[ p.143 ]

Coy couple with church in distance

FOURTEENTH CLASS.
LOVE AND MATRIMONY.

CCCX.
AS I was going up Pippen-hill,
     Pippen-hill was dirty,
There I met a pretty miss,
     And she dropt me a curtsey.

Little miss, pretty miss,
     Blessings light upon you !
If I had half-a-crown a day,
     I'd spend it all on you.


/ p.144 /

CCCXI.
TOMMY TROT, a man of law,
Sold his bed and lay upon straw :
Sold the straw and slept on grass,
To buy his wife a looking-glass.


CCCXII.
WE'RE all dry with drinking on't,
We're all dry with drinking on't ;
The piper kiss'd the fiddler's wife,
And I can't sleep for thinking on't.


CCCXIII.
"JOHN, come sell thy fiddle,
      And buy thy wife a gown."
"No, I'll not sell my fiddle,
      For ne'er a wife in town."


CCCXIV.
HERE comes a lusty wooer,
     My a dildin, my a daldin :
Here comes a lusty wooer,
     Lily bright and shine a'.

Pray, who do you woo,
     My a dildin, my a daldin ?
Pray, who do you woo,
     Lily bright and shine a' ?

/ p.145 /
For your fairest daughter,
     My a dildin, my a daldin ;
For your fairest daughter,
     Lily bright and shine a'.

Then there she is for you,
     My a dildin, my a daldin ;
Then there she is for you,
     Lily bright and shine a'.


CCCXV.
UP hill and down dale ;
Butter is made in every vale ;
And if that Nancy Cook
Is a good girl,
She shall have a spouse,
And make butter anon,
Before her old grandmother
Grows a young man.


CCCXVI.
JACK in the pulpit, out and in ;
Sold his wife for a minikin pin.


CCCXVII.
DID you see my wife, did you see, did you see,
     Did you see my wife looking for me ?
She wears a straw bonnet, with white ribands on it,
     And dimity petticoats over her knee.


/ p.146 /

CCCXVIII.
WHAT care I how black I be,
Twenty pounds will marry me ;
If twenty won't, forty shall,
I am my mother's bouncing girl !


CCCXIX.
"WHERE have you been all the day,
            My boy Willy ?"
"I've been all the day,
Courting of a lady gay :
But oh ! she's too young
To be taken from her mammy."

"What work can she do,
            My boy Willy ?
Can she bake and can she brew,
            My boy Willy ?"

"She can brew and she can bake,
And she can make our wedding cake :
But oh ! she's too young
To be taken from her mammy."

"What age may she be? What age may she be ?
            My boy Willy ?"

"Twice two, twice seven,
Twice ten, twice eleven :
But oh, she's too young
To be taken from her mammy."


/ p.147 /

CCCXX.
MASTER I have. and I am his man,
Gallop a dreary dun ;
Master I have, and I am his man,
And I'll get a wife as fast as I can ;
With a heighly gaily gamberally,
     Hiddledy piggledy, niggledy, niggledy,
     Gallop a dreary dun.


CCCXXI.
     A COW and a calf,
     An ox and a half,
Forty good shillings and three ;
     Is that not enough tocher
     For a shoe-maker's daughter,
A bonny lass with a black e'e ?


CCCXXII.
AS Tommy Snooks and Bessy Brooks
     Were walking out one Sunday,
Says Tommy Snooks to Bessy Brooks,
     "To-morrow will be Monday."


CCCXXIII.
      LITTLE Jack Jingle,
     He used to live single :
But when he got tired of this kind of life,
He left off being single, and liv'd with his wife.


/ p.148 /

CCCXXIV.
     [This is part of a little work called 'Authentic Memoirs of the little Man and the little Maid, with some interesting particulars of their lives,' which I suspect is more modern than the following. Walpole printed a small broadside containing a different version.]
          THERE was a little man,
          And he woo'd a little maid,
And he said, "little maid, will you wed, wed, wed?
          I have little more to say,
          Than will you, yea or nay,
For least said is soonest mended-ded, ded, ded."

