she espied a gap, and thought to pass through it, but, going in, the hedge closed, and the thorns run into her flesh, so that it was with great difficulty that she got out. Being now in a painful condition^ she searched for water to wash herself, and, looking round, she saw the well ; she sat down on the brink of it, and one of the heads came up, saying, "Wash me, comb me, and lay me down softly, &c." but she banged it with her bottle, saying, " Take this for your washing." So the second and third heads came up, and met with no better treatment than the first ; whereupon the heads consulted among themselves what evils to plague her with for such usage. The first said, " Let her be struck with leprosy in her face." The second, " Let an additional smell be added to her breath." The third bestowed on her a husband, though but a poor country cobler. This done, she goes on till she came to a town, and it being market day, the people FIRESIDE STORIES. 43. looked at her, and seeing sucli an evil face fled out of her sight, all but a poor cobler (who not long before had mended the shoes of an old hermit, who having no money, gave him a box of ointment for the cure of the leprosy, and a bottle of spirits for a stinking breath). Now the cobler having a mind to do an act of charity, was induced to go up to her and ask her who she was. *'I am," said she, *'the king of Colchester's daughter- in-law." "Well," said the cobler, "if I restore you to your natural complexion, and make a sound cure both in face and breath, will you in reward take me for a husband?" "Yes, friend," replied she, "with all my heart." With this the cobler applied the remedies, and they worked the effect in a few weeks, and then they were married, and after a few days they set forward for the court at Colchester. When the queen under- stood she had married a poor cobler, she fell into distrac- tion, and hanged herself for vexation. The death of the queen was not a source of sorrow to the king, who had only married her for her fortune, and bore her no affec- tion ; and shortly afterwards he gave the cobler a hundred pounds to take the daughter to a remote part of the kingdom, where he lived many years mending shoes, while his wife assisted the housekeeping by spinning, . and selling the results of her labours at the country market. THE MAIDEN AND THE FROG.* Many years ago there lived on the brow of a moun- tain, in the North of England, an old woman and her * This tale of the frog-lover is known in every part of Germany, and is alluded to by several old writers of that country. It is the tale «*Der Froschkonig, oder der Eiserne Heinrich," in Grimm. *• These enchanted frogs/' says Sir W. Scott, '* have migrated from afar, and we suspect that they were originally crocodiles ; we trace them in a tale forming part of a series of stories entitled the Relations of Ssidi Kur, extant amongst the Calmuck Tartars." Mr. Chambers has given a Scotch version of the tale, under the title of •* The well o' the warld's end," in his Popular Rhymes, 44 FIRESIDE STORIES. daughter. They were very poor, and obliged to work very hard for their living, and the old woman's temper was not very good, so that the maiden, who was very beautiful, led but an ill life with her. The girl, indeed, was compelled to do the hardest work, for her mother got their principal means of subsistence by travelling to places in the neighbourhood with small articles for sale, and when she came home in the afternoon she was not able to do much more work. Nearly the whole domestic labour of the cottage devolved therefore on the daughter, the most wearisome part of which con- sisted in the necessity of fetching all the water they required from a well on the other side of the hill, there being no river or spring near their own cottage. It happened one morning that the daughter had the misfortune, in going to the well, to break the only pitcher they possessed, and having no other utensil she could use for the purpose, she was obliged to go home without bringing any water. When her mother returned, she was unfortunately troubled with excessive thirst, and the girl, though trembling for the consequences of her misfortune, told her exactly the circumstance that had occurred. The old woman was furiously angry, and so far from making any allowances for her daughter, pointed to a sieve which happened to be on the table, and told her to go at once to the well and bring her some water in that, or never venture to appear again in her sight. The young maiden, frightened almost out of her wits by her mother's fury, speedily took the sieve, and though p. 236. The rhymes in the copy given above were obtained from the North of England, without, however, any reference to the story to which they evidently belong. The application, however, is so obvious to any one ac- quainted with the German and Scotch tale, that the framework I have ventured to give them cannot be considered incongruous ; although I need not add how very desirable it would be to procure the traditional tale as related by the English peasantry. Perhaps some of our readers may be enabled to supply it. FIRESIDE STORIES. 45 she considered the task a hopeless one to accomplish, almost unconsciously hastened to the well. When she arrived there, beginning to reflect on the painful situa- tion in which she was placed, and the utter impossibility of her obtaining a living by herself, she threw^ herself down on the brink of the well in an agony of despair. Whilst she was in this condition, a large frog came up to the top of the water, and asked her for what she was crying so bitterly. She was somewhat surprised at this, but not being the least frightened, told him the whole story, and that she was crying because she could not carry away water in the sieve. "Is that all?" said the frog ; '^ cheer up, my hinny ! for if you will only let me sleep with you for two nights, and then chop off my head, I will tell you how to do it." The maiden thought the frog could not be in earnest, but she was too impatient to consider much about it, and at once made the required promise. The frog then instructed her in the following words, — Stop with fog (moss), And daub with clay ; And that will carry The water away. Having said this, he dived immediately under the water, and the girl, having followed his advice, got the sieve full of water, and returned home with it, not thinking much of her promise to the frog. By the time she reached home the old woman's wrath was appeased, but as they were eating their frugal supper very quietly, what should they hear but the splashing and croaking of a frog near the door, and shortly afterwards the daughter recognised the voice of the frog of the well saying,— Open the door, my hinny, my heart. Open the door, my own darling ; Remember the words you spoke to me. In the meadow by the well-spring. 46 FIRESIDE STORIES. She was now dreadfully frightened, and hurriedly ex- plained the matter to her mother, who was also so much alarmed at the circumstance, that she dared not refuse admittance to the frog, who, when the door was opened, leapt into the room, exclaiming : Go wi' me to bed, my hinny, my heart, Go wi' me to bed, my own darling ; Remember the words you spoke to me. In the meadow by the well-spring. This command was also obeyed, although, as may be readily supposed, she did not much relish such a bed- fellow. The next day, the frog was very quiet, and evidently enjoyed the fare they placed before him, — the purest milk and the finest bread they could procure. In fact, neither the old woman nor her daughter spared any pains to render the frog comfortable. That night, immediately supper was finished, the frog again ex- claimed : Go wi' me to bed, my hinny, my heart. Go wi' me to bed, my own darling ; Hemember the words you spoke to me. In the meadow by the well-spring. She again allowed the frog to share her couch, and in the morning, as soon as she was dressed, he jumped towards her, saying : Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart. Chop off my head, my own darling ; Remember the words you spoke to me. In the meadow by the well-spring. The maiden had no sooner accomplished this last re- quest, than in the stead of the frog there stood by her side the handsomest prince in the world, who had long been transformed by a magician, and who could never have recovered his natural shape until a beautiful virgin had consented, of her own accord, to make bim her bedfellow for two nights. The joy of all parties was FIRESIDE STORIES. 47 complete ; the girl and the prince were shortly after- wards married, and lived for many years in the enjoy- ment of every happiness. THE STORY OF MR. FOX.* Once upon a time there was a young lady called Lady Mary, who had two brothers. One summer they all three went to a country seat of theirs which they had not before visited. Among the other gentry in the neighbourhood who came to see them was a Mr. Fox, a bachelor, with whom they, particularly the young lady, were much pleased. He used often to dine with them, and frequently invited Lady Mary to come and see his house. One day, when her brothers were absent else- where, and she had nothing better to do, she determined to go thither, and accordingly set out unattended. When she arrived at the house and knocked at the door, no one answered. At length she opened it and went in, and over the portal of the door was written : Be bold, be bold, but not too bold. She advanced, and found the same inscription over the staircase ; again at the entrance of a gallery ; and lastly, at the door of a chamber, with the addition of a line : Be bold, be bold, but not too bold. Lest that your heart's blood should run cold ! She opened it, and what was her terror and astonish- ment to find the floor covered with bones and blood. She retreated in haste, and coming down stairs, she saw from a window Mr. Fox advancing towards the house with a drawn sword in one hand, while with the other he dragged along a young lady by the hair of her head. Lady Mary had just time to slip down, and hide herself * A simple, but very curious tale, of considerable antiquity. It is alluded to by Shakespeare, and was contributed to the variorum edition by Blakeway. Part of this story will recall to the reader's memory the enchanted chamber of Britoniart. 48 FIRESIDE STORIES. Tinder the stairs, before Mr. Fox and his victim arrived at the foot of them. As he pulled the young lady up- stairs, she caught hold of one of the bannisters with her hand, on which was a rich bracelet. Mr. Fox cut it off with his sword : the hand and bracelet fell into Lady Mary's lap, who then contrived to escape unobserved, and got safe home to her brothers' house. A few days afterwards, Mr. Fox came to dine with them as usual. After dinner, the guests began to amuse each other with extraordinary anecdotes, and Lady Mary said she would relate to them a remarkable dream she had lately had. I dreamt, said she, that as you, Mr. Fox, had often invited me to your house, I would go there one morning. When I came to the house, I knocked at the door, but no one answered. When I opened the door, over the hall I saw written, " Be bold, be bold, but not too bold." But, said she, turning to Mr. Fox, and smiling, " It is not so, nor it was not so." Then she pursued the rest of the story, concluding at evety turn with, " It is not so, nor it was not so," till she came to the discovery of the room full of bones, when Mr. Fox took up the burden of the tale, and said : It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so ! which he continued to repeat at every subsequent turn of the dreadful story, till she came to the circumstance of his cutting off the young lady's hand, when, upon bis saying, as usual. It is not so, nor it was not so, And God forbid it should be so ! Lady Mary retorts by saying. But it is so, and it was so, And here the hand I have to show ! at the same moment producing the hand and bracelet from her lap. Whereupon the guests drew their swords, and instantly cut Mr. Fox into a thousand pieces. FlUESIDE STOKIES. 49 THE OXFORD STUDENT.* Many years ago there lived at the University of Oxford a young student, who, having seduced the daughter of a tradesman, sought to conceal his crime by committing the more heinous one of murder. With this view, he made an appointment to meet her one evening in a secluded field. She was at the rendezvous considerably before the time agreed upon for their meeting, and hid herself in a tree. The student arrived on the spot shortly afterwards, but what was the astonish- ment of the girl to observe that he commenced digging a grave. Her fears and suspicions were aroused, and she did not leave her place of concealment till the stu- dent, despairing of her arrival, returned to his college. The next day, when she was at the door of her father's house, he passed and saluted her as usual. She returned his greeting by repeating the following lines : One moonshiny night, as I sat high. Waiting for one to come by, The boughs did bend ; my heart did ache To see what hole the fox did make. Astounded by her unexpected knowledge of his base design, in a moment of fury he stabbed her to the heart. This murder occasioned a violent conflict between the tradespeople and the students, the latter taking part with the murderer, and so fierce was the skirmish, that Brewer's Lane, it is said, ran down with blood. The place of appointment was adjoining the Divinity Walk, which was in time past far more secluded than at the present day, and she is said to have been buried in the grave made for her by her paramour. According to another version of the tale, the name of the student was Fox, and a fellow-student went with * Obtained in Oxfordshire from tradition. 50 FIRESIDE STOHIES. him to assist in digging the grave. The verses in this account differ somewhat from the above. As I went out in a moonlight night, I set my back against the moon, I looked for one, and saw two come : The boughs did bend, the leaves did shake, I saw the hole the Fox did make. JACK HORNBY.* In the reign of King Arthur there lived near the Land's End, in Cornwall, a wealthy farmer, who had an only son, commonly called Jack Hornby. He was of a brisk and ready wit, and he was never known to be outwitted in any transaction. One day, when he was no more than seven years of age, his father sent him into the field to look after his oxen. While he was attending to them, the lord of the manor came across the field, and as Jack was known to be a clever boy, he began asking him questions. His first was, " How many commandments are there ?'* Jack told him there were nine. The lord corrected him, saying there were ten. " Nay," quoth Jack, **you are wrong there : it is true there were ten, but you broke one of them when you stole my father's cow for your rent." The lord of the manor was so struck by this answer, that he promised to return the poor man's cow. " Now," quoth Jack, " it is my turn to ask a question. Can you tell me how many sticks go to build a crow's nest ?" "Yes," said he, ''there are as many go as are sufficient for the size of the nest." '' Oh !" quoth Jack, *' you are out again ; there are none go, for they are all carried!" Jack Hornby was never more troubled with questions by the lord of the manor. * This little tale was most likely copied from the commencement of the original edition of Jack the Giant-killer, where similar incidents are related of that renowned hero. FIRESIDE STORIES. 