XXXVII.

A, B, C, and D,
Pray playmates agree.
E, F, and G,

Well so it shall be.
J, K, and L,

In peace we will dwell.

M, N, and O,

To play let us go.

P, Q, R, and S,

Love may we possess.

W, X, and Y,

Will not quarrel or die.

Z, and &,

Go to school at command.

XXXVIII.

APPLE-PIE, pudding, and pancake,

All begins with an A.

[The following stanzas are founded on the well-known Scotch tale.]

BESSY BELL and Mary Gray,

They were two bonny lasses:
They built their house upon the lea,
And covered it with rashes.

Bessy kept the garden gate,
And Mary kept the pantry:

Bessy always had to wait,
While Mary lived in plenty.

XL.

THERE was a lady all skin and bone,
Sure such a lady was never known:
This lady went to church one day,
She went to church all for to pray.

And when she came to the church stile,
She sat her down to rest a little while :
When she came to the churchyard,

There the bells so loud she heard.

When she came to the church door,
She stopt to rest a little more;
When she came the church within,
The parson pray'd 'gainst pride and sin.

On looking up, on looking down,

She saw a dead man on the ground:

And from his nose unto his chin,

The worms crawl'd out, the worms crawl'd in.*

Then she unto the parson said,

Shall I be so when I am dead?
Oh yes! oh yes! the parson said,
You will be so when you are dead.

This line, slightly altered, has been adopted in Lewis's ballad of "Alonzo the brave and fair Imogine." The version given above was obtained from Lincolnshire, and differs slightly from the one in Gammer Gurton's Garland,' 8vo, Lond. 1810, pp. 29-30

XLI.

OLD Boniface he loved good cheer,
And took his glass of Burton,

And when the nights grew sultry hot,
He slept without a shirt on.

XLII.

[A tale for the 1st of March.]

TAFFY was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef:
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not at home;
Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow-bone.

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not in;
Taffy came to my house and stole a silver pin:
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,
I took up a poker and flung it at his head.

XLIII.

[The tale of Jack Horner has long been appropriated to the nursery. The four lines which follow are the traditional ones, and they form part of The pleasant History of Jack Horner, containing his witty Tricks and pleasant Pranks, which he plaied from his Youth to his riper Years,' 12mo; a copy of which is in the Bodleian Library, and this extended story is in substance the same with The Fryer and the Boy,' 12mo, Lond. 1617, and both of them are taken from the more ancient story of Jack and his step-dame,' which has been printed by Mr. Wright.]

LITTLE Jack Horner sat in the corner,

Eating a Christmas pie :

He put in his thumb, and he took out a plum, And said, "What a good boy am I!"

XLIV.

THE STORY OF CATSKIN.

[As related by an old nurse, aged eighty-one. The story is of oriental origin; but the song, as recited, was so very imperfect, that a few necessary additions and alterations have been made.]

THERE once was a gentleman grand,
Who lived at his country seat;
He wanted an heir to his land,
For he'd nothing but daughters yet.

His lady's again in the way,

So she said to her husband with joy, "I hope some or other fine day,

To present you, my dear, with a boy."

The gentleman answered gruff,

"If't should turn out a maid or a mouse, For of both we have more than enough, She shan't stay to live in my house."

The lady at this declaration,

Almost fainted away with pain;
But what was her sad consternation,
When a sweet little girl came again.

She sent her away to be nurs'd,
Without seeing her gruff papa;
And when she was old enough,

To a school she was packed away.