          The little maid replied,
          Some say a little sighed,
"But what shall we have for to eat, eat, eat?
          Will the love that you're so rich in
          Make a fire in the kitchen ?
Or the little god of Love turn the spit, spit, spit?"


CCCXXV.
THERE was a little boy and a little girl
     Lived in an alley ;
Says the little boy to the little girl,
     "Shall I, oh ! shall I ?"

Says the little girl to the little boy,
     "What shall we do ?"
Says the little boy to the little girl,
     "I will kiss you."


CCCXXVI.
O the little rusty, dusty, rusty miller !
I'll not change my wife for either gold or siller.


/ p.149 /

Jack Sprat at the dinner table with his wife

CCCXXVII.
JACK SPRAT could eat no fat,
     His wife could eat no lean ;
And so, betwixt them both, you see,
     They lick'd the platter clean.


CCCXXVIII.
LITTLE Jack Dandy-prat was my first suitor ;
He had a dish and a spoon, and he'd some pewter ;
He'd linen and woollen, and woollen and linen,
A little pig in a string cost him five shilling.


/ p.150 /

CCCXXIX.
CURLY locks ! curly locks ! wilt thou be mine ?
Thou shalt not wash dishes, nor yet feed the swine ;
But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam,
And feed upon strawberries, sugar and cream !


CCCXXX.
GILES COLLINS he said to his old mother,
     "Mother, come bind up my head ;
And send to the parson of our parish,
     For to-morrow I shall be dead, dead,
         For to-morrow I shall be dead."

His mother she made him some water-gruel,
     And stirred it round with a spoon ;
Giles Collins he ate up his water-gruel,
     And died before 'twas noon,
         And died before 'twas noon.

Lady Anna was sitting at her window,
     Mending her night-robe and coif ;
She saw the very prettiest corpse,
     She'd seen in all her life, life,
         She'd seen in all her life.

"What bear ye there, ye six strong men,
     Upon your shoulders so high ?"
"We bear the body of Giles Collins,
     Who for love of you did die, die,
         Who for love of you did die."

/ p.151 /
"Set him down ! set him down ! (Lady Anna,
         she cry'd,)
     On the grass that grows so green ;
To-morrow before the clock strikes ten,
     My body shall lie by his'n, his'n,
         My body shall lie by his'n."

Lady Anna was buried in the east,
     Giles Collins was buried in the west ;
There grew a lily from Giles Collins,
     That touch'd Lady Anna's breast, breast,
         That touch'd Lady Anna's breast.

There blew a cold north-easterly wind,
     And cut this lily in twain ;
Which never there was seen before,
     And it never will again, again,
         And it never will again.


CCCXXXI.
ON Saturday night,
Shall be all my care
To powder my locks
And curl my hair.

On Sunday morning
My love will come in,
When he will marry me
With a gold ring.


/ p.152 /

CCCXXXII.
"LITTLE maid, pretty maid, whither goest thou ?"
"Down in the forest to milk my cow."
"Shall I go with thee ?"    "No, not now ;
When I send for thee, then come thou."


CCCXXXIII.
          I AM a pretty wench,
         And I come a great way hence,
And sweethearts I can get none :
         But every dirty sow,
         Can get sweethearts enow,
And I, pretty wench, can get never a one.


CCCXXXIV.
BIRDS of a feather flock together,
     And so will pigs and swine ;
Rats and mice will have their choice,
     And so will I have mine.


CCCXXXV.
     [The practice of sowing hempseed on Allhallows Even is often alluded to by early writers, and Gay, in his 'Pastorals,' quotes part of the following lines as used on that occasion.]
HEMP-SEED I set,
     Hemp-seed I sow,
The young man that I love,
     Come after me and mow !


/ p.153 /

CCCXXXVI.
DUSTY was the coat,
Dusty was the collar,
Dusty was the kiss
Of my charming miller.
If I had my pockets
Full of gold and siller,
I would give it all
To my charming miller.
If I had, &c.


CCCXXXVII.
"MADAM, I am come to court you,
If your favour I can gain."
"Ah, ah !" said she, "you are a bold fellow,
If I e'er see your face again !"

"Madam, I have rings and diamonds,
Madam, I have houses and land,
Madam, I have a world of treasure,
All shall be at your command."