51 MALLY DIXON AND KNURRE-MURRE. Stories of fairies appearing in the shape of cats are common in the North of England. Mr. Longstaffe re- lates that a farmer of Staindrop, in Durham, was one night crossing a bridge, when a cat jumped out, stood before him, and looking him full in the face, said : Johnny Reed ! Johnny Reed ! Tell Madam Momfort That Mally Dixon's dead. The farmer returned home, and in mickle wonder re- cited this awfu' stanza to his wife, when up started their black cat, saying, ** Is she ?" and disappeared for ever. It was supposed she was a fairy in disguise, who thus went to attend a sister's funeral, for in the North fairies do die, and green shady spots are pointed out by the country folks as the cemeteries of the tiny people. An analogous story is found in the people-literature of Denmark. Near a town called Lyng is the hill of Brondhoe, inhabited by the trold-folk, or imps. Amongst these trolds was an old sickly devil, peevish and ill-tempered, because he was married to a young wife. This unhappy trold often set the rest by the ears, so they nicknamed him Knurre-Murre, or Rumble- Grumble. Now it came to pass, that Knurre-Murre discovered that his young wife was inclined to honour him with a supplemental pair of horns ; and the object of his jealousy, to avoid his vengeance, was compelled to fly for his life from the cavern, and take refuge, in the shape of a tortoise-shell cat, in the house of Goodman Piatt, who harboured him with much hospitality, let him lie on the great wicker chair, and fed him twice a day with bread and milk out of a red earthenware pipkin. One evening the goodman came home, at a late hour, full of wonderment. " Goody," exclaimed M JPIRESIDE STORIES. he to his wife, '^ as I was passing by Brondhoe, there came out a trold, who spake to me, saying, HorduPlat, Siig til din cat At Knurre-Murre er dod. Hear thou, Piatt, Say to thy cat That Knurre-Murre is dead." The tortoise-shell cat was lying on the great wicker chair, and eating his supper of bread and milk out of the red earthenware pipkin, when the goodman came in ; but as soon as the message was delivered, he jumped bolt upright upon his two hind legs, for all the world like a Christian, and kicking the red earthenware pipkin and the rest of the bread and milk before him, he whisked through the cottage door, mewing, *' What ! is Knurre-Murre dead? then I may go home again!"* THE BULL OF NORROWAY.f To wilder measures next they turn : The black black bull of Norroway ! Sudden the tapers cease to burn, The minstrels cease to play ! Once upon a time there lived a king who had three daughters ; the two eldest were proud and ugly, but the youngest was the gentlest and most beautiful creature ever seen, and the pride not only of her father and mother, but of all in the land. As it fell out, the three * This analysis of the Danish tale is taken from an article in the Quar- terly Review, xxi. 98. t This is a modern version, taken down from recitation, of the very old tale of the Blade Bull of Norroway/, mentioned in the Complayntof Scotland, 1548. It is here taken, by the author's kind permission, from the Popular Rhymes of Scotland, by Mr. Robert Chambers, the most delightful book of the kind ever published. FIRESIDE STORIES. 53 princesses were talking one night of whom they would marry. "I will have no one lower than a king/' said the eldest princess ; the second would take a prince, or a great duke even. " Pho, pho," said the youngest, laughing, " you are both so proud ; now, I would be content with the Red Bull o' Norroway." Well, they thought no more of the matter till the next morning, when, as they sat at breakfast, they heard the most dreadful bellowing at the door, and what should it be but the Red Bull come for his bride. You may be sure they were all terribly frightened at this, for the Red Bull was one of the most horrible creatures ever seen in the world. And the king and queen did not know how to save their daughter. At last they determined to send him off with the old henwife. So they put her on his back, and away he went with her till he came to a great black forest, when, throwing her down, he returned, roaring louder and more frightfully than ever. They then sent, one by one, all the servants, then the two eldest prin- cesses ; but not one of them met with any better treat- ment than the old henwife, and at last they were forced to send their youngest and favorite child. On travelled the lady and the bull through many dreadful forests and lonely wastes, till they came at last to a noble castle, where a large company was assembled. The lord of the castle pressed them to stay, though much he wondered at the lovely princess and her strange companion. When they went in among the company, the princess espied a pin sticking in the bull's hide, which she pulled out, and, to the surprise of all, there appeared not a frightful wild beast, but one of the most beautiful princes ever beheld. You may believe how delighted the princess was to see him fall at her feet, and thank her for breaking his cruel enchantment. There were great rejoicings in the castle at this ; but, alas ! at that moment he suddenly disappeared, and though every place was sought, he was nowhere to be found. The 5§ 54 FIRESIDE STORIES. princess, however, determined to seek through all the world for him, and many weary ways she w^ent, but nothing could she hear of her lover. Travelling once through a dark wood, she lost her way, and as night was coming on, she thought she must now certainly die of cold and hunger; but seeing a light through the trees, she went on till she came to a little hut, where an old woman lived, who took her in, and gave her both food and shelter. In the morning, the old wifie gave her three nuts, that she was not to break till her heart was *'like to break, and owre again like to break;" so, showing her the way, she bade God speed her, and the princess once more set out on her wearisome journey. She had not gone far till a company of lords and ladies rode past her, all talking merrily of the fine doings they expected at the Duke o' Norroway's wedding. Then she came up to a number of people carrying all sorts of fine things, and they, too, were going to the duke's wedding. At last she came to a castle, where nothing was to be seen but cooks and bakers, some run- ning one way, and some another, and all so busy that they did not know what to do first. Whilst she was looking at all this, she heard a noise of hunters be- hind her, and some one cried out, " Make way for the Duke o' Norroway V and who should ride past but the prince and a beautiful lady ! You may be sure her heart was now "like to break, and owre again like to break," at this sad sight ; so she broke one of the nuts, and out came a wee wifie carding. The princess then went into the castle, and asked to see the lady, who no sooner saw the wee wifie so hard at work, than she offered the princess anything in her castle for it. "I will give it to you," said she, "only on condition that you put off' for one day your marriage with the Duke o' Norroway, and that I may go into his room alone to-night." So anxious was the lady for the nut, that she consented. And when dark night was come, and the duke fast FIRESIDE STORIES. 55 asleep, the princess was put alone into his chamber. Sitting down by his bedside, she began singing : Par hae I sought ye, near am I brought to ye ; Dear Duke o' Norroway, will ye no turn and speak to me ? Though she sang this over and over again, the duke never wakened, and in the morning the princess had to leave him, without his knowing she had ever been there. She then broke the second nut, and out came a wee wifie spinning, which so delighted the lady, that she readily agreed to put off her marriage another day for it ; but the princess came no better speed the second night than the first, and, almost in despair, she broke the last nut, which contained a wee wifie reeling ; and on the same condition as before, the lady got possession of it. When the duke was dressing in the morning, his man asked him what the strange singing and moaning that had been heard in his room for two nights meant. *' I heard nothing," said the duke ; "it could only have been your fancy." " Take no sleeping-draught to night, and be sure to lay aside your pillow of heaviness," said the man, " and you also will hear what for two nights has kept me awake." The duke did so, and the princess coming in, sat down sighing at his bedside, thinking this the last time she might ever see him. The duke started up when he heard the voice of his dearly-loved princess ; and with many endearing expressions of sur- prise and joy, explained to her that he had long been in the power of an enchantress, whose spells over him were now happily ended by their once again meeting. The princess, happy to be the instrument of his second deliverance, consented to marry him, and the enchan- tress, who fled that country, afraid of the duke's anger, has never since been heard of. All was hurry and pre- paration in the castle, and the marriage which now took place at once ended the adventures of the Red Bull o' Norroway and the wanderiijgs of the king's daughter. 56 FIRESIDE STOKIES. PUSS IN BOOTS.* There was a miller, who left no more estate to his three sons than his mill, his ass, and his cat. The partition was soon made, neither scrivener nor attorney being sent for. They would soon have eaten up all the patrimony. The eldest had the mill, the second the ass, and the youngest nothing but the cat. The poor young fellow was quite downcast at so poor a lot. ** My brothers," said he, *' may get their living handsomely enough by joining their stocks together, but for my part, when I have eaten up my cat, and made me a muff of his skin, I must die with hunger." The cat, who heard all this, yet made as if he did not, said to him, with a grave and serious air, '' Do not thus afflict yourself^ my good master ; you have nothing else to do but give me a bag, and get a pair of boots made for me, that I may scamper through the dirt and the brambles, and you shall see that you have not so bad a portion as you imagine." Though he did not build very much upon what the cat said, he had however often seen him play a great many cunning tricks to catch rats and mice : as when he used to hang by the heels, or hide himself in the meal, and make as if he were dead ; so that he did not altogether despair of his affording him some help in his miserable condition. When the cat had what he asked for, he booted himself very gallantly ; and putting the bag about his neck, held the strings of it in his two fore paws, and went into a warren where there was a great abundance of rabbits. He put bran and sow- thistles into the bag, and stretching himself out at • One of the tales of Perrault, 1697. The plot was taken from the first novel of the eleventh night of Straparola. Its moral is that talents are equiva- lent to fortune. We have inserted this in our collection, although generally remembered, as a specimen of the simple tales founded by Perrault on older stories, and which soon became popular in this country. The others, as Blue Beard, and Little Riding Hood, are vanishing from the nursery, but are so universally known that reprints of them would be superfluous. FIRESIDE STORIES. 57 length, as if he had been dead, he waited for some young rabbits not yet acquainted with the deceits of the world, to come and rummage his bag for what he had put into it. Scarce was he laid down, but he had what he wanted ; a rash and foolish young rabbit jumped into his bag, and Monsieur Puss immediately drawing the strings close, took and killed him without pity. Proud of his prey, he went with it into the palace, and asked to speak with his majesty. He was shown upstairs into the king's apartment, and, making a low reverence, said to him, " I have brought you. Sire, a rabbit of the warren, which my noble lord, the Marquis of Carabas (for that was the title which Puss was pleased to give his master), has commanded me to present to your majesty from him." **Tell thy master," said the king, "that I thank him, and he does me a great deal of pleasure." Another time he went and hid himself amongst some standing corn, holding his bag open ; and when a brace of partridges ran into it, he drew the strings, and so caught them both. He went and made a present of these to the king, as he had done before of the rabbit. The king received the partridges with great pleasure, and ordered him some money for drink. The cat continued, for two or three months, to carry game to his majesty. One day in particular, when he knew that the king was to take the air along the river side, with his daughter, the most beautiful princess in the world, he said to his master, " If you will follow my advice, your fortune is made ; you have nothing else to do, but go and wash yourself in the river, in that part I shall show you, and leave the rest to me." The Marquis of Carabas did what the cat advised, without knowing why or wherefore. While he was washing, the king passed by, and the cat began to cry out, as loud as he could, " Help, help! my Lord Marquis of Carabas is going to be drowned !" 58 FIRESIDE STORIES. At this noise the king put his head out of the coach- window, and finding it was the cat who had so often brought him such good game, he commanded the guards to run immediately to the assistance of his lordship, the Marquis of Carabas. While they were drawing the poor marquis out of the river, the cat came up to the coach and told the king, that, while his master was washing, there came by some rogues who went off with his clothes, though he had cried out, '* Thieves! thieves!" several times, as loud as he could. This cunning cat had hidden them under a great stone. The king immediately commanded the officers of his wardrobe to run and fetch one of his best suits for the Lord Marquis of Carabas. The king caressed him after a very extraordinary manner, and as the fine clothes he had given him ex- tremely set off his good mien (for he was well-made and very handsome in his person), the king's daughter took a secret inclination to him, and the Marquis of Carabas had no sooner cast two or three respectful and tender glances, but she fell in love with him to distraction ; and the king would have him come into his coach. The cat, overjoyed to see his project begin to succeed, inarched on before, and meeting with some countrymen who were mowing a meadow, he said to them, ** Good people, if you do not tell the king that the meadow you mow belongs to the Marquis of Carabas, you shall be chopped as small as herbs for the pot." The king did not fail to ask the mowers to whom the meadow they were mowing belonged. ^' To my Lord Marquis of Carabas," answered they all together ; for the cat's threats had made them terribly afraid. '' You see, sir," said the marquis, "this is a meadow that never fails to yield a plentiful harvest every year." The cat, who still went on before, met with some reapers, and said to them, " Good people, you who are reaping, if you do not tell the king that all this corn belongs to FIRESIDE STOKIES, 5^ the Marquis of Carabas, you shall be chopped as small as herbs for the pot." The king, who passed by a moment after, would needs know to whom all that corn did belong. *' To my Lord Marquis of Carabas," rephed the reapers ; and the king was very well pleased with it, as well as the marquis, whom he congratulated thereupon. The master cat went always before, saying the same words to all he met ; and the king was astonished at the vast estates of my Lord Marquis of Carabas. Monsieur Puss came at last to a stately castle, the master of which was an ogre, the richest that had ever been known ; for all the lands the king had then gone over belonged to him ; the cat, having taken care to inform himself who this ogre was, and what he could do, asked to speak to him, saying, " He could not pass so near his castle, without having the honour of paying his respects to him." The ogre received him as civilly as an ogre could do, and made him sit down. " I have been assured," said the cat, *^ that you have the gift of being able to change yourself into all sorts of creatures you have a mind to ; you can, for example, transform yourself into a lion or elephant, and the like. " This is true," answered the ogre, very briskly, " and to convince you, you shall see me now become a lion." Puss was so sadly terrified at the sight of a lion so near him, that he immediately got into the gutter, not without great trouble and danger, because of his boots, which w^ere of no use at all to him in walking upon the tiles. A little while after, when Puss saw that the ogre had resumed his natural form, he came down, and owned that he had been very much frightened. *'I have been moreover informed," said the cat, " but I know not how to believe it, that you have also the power to take upon you the smallest animals, for example, to change yourself into a rat or a mouse, but J must own to you, I take this to be impossible.