Sacred Texts Legends and Sagas Celtic Index Previous Next

CHAPTER IV.

THE NURSERY.

"Fond father and mother,
So guide it and feed it,
Give gifts to it, clothe it:
God only call know
What lot to its latter days
Life has to bring."

ANY of the members of the human body were embodied in rhymes, commonly nursery rhymes. Here is one about the face; and as the nurse repeated each line she touched with her finger the part of the face mentioned in the line:--

"Chin cherry,
Moo merry,
Nose nappie,
Ee winkie,
Broo brinkie,
Cock-up jinkie."

There is a variation of the last line:--

"Our the hill ail awa’."

The following refers to the brow, the eye, the nose, and the mouth:--

"Knock at the doorie,
Peep in,
Lift the latch
An walk in."

Here is one about the fingers, beginning with the index finger:--

Here's the man it brook the barn,
Here's the man it staa the corn,
Here's the man it taul a’,
Peer creenie-crannie paid for a’."

p. 15

The nurse took hold of each finger as she repeated each line. There was another form of the rhyme, in which the thumb played the part of breaking the barn:--

"This is the man it brook the barn,
This is the man it staa the corn,
This is the man it taul a’,
This the man it ran awa’,
Peer creenie-crannie paid for a’."

Another form of the last line is:--

"An puir wee crannie doodlie paid for a’."

The legs and feet were utilised by the nurse as a means of amusement. Here is what she repeated while she held a leg in each hand and kept crossing them, slowly at first, and then with greater rapidity when the dogs were supposed to be on their homeward journey:--

"There wiz twa doggies,
A ii they geed t’ the mill,
All they got a lick cot o’ this wife's pyock,
An anither oot o’ the neesht wife's pyock,
All a leb oot o’ the dam,
An syne they geed hame,
Loupie for loup, loupie for loup."

Another version runs thus:--

Twa doggies geed t’ the mill,
They took a lick oot o’ this wife's pyock,
An a lick oot o’ that wife's pyock,
An a leb oot o’ the mill dam;
Hame again, hame again--loupie for loup--
Hame again, hame again--loupie for spang."

The following rhyme was repeated to the child by the nurse while she took off the child's boot and imitated the blacksmith in nailing the shoes on the horse's foot:--

"John Smith, a fellow fine,
Cam t’ shee a horse o’ mine.
Pit a bit upo’ the tae,
T’ gar the horsie clim’ the brae;
Pit a bit upo’ the brod,
T’ gar the horsie clim’ the road;
Pit a bit upo’ the heel,
T’ gar the horsie trot weel."

p. 16

Here is another version:--

"John Smith, a fellow fine,
Cam t’ shoo a horse o’ mine--
Shoo a horse, ca’ a nail,
Ca’ a tackit in’s tail--
Hand him sicker, hand him sair,
Haud him by the head o’ hair."

Another rhyme about the legs and feet is as follows:--

"Hey my kittin, my kittin--
Hey my kittin, my dearie;
Sic a fit as this
Wiz na far nor nearie.
Here we gae up, up, up;
Here we gae doon, doon, doonie;
Here we gae back an fore;
Here we gae roon an roonie;
Here's a leg for a stockin,
An here's a fit for a shoeie."

Various members of the body were celebrated in the following way:--

"This is the broo o’ knowledge,
This is the ee o’ life.
This is the bibblie gauger,
An this is the pen-knife,
This is the shouther o’ mutton,
This is the lump o’ fat."

The next two lines must be left untold.

When the child was being fed, to keep it in good humour and induce it to take its food, the nurse kept repeating:--

"Sannie Kilrannie, the laird o’ Kailcrack,
Suppit kale brose, and swallit the cap."

A fuller version of the same was:--

"Sandy Killrannie,
The laird o’ Kilknap,
He suppit kail brose
Till his wyme it did crack.
He suppit the brose
An swallit the speen.
"Ho, ho," quo’ Sandy,
The brose is deen."

p. 17

When the child showed signs of being satisfied, the following words wore repeated:--

"Gouckit Geordie, Brig o’ Dee,
Sups the brose an leaves the bree."

When the child was being undressed for bed, the nurse kept repeating:--

"Hey diddle dumplin, my son John
Went to his bed an his trousers on;
One shoe oft, an the other shoe on,
Hey diddle dumplin, my son John."

When the child got into the sulks it was called:--

"Grinigo Gash, the laird's piper."

Children in their amusements often repeated rhymes.

The following one was repeated when a child mounted a walking-stick or a piece of stick as a "horse":--

"Hurple Dick upon a stick,
An Sandy on a soo,
We'll awa t’ Aiberdeen
T’ buy a pun o’ oo."