"I care not for rings and diamonds,
I care not for houses and lands,
I care not for a world of treasure,
So that I have but a handsome man."

"Madam, you think much of beauty,
Beauty hasteneth to decay,
For the fairest of flowers that grow in summer
Will decay and fade away."


/ p.154 /

CCCXXXVIII.
THERE was a little maid, and she was afraid,
That her sweetheart would come unto her ;
So she went to bed, and she cover'd up her head,
And she fasten'd the door with a skewer.


CCCXXXIX.
OH ! mother, I shall be married to Mr.
          Punchinello.
To Mr. Punch,
To Mr. Joe,
To Mr. Nell,
To Mr. Lo.
Mr. Punch, Mr. Joe,
Mr. Nell, Mr. Lo,
To Mr. Punchinello.


CCCXL
.
UP street and down street,
     Each window's made of glass ;
If you go to Tommy Tickler's house,
     You'll find a pretty lass :

Hug her and kiss her,
     And take her on your knee,
And whisper very close,
     Darling girl, do you love me ?


/ p.155 /

CCCXLI.
     [This nursery song may probably commemorate a part of Tom Thumb's history, extant in a little Danish work, treating of 'Swain Tomling, a man no bigger than a thumb, who would be married to a woman three ells and three quarters long.' See Mr. Thoms' Preface to 'Tom à Lincoln,' p.xi.]
I HAD a little husband,
     No bigger than my thumb,
I put him in a pint pot,
     And there I bid him drum.

I bought a little horse,
     That galloped up and down ;
I bridled him, and saddled him,
     And sent him out of town.

I gave him some garters,
     To garter up his hose,
And a little handkerchief,
     To wipe his pretty nose.


CCCXLII.
CAN you make me a cambric shirt,
     Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme ;
Without any seam or needlework ?
     And you shall be a true lover of mine.

Can you wash it in yonder well,
     Parsley, &c.
Where never sprung water, nor rain ever fell ?
     And you, &c.

/ p.156 /
Can you dry it on yonder thorn,
     Parsley, &c.
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born ?
     And you, &c.

Now you have ask'd me questions three,
     Parsley, &c.
I hope you'll answer as many for me,
     And you, &c.

Can you find me an acre of land,
     Parsley, &c.
Between the salt water and the sea sand ?
     And you, &c.

Can you plough it with a ram's horn,
     Parsley, &c.
And sow it all over with one pepper-corn ?
     And you, &c.

Can you reap it with a sickle of leather,
     Parsley, &c.
And bind it up with a peacock's feather
     And you, &c.

When you have done and finish'd your work,
     Parsley, &c.
Then come to me for your cambric shirt,
     And you, &c.


/ p.157 /

CCCXLIII.
LITTLE Tom Dandy,
     Was my first suitor,
He had a spoon and dish,
     And a little pewter.


CCCXLIV.
LITTLE John Jiggy Jag,
He rode a penny nag,
     And went to Wigan to woo :
When he came to a beck,
He fell and broke his neck,—
     Johnny, how dost thou now ?

I made him a hat,
Of my coat-lap,
     And stockings of pearly blue:
A hat and a feather,
To keep out cold weather ;
     So, Johnny, how dost thou now ?


CCCXLV.
JACK and Jill went up the hill,
     To fetch a pail of water ;
Jack fell down, and broke his crown,
     And Jill came tumbling after.


/ p.158 /

CCCXLVI.
     [The following version is taken from Douce's MS. additions to Ritson, but the more common one commences "When I was a bachelor I lived by myself."]
THERE was a little pretty lad,
     And he lived by himself,
And all the meat he got
     He put upon a shelf.

The rats and the mice
     Did lead him such a life,
That he went to Ireland
     To get himself a wife.

The lanes they were so broad,
     And the fields they were so narrow,
He couldn't get his wife home
     Without a wheelbarrow.

The wheelbarrow broke,
     My wife she got a kick,
The deuce take the wheelbarrow,
     That spared my wife's neck.


CCCXLVII.
ROWLEY POLEY, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry ;
When the girls begin to cry,
Rowley Poley runs away.