^* 60 PIEESIDE STORIES. *' Impossible !" cried the ogre, "you shall see that presently ;" and at the same time changed himself into a mouse, and began to run about the floor. Puss no sooner perceived this, but he fell upon him, and eat him up. Meanwhile the king, who saw as he passed this fine castle of the ogre's, had a mind to go into it. Puss, who heard the noise of his majesty's coach running over the drawbridge, ran out, and said to the king, " Your majesty is welcome to this castle of the Lord Marquis of Carabas." "What! my lord marquis," cried the king, *' and does this castle also belong to you ? there can be nothing finer than this court, and all the stately build- ings which surround it : let us go into it, if you please." The king went up first, the marquis, handing the princess, following ; they passed into a spacious hall, where they found a magnificent collation the ogre had prepared for his friends, who dared not enter, knowing the king was there. His majesty was perfectly charmed with the good qualities of the marquis, and his daughter was violently in love with him. The king, after having drank five or six glasses, said to him, "My lord marquis, you will be only to blame, if you are not my son-in-law." The marquis, making several low bows, accepted the honour his majesty conferred upon him, and forthwith the very same day married the princess. Puss became a great lord, and never ran after mice any more but only for his diversion. JACK AND THE GIANTS. [The present copy of this tale is taken, with a few necessary alterations, from the original editions, which differ very considerably from the modern versions ; and it is worthy of preservation in its antique costume, for the story is undoubtedly of Teutonic origin. " Jack, commonly called the Giant Killer," says Sir W. Scott, FIRESIDE STORIES. 61 '^ and Thomas Thumb landed in England from the very- same keels and war-ships which conveyed Hengist and Horsa, and Ebba the Saxon." One incident in the romance exactly corresponds to a device played by the giant Skrimner, when he and Thor travelled to Utgard Castle, related in the Edda of Snorro. Skrimner placed an immense rock on the leafy couch where Thor sup- posed he was sleeping, and when the latter, desiring to rid himself of his companion, heard the giant snore, he struck the rock with his tremendous hammer, thinking it was the monster's head. *'Hath a leaf fallen upon me from the tree?" exclaimed the awakened giant. He went to sleep again, and snoring louder than ever, Thor gave a blow which he thought must have cracked his skull. *'What is the matter?" quoth Skrimner, "hath an acorn fallen on my head?" A third time the snore was heard, and a third time the hammer fell with redoubled force, insomuch that Thor weened the iron had buried itself in Skrimner's temples. " Me- thinks," quoth the giant, rubbing his cheek, " some moss hath fallen on my face!" Jack's invisible coat, his magic sword, and his shoes of swiftness, are also undoubtedly borrowed from Northern romance.* An incident very similar to the blows with the rat's tail occurs in the story of the Brave Little Tailor, in Grimm ; who outwits a giant in several ingenious ways, one of which may be described. On one occasion the giant wished to try the strength of the tailor, by chal- lenging him to carry a tree. The latter said, ''Very well, you carry the butt-end, while I will carry all the branches, by far the heaviest part of the tree." So the giant lifted the tree up on his shoulders, and the tailor very coolly sat on the branches while the giant carried the tree. At length he was so tired with his load, he was obliged to drop it, and the tailor, nimbly jumping ■ * The last is also found in the second relation of Ssidi Kur, a Calmuck romance. 6 62 FIRESIDE STORIES. off, made belief as if he had been carrying the branches all the time, and said : " A pretty fellow you are, that can't carry a tree !" The edition of Jack the Giant-killer here used was printed at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1711. The earliest in the British Museum is dated 1809, nor does the Bodleian, I believe, contain a copy of a more ancient type. Jack and the Bean-stalk may be added to the series of English nursery-tales derived from the Teutonic. The bean-stalk is a descendant of the wonderful ash in the Edda. The distich put into the mouth of the giant, Snouk but, snouk ben, I find the smell of eartlily men ; is, says Scott, scarcely inferior to the keen-scented anthropophaginian in Jack the Giant-killer.] In the reign of King Arthur, and in the county of Cornwall, near to the Land's End of England, there lived a wealthy farmer, who had an only son named Jack. He was brisk, and of a lively ready wit, so that whatever he could not perform by force and strength, he accomplished by ingenious wit and policy. Never was any person heard of that could worst him, and he very often even baffled the learned by his sharp and ready inventions. In those days the Mount of Cornwall was kept by a huge and monstrous giant of eighteen feet in height, and about three yards in compass, of a fierce and grim countenance, the terror of all the neighbouring towns and villages. He inhabited a cave in the middle of the mount, and he was such a selfish monster that he would not suffer any one to live near him. He fed on other men's cattle, which often became his prey, for when- soever he wanted food, he would wade over to the main land, where he would furnish himself with whatever came in his way. The inhabitants, at his approach, forsook their habitations, while he seized on their cattle. FIRESIDE STORIES. 6S making nothing of carrying half-a-dozen oxen on his back at a time ; and as for their sheep and hogs, he would tie them round his waist Uke a bunch of bando- leers.* This course he had followed for many years, so that a great part of the county was impoverished by his depredations. This was the state of affairs, when Jack, happening one day to be present at the town-hall when the autho- rities were consulting about the giant, had the curiosity to ask what reward would be given to the person who destroyed him. The giant's treasure was declared as the recompense, and Jack at once undertook the task. In order to accomplish his purpose, he furnished himself with a horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the beginning of a dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before morning had dug a pit twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad, covering it over with long sticks and straw. Then strewing a little mould upon it, it appeared like plain ground. This accomplished. Jack placed himself on the side of the pit which was furthest from the giant's lodging, and, just at the break of day, he put the horn to his mouth, and blew with all his might. Although Jack was a little fellow, and the powers of his voice are not described as being very great, he managed to make noise enough to arouse the giant, and excite his indig- nation. The monster accordingly rushed from his cave, exclaiming, "You incorrigible villain, are you come here to disturb my rest ? you shall pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will have, for I will take you whole and broil you for breakfast.*' He had no sooner uttered this cruel threat, than tumbling into the pit, he made the very foundations of the Mount ring again. " Oh, giant," said Jack, "where are you now? Oh faith, * Bandoleers were little wooden cases covered with leather, each of them containing the charge of powder for a musket, and fastened to a hroad band of leather, which the person who was to use them put round his neck. 64 FIRESIDE STORIES. you are gotten now into Lob's Pound,* where I will surely plague you for your threatening words : what do you think now of broiling me for your breakfast ? will no other diet serve you but poor Jack?" Thus did little Jack tantalize the big giant, as a cat does a mouse when she knows it cannot escape, and when he had tired of that amusement, he gave him a heavy blow with his pickaxe on the very crown of his head, which " tumbled him down," and killed him on the spot. When Jack saw he w^as dead, he filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave, which he found con- tained much treasure. The magistrates, in the exube- rance of their joy, did not add to Jack's gains from their own, but after the best and cheapest mode of payment, made a declaration he should henceforth be termed Jack the Giant-killer^ and presented him with a sword and embroidered belt, on the latter of which were in- scribed these words in letters of gold : Here's the right valiant Cornish man, Who slew the giant Cormelian. The news of Jack's victory, as might be expected, soon spread over all the West of England, so that ano- ther giant, named Thunderbore, hearing of it, and en- tertaining a partiality for his race, vowed to be revenged on the little hero, if ever it was his fortune to light on him. This giant was the lord of an enchanted castle, situated in the midst of a lonely wood. Now Jack, about four months after his last exploit, walking near this castle in his journey towards Wales, being weary, seated himself near a pleasant fountain in the wood, "o'ercanopied with luscious woodbine," and presently fell asleep. While he was enjoying his repose, the giant, coming to the fountain for water, of course discovered him, and recognised the hated individual by the lines written on the belt. He immediately took Jack on his * An old jocular term for a prison, or any place of confinement. FIKESIDE STOKIES. 65^ slioulders, and carried him towards his enchanted castle. Now, as they passed through a thicket, the rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was uncomfortably surprised to find himself in the clutches of the giant. His terror was not diminished when, on entering the castle, he saw the court-yard strewed with human bones, the giant maliciously telling him his own would ere long increase the hateful pile. After this assurance, the cannibal locked poor Jack in an upper chamber, leaving him there while he went to fetch another giant living in the same wood to keep him company in the antici- pated destruction of their enemy. While he was gone, dreadful shrieks and lamentations affrighted Jack, especially a voice which continually cried, — Do what you can to get away, Or you'll become the giant's prey ; He's gone to fetch his brother, who Will kiU, and likewise torture you. This warning, and the hideous tone in which it was delivered, almost distracted poor Jack, who going to the window, and opening a casement, beheld afar off the two giants approaching towards the castle. *'Now," quoth Jack to himself, "my death or my deliverance is at hand." The event proved that his anticipations were well founded, for the giants of those days, however powerful, were at best very stupid fellows, and readily conquered by stratagem, were it of the humblest kind. There happened to be strong^ cords in the room in which Jack was confined, two of which he took, and made a strong noose at the end of each ; and while the giant was unlocking the iron gate of the castle, he threw the ropes over each of their heads, and then, before the giants knew what he was about, he drew the other ends across a beam, and, pulling with all his might, throttled them till they were black in the face. Then, sliding down the rope, he came to their heads, and as they 6§ 66 FIRESIDE STORIES. could not defend themselves, easily despatched them with his sword. This business so adroitly accomplished. Jack released the fair prisoners in the castle, delivered the keys to them, and, like a true knight-errant, con- tinued his journey without condescending to inaprove the condition of his purse. This plan, however honorable, was not without its disadvantages, and owing to his slender stock of money, he was obliged to make the best of his way by travelling as hard as he could. At length, losing his road, he was belated, and could not get to any place of entertain- ment until, coming to a lonesome valley, he found a large house, and by reason of his present necessity, took courage to knock at the gate. But what was his astonishment, when there came forth a monstrous giant with two heads ; yet he did not appear so fiery as the others were, for he was a Welsh giant, and what he did was by private and secret malice under the false show of friendship. Jack having unfolded his condition to the giant, was shown into a bedroom, where, in the dead of night, he heard his host in another apartment utter- ing these formidable words : Though here you lodge with me this night. You shall not see the morning hght : My club shall dash your brains out quite ! '' Say'st thou so," quoth Jack; "that is like one of your Welsh tricks, yet I hope to be cunning enough for you." He immediately got out of bed, and, feeling about in the dark, found a thick billet of wood, which he laid in the bed in his stead, and hid himself in a dark corner of the room. Shortly after he had done so, in came the Welsh giant, who thoroughly pummelled the billet with his club, thinking, naturally enough, he had broken every bone in Jack's skin. The next morning, however, to the inexpressible surprise of the giant, Jack came down stairs as if nothing had happened, and gave FIRESIDE STORIES. 6f him thanks for his night's lodging. " How have you rested," quoth the giant ; " did you not feel anything in the night ?" Jack provokingly replied, " No, nothing but a rat which gave me two or three flaps with her tail." This reply was totally incomprehensible to the giant, who of course saw anything but a joke in it. However, concealing his amazement as well as he could, he took Jack in to breakfast, assigning to each a bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding. One would have thought that the greater portion of so extravagant an allowance would have been declined by our hero, but he was unwilling the giant should imagine his in- capability to eat it, and accordingly placed a large leather bag under his loose coat, in such a position that he could convey the pudding into it without the decep- tion being perceived. Breakfast at length being finished. Jack excited the giant's curiosity by offering to show him an extraordinary sleight of hand ; so taking a knife, he ripped the leather bag, and out of course descended on the ground all the hasty pudding. The giant had not the slightest suspicion of the trick, veritably be- lieving the pudding came from its natural receptacle ; and having the same antipathy to being beaten, ex- claimed in true Welsh, '^Odds splutters, hur can do that trick hurself." The sequel may be readily guessed. The monster took the knife, and thinking to follow Jack's example with impunity, killed himself on the spot.* King Arthur's only son requested his father to furnish him with a large sum of money, in order that he might go and seek his fortune in the principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful lady possessed with seven evil spirits. The king tried all he could do to persuade him to * The foregoing portion of this wonderful history is that most generally known ; but the incidents now become more complicated, and after the in- troduction of Arthur's son upon the scene, we arrive at particulars which have long been banished from the nursery library. 68 FIRESIDE STORIES. alter bis determination, but it was all in vain, so at last he granted his request, and the prince set out with two horses, one loaded with money, the other for himself to ride upon. Now, after several days' travel, be came to a market-town in Wales, where he beheld a vast con- course of people gathered together. The prince de- manded the reason of it, and was told that they had arrested a corpse for several large sums of money which the deceased owed when he died. The prince replied that it was a pity creditors should be so cruel, and said, " Go bury the dead, and let his creditors come to my lodging, and there their debts shall be discharged." They accordingly came, but in such great numbers, that before night he had almost left himself penniless. Now Jack the Giant-killer happened to be in the town while these transactions took place, and he was so pleased with the generosity exhibited by the prince, that he offered to become his servant, an offer which was immediately accepted. The next morning they set for- ward on their journey, when, as they were just leaving the town, an old woman called after the prince, saying, " He has owed me twopence these seven years ; pray pay me as well as the rest." So reasonable and urgent a demand could not be resisted, and the prince imme- diately discharged the debt, but it took the last penny he had to accomplish it. This event, though generally ridiculed by heroes, w^as one by no means overlooked by the prince, who required all Jack's assuring eloquence to console him. Jack himself, indeed, had a very poor exchequer, and after their day's refreshment, they were entirely without money. When night drew on, the prince was anxious to secure a lodging, but as they had no means to hire one. Jack said, '* Never mind, master, we shall do well enough, for I have an uncle lives within two miles of this place ; he is a huge and monstrous giant with three heads ; he'll fight five hundred men in Armour, and make them flee before him." "Alas!" FIRESIDE STORIES. 