Another version is:--

"Cripple Dick upon a stick,
An Sandy on a soo,
Ride awa t’ Galloway
T’ buy a pun o’ oo."

This rhyme was repeated to the child when dandled on the knee in imitation of the modes of riding indicated in the lines:--

"This is the way the ladies rides,
Jimp an sma, jimp an sma;
This is the way the gentlemen rides,
Spurs an a’, spurs an a’;
This is the way the cadgers rides,
Creels an a’, creels an a’."

Another rhyme of the same kind is:--

Ride, dide, dide,
Ride t’ Aberdeen,
An buy fite bread,
She fan ere he cam back
The carlin wiz dead, p. 18
Up wi’ her club,
Gie her on the lug,
An said, 'Rise up, carlin,
An eat fite bread."'

Two children placed themselves back to back, locked their arms together, and alternately lifted each other, repeating the words:--

Weigh butter, weigh cheese,
Weigh a, pun a’ caunle grease."

Here follow various rhymes current among the young:--

"A, B, buff,
The cattie lickit snuff,
An the monkey chawed tobacco."

"A, B, buff,
Gee the cat a cuff,
Gee her ane, gee her twa,
Rap her hehd t’ the stehn wa’."

"Charlie Chats milkit the cats,
An Gollochy made the cheese,
An Charlie steed at the back o’ the door,
An heeld awa’ the flees."

"A for Annie Anderson,
B for Bettie Brown,
C for Cirstle Clapperton,
It danced upon her crown."

"A for Alexander,
B for Bettie Brown,
C for Kettie Clatterson,
It clatters throo the town."

"John Prott an his man
To the market they ran;
They bought, they sold,
Muckle money down told,
Till they came till a plack,
Steek your neive on that."

"'Hielanman, Hielanman,
Fahr wiz ye born?'
'Up in the Hielands,
Amon the green corn.'
'Faht got you there
Bit green kail an leeks?'
Laugh at a Hielanman
Wintin his breeks." p. 19

"The little lady lairdie
She longt for a baby,
She took her father's grey hunn
An row’d it in a plaidy.
Says 'Hishie, bishie, bow, wow,
Lang legit now ow
In’t warna for yir muckle baird
I wad kiss yir mou-ow'."

"Your plack an my plack,
Your plack an my plack,
Your plack an my plack an Jennie's bawbee,
We'll pit them i’ the pint stoup, pint stoup, pint stoup,
We'll pit them i’ the pint stoup,
An join a’ three."

"Matthew, Mark, Luke, air John
Haud the horse till I win on;
Haud him sicker, hand him sair,
Haud him by the auld mane hair."

"I've a cat wi’ ten tails,
I've a ship wi’ saiven sails,
Up Jack, down Tom,
Blow the bellows, old man."

"A bawbee bap,
A leather strap,
An a tow t’ hang the baker."

"Four-an-twenty tailors
Chasin at a snail,
The snail shot oot its horns
Like a hummil coo.
'Ah,' cried the foremost tailor,
'We're a’ stickit noo.'" 1

"Wallace wicht
Upon a nicht
Took in a stack o’ bere,
An or the moon at fair daylicht
Hid draff o’t till's more."

"That's the lady's forks an knives,
An that's the lady's table,
An that's the lady's looking-glass,
An that's the baby's cradle."

This rhyme was repeated on placing the fingers in such positions as to imitate knives, tables, &c.

p. 20

The following is a rhyme on the numbers up to twenty:--

"One, two,
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Open the door;
Five, six,
Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight;
Nine, ten,
A good fat hen;
Eleven, twel’,
Gar her swell;
Thirteen, fourteen,
Draw the curtain;
Fifteen, sixteen,
Maid in the kitchen;
Seventeen, eighteen,
I am waitin;
Nineteen, twenty,
My stomach's empty;
Please, mother, give me my dinner."

"Steal a needle, steal a preen,
Steal a coo or a’ be deen."

This sensible rhyme was often repeated to children when they were guilty of pilfering, or began to show any inclination to do so.

The following is called the "Souter's Grace":--

"What are we before thee, O King Crispin? Naething bit a parcel o’ easy ozy sooter bodies, nae worth one old shoe to mend another. Yet thou hast given us leather to yark, and leather to bark, oot-seam awls, and in-seam awls, pincers and petrie-balls, lumps o’ creesch and balls o’ rosit, and batter in a cappie. Amen."

Footnotes

19:1 Cf. Henderson, p. 26.

Next: Chapter V. Boy Code of Honour