69 quoth the prince, " what shall we do there ? He'll cer- tainly chop us up at a mouthful. Nay, we are scarce enough to fill his hollow tooth !" " It is no matter for that," quoth Jack ; *' I myself will go before, and pre- pare the way for you ; therefore tarry and wait tiJl I return." Jack then rides off full speed, and coming to the gate of the castle, he knocked so loud that the neighbouring hills resounded like thunder. The giant, terribly vexed with the liberty taken by Jack, roared out, "Who's there?" He was answered, "None but your poor cousin Jack." Quoth he, "What news with my poor cousin Jack?" He replied, "Dear uncle, heavy news." " God wot," quoth the giant, "prithee what heavy news can come to me ? I am a giant with three heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five hundred men in armour, and make them fly like chaff before the wind." "Oh, but," quoth Jack, "here's the prince a-coming with a thousand men in armour to kill you, and destroy all that you have !" " Oh, cousin Jack," said the giant, "this is heavy news indeed ! I will immediately run and hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar me in, and keep the keys till the prince is gone." Jack joyfully complied with the giant's request, and fetching his master, they feasted and made themselves merry whilst the poor giant laid trembling in a vault under ground. In the morning. Jack furnished the prince with a fresh supply of gold and silver, and then sent him three miles forward on his journey, concluding, according to the story-book, "he was then pretty well out of the smell of the giant." Jack afterwards returned, and liberated the giant from the vault, who asked what he should give him for preserving the castle from de- struction. "Why," quoth Jack, "I desire nothing but the old coat and cap, together with the old rusty sword and slippers which are at your bed's head." Quoth the giant, "Thou shalt have them, and pray 70 FIRESIDE STORIES. keep them for my sake, for they are things of excellent use ; the coat will keep you invisible, the cap will fur- nish you with knowledge, the sword cuts asunder what- ever you strike, and the shoes are of extraordinary swiftness. These may be serviceable to you : therefore take them with all my heart." Jack was delighted with these useful presents, and having overtaken his master, they quickly arrived at the lady's house, who, finding the prince to be a suitor, prepared a splendid banquet for him. After the repast was concluded, she wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and then concealed it in her dress, saying, *' You must show me that handkerchief to-morrow morning, or else you will lose your head." The prince went to bed in great sorrow at this hard condition, but fortunately Jack's cap of knowledge instructed him how it was to be fulfilled. In the middle of the night she called upon her familiar * to carry her to the evil spirit. Jack im- mediately put on his coat of darkness, and his shoes of swiftness, and was there before her, his coat rendering him invisible. When she entered the lower regions, she gave the handkerchief to the spirit, who laid it upon a shelf, whence Jack took it, and brought it to his master, who showed it to the lady the next day, and so saved his life. The next evening at supper she saluted the prince, telling him he must show her the lips to- morrow morning that she kissed last this night, or lose his head. He replied, *' If you kiss none but mine, I will." "That is neither here nor there," said she, "if you do not, death is your portion!" At midnight she went below as before, and was angry with the spirit for letting the handkerchief go : " But now," quoth she, " I will be too hard for the prince, for I will kiss thee, and he is to show me thy lips." She did so, and Jack, w^ho was standing by, cut off the spirit's head, and brought it under his invisible coat to his master, who * An attendant spirit. FIRESIDE STORIES. 71 produced it triumphantly the next morning before the lady. This feat destroyed the enchantment, the evil spirits immediately forsook her, and she appeared still more sweet and lovely, beautiful as she was before. They were married the next morning, and shortly after^ wards went to the court of King Arthur, where Jack, for his eminent services, was created one of the knights of the Round Table. Our hero, having been successful in all his under- takings, and resolving not to remain idle, but to perform what services he could for the honour of his country, humbly besought his majesty to fit him out with a horse and money to enable him to travel in search of new adventures; for, said he, "there are many giants yet living in the remote part of Wales, to the unspeak- able damage of your majesty's subjects ; w^herefore may it please you to encourage me, I do not doubt but in a short time to cut them oiF root and branch, and so rid all the realm of those giants and monsters in human shape." We need scarcely say that Jack's generous offer was at once accepted. The king furnished him with the necessary accoutrements, and Jack set out with his magical cap, sword, and shoes, the better to perform the dangerous enterprises which now lay before him. After travelling over several hills and mountains, the country through which he passed offering many impedi- ments to travellers, on the third day he arrived at a very large wood, which he had no sooner entered than his ears were assailed with piercing shrieks. Advancing softly towards the place where the cries appeared to proceed from, he was horror-struck at perceiving a huge giant dragging along a fair lady, and a knight her hus- band, by the hair of their heads, *'with as much ease," says the original narrative, ** as if they had been a pair of gloves." Jack shed tears of pity on the fate of this hapless couple, but not suffering his feelings to render him neglectful of action, he put on his invisible coat> 72 FIRESIDE STOKIES. and taking with him his infaUible sword, succeeded, after considerable trouble, and many cuts, to despatch the monster, whose dying groans were so terrible, that they made the whole wood ring again. The courteous knight and his fair lady were overpowered with gratitude, and, after returning Jack their best thanks, they invited him to their residence, there to recruit his strength after the frightful encounter, and receive more substantial de- monstrations of their obligations to him. Jack, how- ever, declared that he would not rest until he had found out the giant's habitation. The knight, on hearing this determination, was very sorrowful, and replied, *' Noble stranger, it is too much to run a second hazard : this monster lived in a den under yonder mountain, with a brother more fierce and cruel than himself. Therefore, if you should go thither, and perish in the attempt, it would be a heart-breaking to me and my lady : let me persuade you to go with us, and desist from any further pursuit." The knight's reasoning had the very opposite efiect that was intended, for Jack, hearing of another giant, eagerly embraced the opportunity of displaying his skill, promising, however, to return to the knight when he had accomplished his second labour. He had not ridden more than a mile and a half, when the cave mentioned by the knight appeared to view, near the entrance of which he beheld the giant, sitting upon a block of timber, with a knotted iron club by his side, waiting, as he supposed, for his brother's return with his barbarous prey. This giant is described as having ''goggle eyes like flames of fire, a countenance grim and ugly, cheeks like a couple of large flitches of bacon, the bristles of his beard resembling rods of iron wire, and locks that hung down upon his brawny shoulders like curled snakes or hissing adders." Jack alighted from his horse, and putting on the invisible coat, approached near the giant, and said softly, "Oh! are you there? it will not be long ere I shall take you fast by the beard." FIKESIDE STORIES. 7S The giant all this while could not see him, on account of his invisible coat, so that Jack, coming up close to the monster, struck a blow with his sword at his head, but unfortunately missing his aim, he cut off the nose instead. The giant, as we may suppose, "roared like claps of thunder,*' and began to lay about him in all directions with his iron club so desperately, that even Jack was frightened, but exercising his usual ingenuity, he soon despatched him. After this. Jack cut off the giant's head, and sent it, together with that of his brother, to King Arthur, by a waggoner he hired for that purpose, who gave an account of all his wonderful proceedings. The redoubtable Jack next proceeded to search the giant's cave in search of his treasure, and passing along through a great many winding passages, he came at length to a large room paved with freestone, at the upper end of which was a boiling caldron, and on the right hand a large table, at which the giants usually dined. After passing this dining-room, he came to a large and well-secured den filled with human captives, who were fattened and taken at intervals for food, as we do poultry. Jack set the poor prisoners at liberty, and, to compensate them for their sufferings and dreadful anti- cipations, shared the giant's treasure equally amongst them, and sent them to their homes overjoyed at their unexpected deliverance. It was about sunrise when Jack, after the conclusion of this adventure, having had a good night's rest, mounted his horse to proceed on his journey, and, by the help of directions, reached the knight's house about noon. He was received with the most extraordinary demonstrations of joy, and his kind host, out of respect to Jack, prepared a feast which lasted many days, all the nobility and gentry in the neighbourhood being invited to it. The knight related the hero's adventures to his assembled guests, and presented him with a beautiful ring, on which was engraved a representation of. the 7 74 FIRESIDE STORIES. giant dragging the distressed knight and his lady, with this motto : We were in sad distress you see, Under the giant's fierce command. But gain'd our lives and liberty By valiant Jack's victorious hand. But earthly happiness is not generally of long dura- tion, and so in some respects it proved on the present occasion, for in the midst of the festivities arrived a messenger with the dismal intelligence that one Thun- derdell, a giant with two heads, having heard of the death of his two kinsmen, came from the north to be revenged on Jack, and was already within a mile of the knight's house, the country people flying before him in all directions. The intelligence had no effect on the dauntless Jack, who immediately said, *^ Let him come ! I have a tool to pick his teeth ;" and with this elegant assertion, he invited the guests to witness his perform- ance from a high terrace in the garden of the castle. It is now necessary to inform the reader that the knight's house or castle was situated in an island en- compassed with a moat thirty feet deep, and twenty feet wide, passable by a drawbridge. Now Jack, in- tending to accomplish his purpose by a clever stratagem, employed men to cut through this drawbridge on both sides nearly to the middle ; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched against the giant with his well-tried sword. As he approached his adversary, although invisible, the giant, being, as it appears, an epicure in such matters, was aware of his approach, and exclaimed, in a fearful tone of voice — ri, fee, fo, fum !* I smell the blood of an English man ! Be he alive or be he dead, rn grind his bones to make me bread ! • These lines are quoted by Edgar in the tragedy of King Lear. FIRESIDE STORIES. 75 " Say you so," said Jack ; " then you are a monstrous miller indeed." The giant, deeply incensed, replied, *' Art thou that villain who killed my kinsman ? then I will tear thee with my teeth, and grind thy bones to powder." " But," says Jack, still provoking him, " you must catch me first, if you please :" so putting aside his invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and put- ting on his wonderful shoes, he enticed him into a chase by just approaching near enough to give him an appa- rent chance of capture. The giant, we are told, "fol- lowed like a walking castle, so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at every step." Jack led him a good distance, in order that the wondering guests at the castle might see him to advantage, but at last, to end the matter, he ran over the drawbridge, the giant pursuing him with his club ; but coming to the place where the bridge was cut, the giant's great weight burst it asunder, and he was precipitated into the moat, where he rolled about, says the author, "like a vast whale." While the monster was in this condition. Jack sadly bantered him about the boast he had made of grinding his bones to powder, but at length, having teased him sufficiently, a cart-rope was cast over the two heads of the giant, and he was drawn ashore by a team of horses, where Jack served him as he had done his relatives, cut off his heads, and sent them to King Arthur. It would seem that the giant-killer rested a short time after this adventure, but he was soon tired of inac- tivity, and again went in search of another giant, the last whose head he was destined to chop off. After passing a long distance, he came at length to a large mountain, at the foot of which was a very lonely house. Knocking at the door, it was opened by " an ancient* man, with a head as white as snow," who received Jack very courte- ously, and at once consented to his request for a lodging. Whilst they were at supper, the old man, who appears * An old man. 76 FIRESIDE STORIES. to have known more than was suspected, thus addressed the hero : " Son, I am sensible you are a conqueror of giants, and I therefore inform you that on the top of this mountain is an enchanted castle, maintained by a giant named Galligantus, who, by the help of a conjuror, gets many knights into his castle, where they are trans- formed into sundry shapes and forms : but, above all, I especially lament a duke's daughter, whom they took from her father's garden, bringing her through the air in a chariot drawn by fiery dragons, and securing her within the castle walls, transformed her into the shape of a hind. Now, though a great many knights have endeavoured to break the enchantment, and work her deliverance, yet no one has been able to accomplish it, on account of two fiery griffins which are placed at the gate, and which destroyed them at their approach ; but you, my son, being furnished with an invisible coat, may pass by them undiscovered, and on the gates of the castle you will find engraven in large characters by what means the enchantment may be broken." The un- daunted Jack at once accepted the commission, and pledged his faith to the old man to proceed early in the morning on this new adventure. In the morning, as soon as it was daylight. Jack put on his invisible coat, and prepared himself for the enter- prise. When he had reached the top of the mountain, he discovered the two fiery griffins, but, being invisible, he passed them without the slightest danger. When he had reached the gate of the castle, he noticed a golden trumpet attached to it, under which were written in large characters the following lines : Whoever doth this trumpet blow,* Shall soon the giant overthrow, And break the black enchantment straight. So all shall be in happy state. * Variations of this incident are found in romances of ail nations. FIRESIDE STORIES. 7T Jack at once accepted the challenge, and putting the trumpet to his mouth, gave a blast that made the hills re-echo. The castle trembled to its foundations, and the giant and conjuror were overs tricken with fear, knowing that the reign of their enchantments was at an end. The former was speedily slain by Jack, but the conjuror, mounting up into the air, was carried away in a whirlwind, and never heard of more. The enchant- ments were immediately broken, and all the lords and ladies, who had so long been cruelly transformed, were standing on the native earth in their natural shapes, the castle having vanished with the conjuror. The only relic of the giant which was left was the head, which Jack cut off in the first instance, and which we must suppose rolled away from the influence of the enchanted castle, or it would have *' vanished into thin air" with the body. It was fortunate that it did so, for it proved an inestimable trophy at the court of King Arthur, where Jack the Giant-killer was shortly after- wards united to the duke's daughter whom he had freed from enchantment, '' not only to the joy of the court, but of all the kingdom." To complete his happiness, he was endowed with a noble house and estates, and his penchant for giant-killing having subsided, or, what is more probable, no more monsters appearing to interrupt his tranquillity, he accomplished the usual conclusion to these romantic narratives, by passing the remainder of his life in the enjoyment of every domestic felicity. [I have alluded to the quotation from this primitive romance made by Shakespeare in King Lear, but if the story of Rowland, published by Mr. Jamieson, is to be trusted, it would seem that the great dramatist was in- debted to a ballad of the time. This position would, however, compel us to adopt the belief that the words of the giant are also taken from the ballad ; a supposi- tion to which I am most unwilling to assent. In fact, I 7§ 78. FIRESIDE STORIES. believe that Edgar quotes from two different composi- tions, the first line from a ballad on Rowland, the second from Jack and the Giants. "And Rowland into the castle came" is a line in the second ballad of Rosmer Hafmand, or the Merman Rosmer, in the Danish Kcempe Visei\ p. 165. The story alluded to above may be briefly given as follows. The sons of King Arthur were playing at ball in the merry town of Carlisle, and their sister, "Burd* Ellen" was in the midst of them. Now it happened that Child Rowland gave the ball such a powerful kick with his foot that "o'er the kirk he gar'd it flee." Burd Ellen went round about in search of the ball, but what was the consternation of her brothers when they found that she did not return, although "they bade lang and ay langer," — They sought her east, they sought her west, They sought her up and down ; And wae were the hearts in merry Carlisle, Por she was nae gait found. At last her eldest brother went to the Warlock or Wizard Merlin, and asked him if he knew where his sister, the fair Burd Ellen, was. " The fair Burd Ellen," said the Warlock Merlin, " is carried away by the fairies, and is now in the castle of the King of Elfland ; and it were too bold an undertaking for the stoutest knight in Christendom to bring her back." The brother, how- ever, insisted upon undertaking the enterprise, and after receiving proper instructions from Merlin, which he failed in observing, he set out on his perilous expedition, and was never more seen. The other brothers took the same course, and shared a similar fate, till it came to the turn of Child Rowland, who with great difficulty obtained the consent of his * It is almost unnecessary to observe that burd was an ancient term for lady. FIRESIDE STORIES. 79 mother, for Queen Guinever began to be afraid of losing all her children. Rowland, having received her blessing, girt on his father's celebrated sword Excaliber, that never struck in vain, and repaired to Merlin's cave. The wizard gave him all necessary instructions for his journey and conduct, the most important of which were that he should kill every person he met with after entering the land of Faerie, and should neither eat nor drink of what was oflfered him in that country, whatever his hunger or thirst might be ; for if he tasted or touched in Elfland, he must remain in the power of the elves, and never see middle-earth again. Child Rowland faithfully promised to observe the in- structions of Merlin, and he accordingly went to Elf- land, where he found, as the wizard had foretold, the king's horseherd feeding his horses. "Canst thou tell me," said Rowland, "where the castle of the king of Elfland is?" "I cannot," replied the horseherd, "but go a little further, and thou wilt come to a cowherd, and perhaps he will know." When he had made this an- swer, Rowland, remembering his instructions, took his good sword, and cut off the head of the horseherd. He then went a little further, and met with a cowherd, to whom he repeated the same question, and obtained the same answer. Child Rowland then cut off the cow- herd's head, and having pursued exactly the same course with a shepherd, goatherd, and a swineherd, he is re- ferred by the last to a hen-wife, who, in reply to his question, said, " Go on yet a little farther till you come to a round green hill, surrounded with terraces from the bottom to the top : go round it three times widershins,* and every time say, ' Open door, open door, and let me come in !' and the third time the door will open, and you may go in." Child Rowland immediately cut off the hen-wife's head in return for her intelligence, and • The contrary way to the course of the sun. 80. riRESIDE STORIES. following her directions, a door in the hill opened, and he went in. As soon as he entered, the door closed be- hind him, and he traversed a long passage, which was dimly but pleasantly lighted by crystallized rock, till he came to two wide and lofty folding-doors, which stood ajar. He opened them, and entered an immense hall, which seemed nearly as big as the hill itself. It was the most magnificent apartment in all the land of Faerie, for the pillars were of gold and silver, and the keystones ornamented with clusters of diamonds. A gold chain hung from the middle of the roof, supporting an enormous lamp composed of one hollowed transpa- rent pearl, in the midst of which was a large magical carbuncle that beautifully illumined the whole of the hall. At the upper end of the hall, seated on a splendid sofa, under a rich canopy, was his sister the Burd Ellen, "kembing her yellow hair wi' a silver kemb," who im- mediately perceiving him, was sorrow-struck at the anticipation of his being destroyed by the king of Elf- land, — And hear ye this, my youngest brither. Why badena ye not at hame ? Had ye a hunder and thousand hves. Ye canna brook ane o' them. And she informs him that he will certainly lose his life if the king finds him in the hall. A long conversation then took place, and Rowland tells her all his adven- tures, concluding his narrative with the observation that, after his long journey, he is very hungry. On this the Burd Ellen shook her head, and looked sor- rowfully at him ; but, impelled by her enchantment, she rose up, and procured him a golden bowl full of bread and milk. It was then that the Child Rowland remembered the instructions of theWarlock Merlin, and he passionately exclaimed, **Burd Ellen, I will neither eat nor drink till I set thee free !" Immediately this speech was uttered. FIRESIDE STORIES. 81 the folding-doors of the hall burst open with tremen- dous violence, and in came the king of Elf-land, — With, Fe, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of a Christian man ! Be he dead, be he Hving, wi' my brand I'll clash his hams frae his harn-pan !* " Strike, then. Bogle, if thou darest," exclaimed the undaunted Child Rowland, and a furious combat ensued, but Rowland, by the help of his good sword, conquered the elf-king, sparing his life on condition that he would restore to him his two brothers and sister. The king joyfully consented, and having disenchanted them by the anointment of a bright red liquor, they all four re- turned in triumph to merry Carlisle.] TOM HICKATHRIFT. [Tom Hickathrift belongs to the same series as Jack the Giant-killer, one of the popular corruptions of old northern romances. It seems to allude to some of the insurrections in the Isle of Ely, such as that of Hereward, described in Wright's Essays, ii. 91. Spelman, how- ever, describes a tradition, which he says was credited by the inhabitants of Tylney, in which Hickifric appears as the assertor of the rights of their ancestors, and the means he employed on the occasion correspond with incidents in the following tale. The entire passage is worth transcription. " In Marslandia sitae sunt Wal- soka, Waltona, et Walpola. In viciniis jacent Terrington et St. Maries — adjacet Tylney veteris utiqueTylneioi^m familise radix. Hie se expandit insignis area quse a pla- nicie nuncupatur Tyhiey Smeeth, pinguis adeo et luxu- rians ut Paduana pascua videatur superasse. Tuentur eam indigense velut aras et focos, fabellamque recitant longa petitam vetustate de Hickifrico (nescio quo) Haii ilHus instar in Scotorum Chronicis qui civium * LiteraUy, " I will dash his brains from his skull with my sword." 82 FIRESIDE STORIES. suorum dedignatus fuga, aratrum quod agebat solvit ; arreptoque temone furibundus insiliit in iiostes victo- riamque ademit exultantibus. Sic cum de agri istius possessione acriter olim dimicatum esset, inter fundi dominum et villarum incolas, nee valerent hi adversus eum consistere, redeuntibus occurrit Hickifrickus, axemque excutiens a curru quern agehat^ eo vice gladii usus ; rota, clypei ; invasores repulit ad ipsos quibus nunc funguntur terminos. Ostendunt in coemeterio Tilniensi sepulchrum sui pugilis, axem cum rota in- sculptum exhibens." — Icenia, Descriptio Norfolcise, p. 138. Hearne mentions this gravestone, and perhaps some Norfolk topographer will tell us if it now exists.] The author of the renowned History of Tom Hicka- thrift prefaces his narrative with the following consola- tory exordium : — And if thou dost buy this book. Be sure that you do on it look. And read it o'er, then thou wilt say Thy money is not thrown away. In the reign before William the Conqueror, I have read in ancient history that there dwelt a man in the parish of the Isle of Ely, in the county of Cambridge, named Thomas Hickathrift, a poor labouring man, but so strong that he was able to do in one day the ordi- nary work of two. He had an only son, whom he christened Thomas, after his own name. The old man put his son "to good learning," but he would take none, for he was, as we call them in this age, none of the wisest, but something soft, and had no docility at all in him. God calling this good man, the father, to his rest, his mother, being tender of him, maintained him by her hard labour as well as she could ; but this was no easy matter, for Tom would sit all day in the chimney-corner, instead of doing anything to assist her, and although at the period we are speaking of, he was FIRESIDE STORIES. 83 only ten years old, he would eat more than four or five ordinary men, and was five feet and a half in height, and two feet and a half broad. His hand was more like a shoulder of mutton than a boy's hand, and he was altogether like a little monster, " but yet his great strength was not known." Tom's strength came to be known in this manner. His mother, it appears, as well as himself, for they lived in the primitive days of merry old England, slept upon straw. This was in character with the wretched mud hovels then occupied by the labouring population, not half so good as many pigsties are now-a-days. Now being a tidy old creature, she must every now and then replenish her homely couch, and one day, having been promised a "bottle" of straw by a neighbouring farmer, after considerable entreaty, she prevailed on her son to go to fetch it. Tom, however, made her borrow a cart- rope first, before he would budge a step, without con- descending to enter into any explanation respecting the use he intended it for ; and the poor woman, too glad to obtain his assistance on any terms, readily complied with his singular request. Tom, swinging the rope round his shoulders, went to the farmer's, and found him with two men, thrashing in a barn. Having men- tioned the object of his visit, the farmer somewhat in- considerately told him he might take as much straw as he could carry. Tom immediately took him at his word, and, placing the rope in a right position, rapidly made up a bundle containing at least a cartload, the men jeering him on the absurdity of raising a pile they imagined no man could carry, and maliciously asking him if his rope was long enough. Their merriment, however, was not of long duration, for Tom flung the enormous bundle over his shoulders, and walked away with it without any apparent exertion, much to the astonishment and dismay of the master and his men. After this exploit, Tom was no longer suffered to 84 FIRESIDE STORIES. enjoy his idle humours. Every one was endeavouring to secure his services, and we are told many remarkable tales of his extraordinary strength, still more wonderful than the one just related. On one occasion, having been offered as great a bundle of firewood as he could carry, he marched off with one of the largest trees in the forest ! Tom was also extremely fond of attending fairs ; and in cudgelling, wrestling, or throwing the hammer, there was no one w^ho could compete with him. He thought nothing of flinging a huge hammer into the middle of a river a mile off, and in fact per- formed such extraordinary feats, that it was currently reported throughout the country he had dealings with the Evil One. Tom Hickathrift, too, was a very care-for-nothing fellow, and there were very few persons in all the Isle of Ely who dared to give him an ill word. Those who did paid very dearly for their impertinence, and Tom was, in fact, paramount over his companions. His great strength, however, caused him to be much sought after by those who were in want of efficient labour, and at length a brewer at Lynn, who required a strong, lusty fellow to carry his beer to the Marsh and to Wisbech, after much persuasion, and promising him a new suit of clothes, and as much as he liked to eat and drink, secured Tom for this purpose. The distance he daily travelled with the beer was upwards of twenty miles, for although there was a shorter cut through the Marsh, no one durst go that way for fear of a monstrous giant, who was lord of a portion of the district, and who killed or made slaves of every one he could lay his hands upon. Now in the course of time, Tom was thoroughly tired of going such a roundabout way, and without commu- nicating his purpose to any one, he w^as resolved to pass through the giant's domain, or lose his life in the attempt. This was a bold undertaking, but good FIRESIDE STORIES. 85 living had so increased Tom's strength and courage, that, venturesome as he was before, his hardiness was so much increased that he would have faced a still greater danger. He accordingly drove his cart in the forbidden direction, flinging the gates wide open, as if for the purpose of making his daring more conspicuous. At length he was espied by the giant, who was indig- nant at his boldness, but consoled himself with the reflection that Tom and the beer would soon become his prey. "Sirrah," said the monster, "who gave you permission to come this way ? Do you not know how I make all stand in fear of me ? and you, like an impu- dent rogue, must come and fling my gates open at your pleasure ! How dare you presume to do so ? Are you careless of your life ? Do not you care what you do ? But I will make you an example for all rogues under the sun ! Dost thou not see how many thousand heads hang upon yonder tree, heads of those who have of- fended against my laws; but thy head shall hang higher than all the rest for an example !" But Tom made him this impudent answer, "A dishclout in your teeth for your news, for you shall not find me to be one of them !" " No !" said the giant, in astonishment and indignation ; "and what a fool you must be if you come to fight with such a one as I am, and bring never a weapon to defend yourself !" Quoth Tom, " I have a weapon here will make you know you are a traitorly rogue." This impertinent speech highly incensed the giant, who immediately ran to his cave for his club, in- tending to dash out Tom's brains at one blow. Tom was now much distressed for a weapon, that necessary accoutrement in his expedition having by some means escaped his memory, and he began to reflect how very little his whip would avail him against a monster twelve feet in height, and six feet round the waist, small di- mensions certainly for a giant, but sufficient to be formidable. But while the giant was gone for his club, 8 86 riKESIDE STORIES. Tom bethought himself, and turning his cart upside down, adroitly takes out the axletree, which would serve him for a staff, and removing a wheel, adapts it to his arm in lieu of a shield ; very good weapons in- deed in time of trouble, and worthy of Tom's ingenuity. When the monster returned with his club, he was amazed to see the weapons with which Tom had armed himself, but uttering a word of defiance, he bore down upon the poor fellow with such heavy strokes, that it was as much as Tom could do to defend himself with his wheel. Tom, however, at length managed to give the giant* a heavy blow with the axletree on the side of his head, that he nearly reeled over. " What !" said Tom, ** are you tipsy with my strong beer already?" This inquiry did not, as we may suppose, mollify the giant, who laid on his blows so sharply and heavily that Tom was obliged to act on the defensive. By and by, not making any impression on the wheel, he got almost tired out, and was obliged to ask Tom if he would let him drink a little, and then he would fight again. "No,'' said Tom, "my mother did not teach me that wit; who would be fool then?" The sequel may readily be imagined, and Tom having beaten the giant, and, disregarding his supplications for mercy, cut off his head, entered the cave, which he found com- pletely filled with gold and silver. The news of this celebrated victory rapidly spread throughout the country, for the giant had been a com- mon enemy to the inhabitants. They made bonfires for . joy, and testified their respect to Tom by every means in their power. A few days afterwards, Tom took pos- session of the cave and all the giant's treasure. He pulled down the former, and built a magnificent house on the spot ; but with respect to the land forcibly ob- * In the original it is lent the giants the term lent being old English or Saxon for gave. The expression sufficiently proves the antiquity of the version. FIRESIDE STORIES. 8/ tained by the giant, part of it he gave to the poor for their common, merely reserving enough to maintain himself and his good old mother, Jane Hickathrift. His treasure, we may suppose, notwithstanding this great liberality, enabled him to maintain a noble esta- blishment, for he is represented as having numbers of servants, and a magnificent park of deer. He also built a famous church, which was called St. James's, because it was on that saint's day that he had killed the giant. And what was as good and better than all this, he was no longer called Tom Hickathrift by the people, but " Mr. Hickathrift," a title then implying a greater advancement in social position that can now scarcely be imagined. Like many other persons who have become suddenly possessed of great wealth, Tom was sadly at a loss to know what to do with his money ; nor does this sage history condescend to inform us in what manner he expended it. He seems, however, to have amused him- self rarely, attending every sport he could hear of for miles round, cracking skulls at cudgel-playing, bear- baiting, and all the gentlemanly recreations current in those days. At football he could scarcely have been a welcome addition to the company, for one kick from his foot, if he caught it in the middle, was sure to send the ball so great a distance over hedges and trees that it was never seen again. Tom was, also, one evening attacked by four robbers ; but they sadly mistook the person they had to deal with, for he quickly killed two of them, made the others sue for mercy, and carried off their booty, which amounted to the large sum of two hundred pounds. One would have thought the Hicka- thrifts were wealthy enough before, but this addition to their store was, somehow or other, a source of great delight and merriment to Tom's aged mother. Tom was a long time before he found any one that could match him; but, one day, going through his 88 FIRESIDE STORIES. woods, he met with a lusty tinker, who had a great staff on his shoulder, and a large dog to carry his bag and tools. Tom was not particularly courteous ; it may readily be supposed that his unvarying successes had made him rather overbearing; and he somewhat rudely asked the tinker what was his business there. But the tinker was no man to succumb, and as rudely answered, "What's that to you? Fools must needs be meddling !" A quarrel was soon raised, and the two laid on in good earnest, blow for blow, till the wood re-echoed with their strokes. The issue of the contest was long doubtful, but, the tinker was so persevering, that Tom confessed he was fairly vanquished ; and they then went home together, and were sworn brothers in arms ever afterwards. It happened, from the events that followed, to be a fortunate occurrence. In and about the Isle of Ely, many disaffected persons, to the number of ten thousand and upwards, drew them- selves up in a body, presuming to contend for their an- cient rights and liberties, insomuch that the gentry and civil magistrates of the county were in great danger. The danger was so great, that the sheriff was obliged to come to Tom Hicka thrift, under cover of the night, for shelter and protection, and gave him a full account of the rebellion. The tinker and Tom immediately pro- mised their assistance, and they went out as soon as it was day, armed with their clubs, the sheriff conducting them to the rendezvous of the rebels. When they arrived there, Tom and the tinker marched up to the leaders of the multitude, and asked them the reason of their disturbing the government. To this they answered loudly, ** Our will is our law, and by that alone will we be governed." "Nay," quoth Tom, "if it be so, these trusty clubs are our weapons, and by them alone you shall be chastised." These words were no sooner uttered, than they madly rushed on the immense multitude, bearing all before them, laying twenty or FIRESIDE STORIES. 89 thirty sprawling with every blow. It is also related, as something rather remarkable, that the tinker struck a tall man on the nape of the neck with such immense force that his head flew off, and was carried forty feet from the body with such violence that it knocked down one of the chief ringleaders, killing him on the spot. The feats of Tom were no less wonderful ; for, after having slain hundreds, and at length broke his club, he seized upon "a lusty rawboned miller" as a substitute, and made use of him as a weapon, till he had quite cleared the field. The king of course received intelligence of these ex- traordinary exploits, and sent for the two heroes to his palace, where a royal banquet was prepared for their honour and entertainment, most of the nobility being present. Now after the banquet was over, the king made a speech, neither too short nor too long, but having the extraordinary merit of being much to the purpose. We cannot omit so remarkable a specimen of royal eloquence. "These, my guests," said the king, "are my trusty and well-beloved subjects, men of approved courage and valour ; they are the men that overcame and conquered ten thousand rebels who were combined for the purpose of disturbing the peace of my realm. According to the character I have received of Thomas Hickathrift and Henry Nonsuch, my two worthy guests here present, they cannot be matched in any other kingdom in the world. Were it possible to have an army of twenty thousand such as these, I dare venture to assert I would act the part of Alexander the Great over again. In the meanwhile, as a proof of my royal favour, kneel down, Thomas Hickathrift, and re- ceive the ancient order of knighthood. And with re- spect to Henry Nonsuch, I will settle upon him, as a reward for his great services, the sum of forty shillings a year for life." After the delivery of this excellent address, the king retired, and Tom and Henry shortly 8'§ 90 FIRESIDE STORIES. afterwards took their departure, attended for many- miles by a portion of the court. When Sir Tiiomas Hickathrift returned home, he found, to his great sorrow, that his mother had died during his stay at the court. It can scarcely be said that he was inconsolable for her loss, but being " left alone in a large and spacious house, he found himself strange and uncouth." He therefore began to consider whether it would not be advisable to seek out for a wife, and hearing of a wealthy young widow not far from Cambridge, he went and paid his addresses to her. At his first coming, she appeared to favour his suit, but, before he paid her a second visit, her fancy had been attracted by a more elegant wooer, and Sir Thomas actually found him at her feet. The young spark, re- lying on the lady's favour, was vehemently abusive to the knight, calling him a great lubberly whelp, a brewer's servant, and a person altogether unfitted to make love to a lady. Sir Thomas was not a likely man to allow such an affront to go unpunished, so going out in the courtyard with the dandy to settle the matter, he gave him a kick which sent him over the tops of the houses into a pond some distance off, where he would have been drowned, had not a poor shepherd, passing by, pulled him out with his crook. The gallant studied every means of being revenged upon the knight, and for this purpose engaged two troopers to lie in ambush for him. Tom, however, according to the story, "crushed them like cucumbers."* Even when he was going to church with his bride to be married, he was set upon by one-and-twenty ruffians in armour ; but, borrowing a back-sword from one of the company, he laid about him with such dexterity, that, purposely desiring not to kill any one, at every blow he chopped off a leg or an arm, the ground being strewed • The author is not very particular in his similes, but this appears to be quite peculiar to this history. FIRESIDE STORIES. 91 with the relics, " as it is with tiles from the tops of the houses after a dreadful storm." His intended and friends were mightily amused at all this, and the fair one jokingly observed, *^What a splendid lot of cripples he has made in the twinkling of an eye !" Sir Thomas only received a slight scratch, and he consoled himself for the trifling misfortune by the conviction he had only lost a drop of blood for every limb he had chopped off. The marriage ceremony took place without any further adventure, and Sir Thomas gave a great feast on the occasion, to which all the poor widows for miles round were invited in honour of his deceased mother, and it lasted for four days, in memory of the four last victories he had obtained. The only occurrence at this feast worth mentioning was the theft of a silver cup, which was traced to the possession of an old woman of the name of Stumbelup,* and the others were so disgusted at her ingratitude to their kind host, that she would have been hanged on the spot, had not Sir Thomas in- terfered, and undertook the appointment of the punish- ment. Nor was it otherwise than comical, for she was condemned to be drawn through all the streets and lanes of Cambridge on a wheelbarrow, holding a placard in her hands, which informed the public, — I am the naughty Stumbehip, Who tried to steal the silver cup. The news of Tom's wedding soon reached the court, and the king, remembering his eminent services, im- mediately invited him and his lady, who visited their sovereign immediately, and were received by him most affectionately. While they were on this visit, intelli- gence arrived that an extraordinary invasion had taken place in the county of Kent. A huge giant riding on a dragon, and accompanied with a large number of bears * This incident has been slightly altered, the original narrative being of a nature that will not bear an exact transcription. 92 FIRESIDE STOKIES. and lions, had landed on the coast of that unfortunate county, and was ravaging it in all directions. The king, says the history, was *' a little startled," and well he might be, at such a visitation ; but, taking advantage of the opportune presence of Tom Hickathrift, he solved the difficulty by creating him governor of the Isle of Thanet,* and thus making him responsible for the pro- tection of the inhabitants from this terrible monster. There was a castle in the island, from which the country was visible for miles round, and this was the governor's abode. He had not been there long before he caught a view of the giant, who is described as " mounted upon a dreadful dragon, with an iron club upon his shoulders, having but one eye, the which was placed in his forehead; this eye was larger in compass than a barber's bason, and appeared like a flaine of fire ; his visage was dreadful to behold, grim and tawny ; the hair of his head hung down his back and shoulders like snakes of an enormous length; and the bristles of his beard were hke rusty wire !" It is difficult to imagine a being more terrible than this, but Tom was only surprised, not frightened, when he saw one day the giant making his way to the castle on his formidable dragon. After he had well viewed the edifice with his glaring eye, he tied the dragon up to a tree, and went up to the castle as if he had intended to thrust it down with his shoulder. But somehow or other he managed to slip down, so that he could not extricate himself, and Tom, advancing with his two-handed sword, cut off the giant's head at one blow, and the dragon's at four, and sent them up in a "waggon" to the court of his sovereign. The news of Tom's victories reached the ears of his old companion, the tinker, who became desirous of sharing in his glory, and accordingly joined him at his castle. ♦ In the heading of the chapter in the original it is East Angles, now called the Isle of Thanet, an error which favours the supposition of the story having been adapted from a much older original. FIRESIDE STORIES. 93 After mutual congratulations, Tom informed him of his wish to destroy, without delay, the beasts of prey that infested the island. They started for this purpose in company, Tom armed with his two-handed sword, and the tinker with his long pikestaff. After they had travelled about four or five hours, it was their fortune to meet with the whole knot of wild beasts together, being in number fourteen, six bears and eight lions. The two heroes waited for them with their backs against a tree, and whenever they came "within cutting dis- tance" they cut their heads off, and in this manner killed all but one lion, who, unfortunately, by an incon- siderate movement on the part of Tom, crushed the poor tinker to death. The animal was, however, ulti- mately slain by Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas Hickathrift had killed the giants, dragon, and lions, and he had conquered the rebels, but his happiness was by no means completed, for he was incon- solate for the loss of his friend. He, however, returned home to his lady, and made a grand feast in comme- moration of his important victories. The history ter- minates with the following brilliant metrical speech he made on this festive occasion : My friends, while I have strength to stand, Most manfully I wiU pursue All dangers, till I clear this land Of Hons, bears, and tigers, too. This you'll find true, or I'm to blame. Let it remain upon record, — Tom Hiekathrift's most glorious fame. Whenever yet has broke his word! 94 FIRESIDE STORIES. TOM THUMB. [Thumb stories are common in German and Danish, and the English tale comprises much that is found in the Northern versions. A writer in the Quarterly- Review, xxi. 100, enters into some speculations re- specting the mythological origin of Tom Thumb, and records his persuasion, in which we agree, that several of our common nursery tales are remnants of ancient fjivdoi. Sir W. Scott mentions the Danish popular history of Svend Tomling, analysed by Nierup, " a man no bigger than a thumb, who would be married to a woman three ells and three quarters long." This per- sonage is probably commemorated in the nursery rhyme, I had a little husband No bigger than my thumb : I put him in a pint-pot. And there! bid him drum. According to popular tradition, Tom Thumb died at Lincoln, and a little blue flagstone in the pavement of the cathedral used to be pointed out as his monument. " It was my good fortune," says Dr. Wagstafie, " some time ago, to have the library of a schoolboy committed to my charge, where, among other undisco- vered valuable authors, I pitched upon Tom Thumb and Tom Hickathrift, authors indeed more proper to adorn the shelves of Bodley or the Vatican, than to be con- fined to the retirement and obscurity of a private study. I have perused the first of these with an infinite plea- sure, and a more than ordinary application, and have made some observations on it, which may not, I hope, prove unacceptable to the public, and however it may have been ridiculed and looked upon as an entertain- ment only for children and those of younger years, may be found perhaps a performance not unworthy the perusal of the judicious, and the model superior to either of FIRESIDE STORIES. 95 those incomparable poems of Chevy Chase or the Chil- dren in the Wood. The design was undoubtedly to recommend virtue, and to show that however any one may labour under the disadvantages of stature and deformity, or the meanness of parentage, yet if his mind and actions are above the ordinary level, those very disadvantages that seem to depress him add a lustre to his character." — A Comment upon the History of Tom Thumb, 1711, p. 4.] In the merry days of good King Arthur, there lived in one of the counties of England a ploughman and his wife. They were poor, but as the husband was a strong workman, and his partner an able assistant in all matters pertaining to the farmhouse, the dairy, and poultry, they managed to make a very good living, and would have been contented and happy, had Nature blessed them with any offspring. But although they had been married several years, no olive branch had yet appeared, and the worthy couple sadly lamented their hard lot. There lived at this period, at the court of Arthur, a ce- lebrated conjuror and magician, whose name was Merlin, the astonishment of the whole world, for he knew the past, present, and future, and nothing appeared impos- sible to him. Persons of all classes soUcited his assist- ance and advice, and he was perfectly accessible to the humblest applicant. Aware of this, the ploughman, after a long consultation with his " better half," deter- mined to consult him, and, for this purpose, travelled to the court, and, with tears in his eyes, beseeched Merlin that he might have a child, "even though it should be no bigger than his thumb." Now Merlin had a strange knack of taking people exactly at their words, and without waiting for any more explicit declaration of the ploughman's wishes, at once 96 FIRESIDE STOKIES. granted his request. What was the poor countryman's astonishment to find, when he reached home, that his wife had given birth to a gentleman so diminutive, that it required a strong exercise of the vision to see him. His growth was equally wonderful, for — In four minutes he grew so fast, That he became as tall As was the ploughman's thumb in length. And so she did him call. The christening of this little fellow was a matter of much ceremony, for the fairy queen, attended by all her company of elves, was present at the rite, and he for- mally received the name of Tom Thumb. Her majesty and attendants attired him with their choicest weeds, and his costume is worth a brief notice. His hat was made of a beautiful oak leaf ; his shirt was composed of a fine spider's web, and his hose and doublet of thistle-down. His stockings were made with the rind of a delicate green apple, and the garters were two of the finest little hairs one can imagine, plucked from his mother's eyebrows. Shoes made of the skin of a little mouse, "and tanned most curiously," completed his fairy-like accoutrement. It may easily be imagined that Tom was an object of astonishment and ridicule amongst the other children of the village, but they soon discovered that, notwith- standing his diminutive size, he was more than a match for them. It was a matter of very little consequence to Tom whether he lost or won, for if he found his stock of counters or cherrystones run low, he soon crept into the pockets of his companions, and replenished his store. It happened, on one occasion, that he was de- tected, and the aggrieved party punished Tom by shut- ting him up in a pin-box. The fairy boy was sadly annoyed at his imprisonment, but the next day he amply revenged himself; for hanging a row of glasses on a FIRESIDE STORIES. 97 sunbeam, his companions thought they would follow his example, and, not possessing Tom's fairy gifts, broke the glasses, and were severely whipped, whilst the little imp was overjoyed at their misfortune, standing by, and laughing till the tears run down his face. The boys were so irritated with the trick that had been played upon them, that Tom's mother was afraid to trust him any longer in their company. She accord- ingly kept him at home, and made him assist her in any light work suitable for so small a child. One day, while she was making a batter-pudding, Tom stood on the edge of the bowl, with a lighted candle in his hand, so that she might see it was properly made. Unfortu- nately, however, when her back was turued, Tom acci- dentally fell in the bowl, and his mother not missing him, stirred him up in the pudding " instead of minced fat," and put the pudding in the kettle with Tom in it. The poor woman paid dearly for her mistake, for Tom had no sooner felt the warm water, than he . danced about like mad, and the pudding jumped about till she was nearly frightened out of her wits, and was glad to give it to a tinker who happened to be passing that way. He was thankful for a present so acceptable, and anti- cipated the pleasure of eating a better dinner than he had enjoyed for many a long day. But his joy was of short duration, for as he was getting over a stile, he happened to sneeze very hard, and Tom, who had hitherto remained silent, cried out, "Hollo, Pickens!" which so terrified the tinker, that he threw the pudding into the field, and scampered away as fast as ever he could go. The pudding tumbled to pieces with the fall, and Tom, creeping out, went home to his mother, who had been in great affliction on account of his absence. A few days after this adventure, Tom accompanied his mother when she went into the fields to milk the cows, and for fear he should be blown away by the 9 98 FIRESIDE STORIES. wind, she tied him to a thistle with a small piece of thread. While in this position, a cow came by, and swallowed him up : But, being missed, his mother went. Calling him everywhere : Where art thou, Tom ? where art thou, Tom ? Quoth he. Here, mother, here ! Within the red cow's stomach, here Your son is swallowed up ; All which within her fearful heart Much woful dolour put. The cow, however, was soon tired of her subject, for Tom kicked and scratched till the poor animal was nearly mad, and at length tumbled him out of her mouth, when he was caught by his mother, and carried safely home. A succession of untoward accidents followed. One day, Tom's father took him to the fields a-ploughing, and gave him "a whip made of a barley straw" to drive the oxen with, but the dwarf was soon lost in a furrow. While he was there, a great raven came and carried him an immense distance to the top of a giant's castle. The giant soon swallowed him up, but he made such a disturbance when he got inside, that the monster was soon glad to get rid of him, and threw the mis- chievous little imp full three miles into the sea. But he was not drowned, for he had scarcely reached the water before he was swallowed by a huge fish, which was shortly after captured, and sent to King Arthur by the fisherman for a new-year's gift. Tom was now dis- covered, and at once adopted by the king as his dwarf; Long time he liv'd in jollity, Belov'd of the court. And none like Tom was so esteem' d Amongst the better sort. The queen was delighted with the little dwarf, and FIRESIDE STORIES. 99 made him dance a galliard on her left hand. His performance was so satisfactory, that King Arthur gave him a ring which he wore about his middle like a girdle ; and he literally " crept up the royal sleeve," requesting leave to visit his parents, and take them as much money as he could carry : And so away goes lusty Tom With threepence at his back, A heavy burthen, which did make His very bones to crack. Tom remained three days with the old couple, and feasted upon a hazel-nut so extravagantly that he grew ill. His indisposition was not of long continuance, and Arthur was so anxious for the return of his dwarf, that his mother took a birding-trunk, and blew him to the court. He was received by the king with every demon- stration of affection and delight, and tournaments were immediately proclaimed : Thus he at tilt and tournament Was entertained so, That all the rest of Arthur's knights Did him much pleasure show. And good Sir Launcelot du Lake, Sir Tristram and Sir Guy, Yet none compar'd to brave Tom Thumb In acts of chivalry. Tom, however, paid dearly for his victories, for the ex- ertions he made upon this celebrated occasion threw him into an illness which ultimately occasioned his death. But the hero was carried away by his godmother, the fairy queen, into the land of Faerie, and after the lapse of two centuries, he was sujffered to return to earth, and again amuse men by his comical adventures. On one occasion, after his return from fairy-land, he jumped down a miller's throat, and played all manner of pranks 100 FIRESIDE STORIES. on the poor fellow, telling him of all his misdeeds, for millers in former days were the greatest rogues, as every- body knows, that ever lived. A short time afterwards, Tom a second time is swallowed by a fish, which is caught, and set for sale at the town of Rye, where a steward haggles for it, — Amongst the rest the steward came, Who would the salmon buy. And other fish that he did name. But he would not comply. The steward said, You are so stout. If so, I'll not buy any. So then bespoke Tom Thumb aloud, " Sir, give the other penny !" At this they began to stare. To hear this sudden joke : Nay, some were frighted to the heart, Ajid thought the dead fish spoke. So the steward made no more ado. But bid a penny more ; Because, he said, I never heard A fish to speak before. The remainder of the history, which details Tom's adventures with the queen, his coach drawn by six beau- tiful white mice, his escaping on the back of a butter- fly, and his death in a spider's web, is undoubtedly a later addition to the original, and may therefore be omitted in this analysis. It is, in fact, a very poor imi- tation of the first part of the tale. 101 III.— GAME-RHYMES. The most obvious metliod of arranging the rhymes employed in the amusements of children is to commence "with the simple lines used by the nurse in the infantine toe, finger, and face-games, then proceeding to bo-peep, and concluding with the more complicated games, many of the latter possessing a dramatic character. TOE-GAI^Efe* Harry Whistle, xomnij Thistle, Harry Whible, Tommy Thible, And Httle Oker-bell. A game with the ^\e toes, each toe being touched in succession as these names are cried. "This song affords a proof of the connexion between the English and Scandinavian rhymes. The last line, as it now stands, appears to mean nothing. The word o/cer, however, is the A.-S. secer, Icel. akr, Dan. ager, and Swed. aker, pronounced oke?', a field, and the flower is the field-bell."— Mr. Stephens's MS. The following lines are also used in a play with the toes : Shoe the colt, shoe ! Shoe the wild mare ! Put a sack on her back. See if she'll bear. If she'll bear, We'U give her some grains ; If she won't bear. We'll dash out her brains. There are many various versions of this song in English, and it also exists in Danish (Thiele, iii. 133). Skoe min hest ! Hvem kan bedst ? Det kan vor Prsest ! 9§ 102 GAME-BHYMES. Nei meen kan han ej ! Por det kan vor smed, Som boer ved Leed. Shoe my horse ! Who can best ? Why, our priest ! Not he, indeed ! But our smith can, He lives at Leed. Perhaps, hl[>wev^r„ ttis will be considered more like the corrraon rhyme, ''Robert Barnes, Fellow fine," priDtcd in the *:Nuitscry Uhymes of England,' p. 166. An analogous verse is found in the nursery anthology of Berlin (Kuhn, Kinderlieder, 229), and in that of Sweden (Lilja, p. 14), — Sko, sko min lille hast, I morgon frosten blir' var gast. Da bli' hastskorna dyra, Tva styfver for fyra. Shoe, shoe my little horse, To-morrow it will be frosty ; Then will horse-shoes be dear. Two will cost a stiver. English nurses use the following lines, when a child's shoe is tight, and they pat the foot to induce him to allow it to be tried on : Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe. Give it a stitch and that will do. Here's a nail, and there's a prod, And now my shoe is well shod. Or, occasionally, these lines, — This pig went to market. Squeak, mouse, mouse, mousey; Shoe, shoe, shoe the wild colt, And here's my own doll dowsy. GAME-RHYMES. 103 The following lines are said by the nurse when moving the child's foot up and down, — The dog of the kill,* He went to the null To lick mill-dust : The miller he came With a stick on his back, — Home, dog, home ! The foot behind, The foot before : When he came to a style, Thus he jumped o'er. THE FIVE FINGERS. I do not recollect to have seen anywhere noticed the somewhat singular fact, that our ancestors had distinct names for each of the five fingers — the thumb being generally called a finger in old works. Yet such was the case ; and it may not displease the reader to have these cognominations duly set forth in order, viz. thumb i toucher , longman, leche-man, little-man. This information is derived from a very curious MS. quoted in my Dictionary of Archaisms, p. 357 ; and the reasons for the names are thus set forth : — The first finger was called toucher because "therewith men touch i-wis ;" the second finger longman, "for longest finger it is," (this, I beg to say, is intended for rhyme). The third finger was called leche-man, because a leche or doctor tasted everything by means of it. This is very curious; though we find elsewhere another reason for this appel- lation, on account of the pulsation in it, which was at one time supposed to communicate directly with the heart. The other finger was, of course, called littleman because it was the least of all. It is rather curious that some of these names should have survived the ♦ A north-country term for kiln. 104 GAME-RHYMES. wrecks of time, and be still preserved in a nursery- rhyme ; yet such is the fact ; for one thus commences, the fingers being kept in corresponding movements : Dance, thurabkin, dance. Dance, thumbkin, dance; Dance, ye merry men all aroimd : But thumbkin he can dance alone ; ] But thumbkin he can dance alone. Dance, foreman, dance, Dance foreman, dance ; Dance, ye merry men aU around : But thumbkin he can dance alone ; But thumbkin he can dance alone. And so on, substituting in succession middleone, long- man, or middleman, ringman, and littlemany and each verse terminating with "thumbkin he can dance alone." In some instances the original name for the third finger, lecheman, is preserved in the rhyme, but ringman is most generally adopted. It is worthy of remark too, that there is, even at the present day, amongst many of the old women of the Peak of Derbyshire, a strong belief in the superiority of lecheman over foreman in all matters of taste. They say that the forefinger is venomous, and that the supe- riority of the third is to be ascribed to its being pos- sessed of a nerve; and as they appear to pay a most superstitious reverence to a nerve, whether in the finger, the tooth, or the ear, they do not fail to impress upon their daughters the importance of tasting anything of consequence with the third finger. The names given to the fingers vary considerably in the different counties. In Essex they call them Tom Thumbkm, Bess Bumpkin, Bill Wilkin, Long Linkin, And little Dick ! GAME-RHYMES. 105 And in some parts of Yorkshire, Tom Thumbkins, Bill Wilkins, Long Daniel, Bessj Bobtail, And 'little Dick. Similar appellations for the fingers are common in Denmark. Thus, Thiele, iii. 136,— Tommeltot, SHkkepot, Langemand, Guldbrand, Lille Peer Spilleman. "Little Peer Spilleman" is "little Peter the fiddler," not a bad name for the little finger. A slight variation of this is current in Sweden, — Tomme tott, Slicke pott ; Lange man, Hjertlig hand; Lille, Me, lille, gullvive ! The following song for the four fingers is obtained from Lancashire: This broke the bam. This stole the corn, This got none : This went pinky- winky All the way home ! FACE-SONGS. Bo Peeper, Nose dreeper, Chin chopper, White lopper. Red rag, And httle gap. 106 GAME-RHYMES. These lines are said to a very young child, touching suc- cessively for each line the eye, nose, chin, tooth, tongue, and mouth. Sometimes the following version is used: Brow brinky. Eye winky. Chin choppy. Nose noppy, Cheek cherry, Mouth merry. The most pleasing amusement of this kind is the game of "face-tapping," the nurse tapping each feature as she sings these lines, — Here sits the lord mayor (forehead)^ Here sit his two men (eyes) ; Here sits the cock {right cheek). Here sits the hen (left cheek). Here sit the little chickens (% of nose). Here they run in (mouth) ; Chinchopper, chinchopper, Chinchopper, chin ! (chucking the chin.) Similar songs are common in the North of Europe. A Danish one is given by Thiele, iii. 130 : Pandebeen, Oisteen, Nsesebeen, Mundelip, Hagetip, Dikke, dikke, dik. Brow-bone, Eye-stone, Nose-bone, ,_ ^ Mouth-lip, Chin-tip, Dikke, dikke, dik ! The nurse, while repeating the last line, tickles the child under the chin. A German version, now common at GAME-RHYMES. 107 Berlin, is printed by M. Kuhn, in his article on Kinder- lieder, p. 237 : Kinnewippchen, Eothlippchen, Nasendrippchen, Augenthranechen, Ziep ziep Maranechen. The following lines are repeated by the nurse when sliding her hand down the child's face : My mother and your mother Went over the way ; Said my mother to your mother, It's chop-a-nose day ! KNEE-SONGS. This is the way the ladies ride ; Tri, tre, tre, tree, Tri, tre, tre, tree ! This is the way the ladies ride, Tri, tre, tre, tri-tre-tre-tree 1 This is the way the gentlemen ride ; GaUop-a-trot, Gallop-a-trot ! This is the way the gentlemen ride, Gallop-a gallop-a-trot ! This is the way the farmers ride, Hobbledy-hoy, Hobbledy-hoy ! This is the way the farmers ride, Hobbledy hobbledy-hoy ! This is a famous song for a young child, the nurse dancing it on her knee, and gradually increasing the ascent of the foot. Similar songs, but differing consi- derably from the above, are given in the Swedish nursery ballads of Arwidsson, iii. 489-91 ; the Danish of Thiele, iii. 130-2, iv. 176-7; and the German Wunderhorn, 108 . GAME-RHYMES. iii. 60-1. The following pretty Swedish version is given from Mr. Stephens's MS. collections : Hvem ar det som rider ? Det ar en froken som rider : Det gar i sakta traf, I sakta traf ! Hvem ar det som rider ? Det ar en Herre som rider : Det gar jo i galopp, I galopp ! Hvem ar det som rider ? Det ar en Bonde som rider : Det gar sa lunka pa, Lunka pa! And pray, who now is riding ? A lady it is that's riding : And she goes with a gentle trot, A gentle trot ! And pray, who now is riding ? A gentleman it is that's riding : And he goes with a gallop-away, A gallop-away ! And pray, who now is riding ? A farmer it is that's riding : And he goes with a jog along, A jog along ! There are a great number of English variations of the above song, differing very materially from one another. A second version may be worth giving ; Here goes my lord, A trot ! a trot ! a trot ! a trot ! Here goes my lady, A canter ! a canter ! a canter ! a canter ! ^ Here goes my young master, Jockey-hitch ! jockey-hitch ! jockey-hitch ! jockey -hitch ! GAME-RHYMES. 109 Here goes mv young miss, An amble ! an amble ! an amble ! an amble ! The footman lags behind to tipple ale and wine. And goes gallop, a gallop, a gallop, to make up his time. Here are other knee-songs : Little Shon a Morgan, Shentleman of Wales, Came riding on a nanny-goat. Selling of pigs' tails. Chicky, cuckoo, my little duck. See-saw, sickna downy ; Gallop a trot, trot, trot. And hey for Dublin townj ! BO-PEEP. The children's game of bo-peep is as old as the hills, hiding from each other, and saying, — Bo-Peep, Little Bo-Peep : Now's the time for hide and seek. But in ancient times the amusement appears to have been even of a simpler character, and adopted by nurses before children are capable of seeking recreation for themselves. Sherwood describes bo-peep as a child's game, in which the nurse conceals the head of the infant for an instant, and then removes the covering quickly. The Italians say/«r hau bau, or baco, baco, which Douce thinks is sufficient to show a connexion between the nurse's boggle or buggy-bo, and the present expression. Shakespeare has condescended to notice the game, unless, indeed, we suppose the term to have passed into a proverb. The reader will recollect what Butler says of Sir Edward Kelly, the celebrated conjuror, — Kelly did all his feats upon The devil's looking-glass, a stone: Where, 'playing with him at bo-peep. He solv'd all problems ne'er so deep. 10 110 GAME-RHYMES. The term bo-peep appears to have been connected at a very early period with sheep. Thus in an old ballad of the time of Queen Elizabeth, in a MS. in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, — Haifa Englande ys nowght now but shape. In evarye corner they playe boa-pepe ; Lorda, tham confownda by twantya and ten, And fyll their places with Cristan man. And every one is acquainted with the nursery rhyme which details the adventures of ' Little Bo-peep, ' — Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep. And can't tall where to find them : Leave them alone, and they'll coma home. And bring their tails behind them. Little Bo-peap fall fast asleep, And dreamt she heard tham bleating : But whan she awoke, she found it a joke, Por they were still all fleeting. Minsheu gives us a funny derivation of the word, which he says is no other than the noise which chickens make when they come out of the shell! I regret I have nothing better, certainly nothing so ingenious, to offer to my philological readers. Letting that pass, I take the opportunity of giving an anecdote respecting Ben Jonson and Randolph, which affords another illus- tration of the analogy above mentioned. It is taken from a manuscript of the seventeenth century, in the possession of Mr. Stephens of Stockholm, who con- siders the volume to have been transcribed before the year 1650. *' Randolph havinge not soe much as ferry money, sought out Ben Johnson, and comminge to a place in London where he and three more were drinkinge, peeps in att the chamber doore. Ben Johnson espyinge him, said, 'Come in. Jack Bo-peepe.^ Randolph, beinge very thirsty, it beeing then summer, and willinge to GAME-RHYMES. Ill quench his thirst, willingly obeyed his command. The company dranke untill it came to five shillings : every man drawinge his money, Randolph made this motion, viz. that he that made the first coppy of verses upon the reckoninge should goe scot-free. Ben and all the rest, beeinge poetts, readily consented. Randolph, sur- passinge them in acutenesse, utter'd forthvrith these folio winge, — I, Jack Bo-peep, And you foure sheep, Lett every one yeeld his fleece : Here's five shillinge, If you are willinge. That will be fifteene pence a-peece. Et sic impune evasit inops" We conclude in the words of Shakespeare, — They then for sudden joy did weep. And I for sorrow sung. That such a king should play bo-peep. And go the fools among. MISCELLANEOUS PUERILE AMUSEMENTS. I went to the sea. And saw twentee Geese all in a row : My glove I would give Full of gold, if my wife Was as white as those. These lines are to be repeated rapidly and correctly, inserting the word cother after every word, under pain of a forfeit. It's time, I believe, For us to get leave : The little dog says It isn't, it is ; it 'tisnt, it is, &c. Said by a schoolboy, who places his book between his knees. His two forefingers are then placed together. 112 GAME-RHYMES. and the breadth of each is measured alternately along the length of the book. The time to get leave (to be dismissed) is supposed to have arrived or not according as one finger or the other fills up the last space. A duck and a drake, And a white penny cake. It's time to go home. It isn't, it is, &c. So going on with the fingers one over the other along the edge of a book or desk, till the last finger deter- mines the question. Put your finger in foxy's hole, Foxy is not at home : Poxy is at the back door. Picking of a bone. Holding the fist in such a way that if a child puts its finger in, you can secure it, still leaving the hole at top open. Jack's alive and in very good health. If he dies in your hand you must look to yourself. Played with a stick, one end burnt red-hot: it is passed round a circle from one to the other, the one who passes it saying this, and the one whose hand it goes out in paying a forfeit. SEE-SAW. A common game, children vacillating on either end of a plank supported on its centre. While enjoying this recreation, they have a song of appropriate cadence, the burden of which is, — Titty cum tawtay. The ducks in the water : Titty cum tawtay. The geese follow after. GAM£>EUYM£S. 1 15 HITTY-TITTY. Hitty-titty in-doors, EQtty-titty out ; You touch Hitty-titty, And Hitty-titty will bite you. These lines are said by children when one of them has hid herself. They then run away, and the one who is bitten (caught) becomes Hitty-titty, and hides in her turn. A variation of the above lines occurs in MS. Harl. 1962, as a riddle, the solution of which is a nettle, BEANS AND BUTTER. So the game of hide-and-seek is called in some parts of Oxfordshire. Children hide from each other, and when it is time to commence the search, the cry is. Hot boil'd beans and very good butter. If you please to come to supper ! DROP-CAP. In the game where the following lines are used, one person goes round inside a ring of children, clapping a cap between his hands. When he drops it at the foot of any one, that one leaves his position and gives chase, and is obliged to thread the very same course among the children till the first is caught. The first then stands with his back towards the centre of the ring, the one called out takes his place, and thus tbey continue till nearly all are ** turned.^' My hand burns hot, hot, hot, And whoever I love best, I'll drop this at his foot ! MY SOW HAS PIGGED. A game at cards, played now only by children. It is alluded to by Taylor the Water-poet, in his Motto, 10§ 114 GAME-BHYME S . 12mo. Lond. 1622, and it is also mentioned in Poor Robin's Almanac for 1734. The following distich is used in this game : Higgory, diggory, digg'd, My sow has pigg'd. NIDDY-NODDY. A simple but very amusing game at cards, at which any number can play. The cards are dealt round, and one person commences the game by placing down a card, and the persons next in succession who hold the same card in the various suits place them down upon it, the holder of the last winning the trick. The four persons who hold the cards say, when they put them down, — 1. There's a good card for thee. 2. There's a still better than he ! 3. There's the best of aU three. 4. And there is Niddy-noddee ! The person who is first out, receives a fish for each card unplayed. SLATE GAMES. Entertaining puzzles or exercises upon the slate are generally great favorites with children. A great variety of them are current in the nursery, or rather were so some years ago. The story of the four rich men, the four poor men, and the pond, was one of these ; the difiiculty merely requiring a zig-zag inclo- sure to enable it to be satisfactorily solved. Once upon a time there was a pond lying upon com- mon land, which was extremely commodious for fishing, bathing, and various other purposes. Not far from it lived four poor men, to whom it was of great service ; and farther off", their lived four rich men. The latter GAME-RHYMES. 115 envied the poor men the use of the pond, and, as inclo- sure bills had not then come into fashion, they wished to invent an inclosure-wall w^hich should shut out the poor men from the pond, although they lived so near it, and still give free access to the rich men, who resided at a greater distance. How was this done ? GAME OF THE CAT. This is another slate game, in which, by means of a tale and appropriate indications on the slate, a rude figure of a cat is delineated. It requires, however, some little ingenuity to accomplish it. Tommy would once go to see his cousin Charles. [Here one draws T for Tommy, and C for Charles, forming the forehead, nose, and mouth of the cat.] But before he went, he would make walls to his house. [Here he draws lines from the arms of the T to its foot, forming the cheeks of the cat.] But then it smoked, and he would put chimneys to it. [Here he inserts two narrow triangles on each arm of the T, forming the ears of the cat.] But then it was so dark, he would put windows into it. [Here he draws a small circle under each arm of the T, forming the eyes.] Then to make it pretty, he would spread grass at the door. [Here he scratches lines at the foot of the T, represent- ing the cat's whiskers.] Then away he went on his journey, but after a little while, down he fell. [Here he draws down a line a little way from the foot of the T.] But he soon climbed up again. [Here he draws a zig-zag horizontally from the foot of the last line, and draws one up, forming with the last movement the first foot of the cat.] Then he walks along again, but soon falls down once more. [Here he draws a short horizon- tal line, and one downwards.] He soon, however, got up again, as before, &c. [The second leg is then formed, and by similar movements the four legs of the 116 GAME-RHYMES. cat appear.] After thus falling down four times, Tommy determined to proceed more firmly, and climb- ing up, he walks along [the back of the cat] another way round till he comes to C. His journey is now accomplished, and an animal, called by courtesy a cat, appears on the slate, "the admiration of all beholders." HANDY-DANDY. This game is now played as follows : — a child hides something in one hand, and then places both fists end- ways on each other, crying, — Handy-dandy riddledy ro, Which will you have, high or low ? Or, sometimes, the following distich, — Handy-dandy, Jack-a-dandy, Which good hand wiU you have ? The party addressed either touches one hand, or guesses in which one the article (whatever it may be) is placed. If he guesses rightly, he wins its contents ; if wrongly, he loses an equivalent. Some versions read handy-pandy in the first of these, with another variation, that would not now be tole- rated. This is one of the oldest English games in existence, and appears to be alluded to in Piers Plough- man, ed. Wright, p. 69 : Thanne wowede Wrong Wisdom ful yerne. To maken pees with his pens. Handy-dandy played. Florio, in his World of Worlds, ed. 161 1, p. 57, trans- lates hazzicidre, " to shake between two hands, to play handie-dandie." Miege, in his Great French Dictionary, 1688, says, "Handy-dandy, a kind of play with the GAME-RHYMES. 117 hands, sorte dejeu de main ;^ and Douce, ii. 167, quotes an early MS., which thus curiously mentions the game : " They hould safe your children's patrymony, and play with your majestic, as men play with little children at handy e-dandye, which hand will you have^ when they are disposed to keep anythinge from them." Some of the commentators on Shakespeare have mistaken the character of the game, from having adoped Coles's erroneous in- terpretation of micare digitis. Sometimes the game is played hy a sort of sleight of hand, changing the article rapidly from one hand into the other, so that the looker- on is often deceived, and induced to name the hand into which it is apparently thrown. This is what Shakespeare alludes to by changing places. Pope, in his Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, says that the game of handy-dandy is mentioned by Plato ; but if, as I suppose, he refers to a well-known passage in the Lysis, the allusion appears somewhat too indistinct to warrant such an assertion, — atrrpa yaXi^uvTas re hri Kai KeKOfffifificvovs airavTas, oi fxev ovv iroWot ev rrj av\y eirai^ov ejw. ol be rives tov aTrobvrrjpiov ev yufvi^rjpriaKoy affTpayaXois irafjnroWoiSy €k