Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes
CHAPTER XVIII
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In conclusion it seems well to glance back over the ground that has been traversed, and to consider what information can be gleaned from the comparative study of nursery rhymes.
At the outset we saw that our nursery collections consist of a variety of pieces of diverse origin. Many rhymes are songs or snatches of songs which have no direct claim on the attention of the student of folk-lore. Other pieces are relatively new, although they contain names that are old. Thus, Old King Cole and Mother Hubbard are names that go some way back in history; the story of the woman who fell asleep out of doors and forgot her identity, preserves an old tradition; Jack and Jill are connected with Scandinavian mythology; while Tommy Linn, the hero of several nursery pieces, figures in romantic ballad literature also.
A more primitive form of literature is represented by traditional dancing and singing games, to which many nursery rhymes can be traced. These games in several instances preserve the remains of celebrations that date from heathen times. In the last instance they survive as a diversion of the ballroom. Incidental allusions enabled us to establish the relation between the Cotillon, the Cushion Dance, and the game of _Sally Waters_. This latter game preserves features of a marriage rite, which was presided over by a woman who was addressed as mother. The words used in the game and the rite suggest that there may be some connection between the game of _Sally Waters_ and the name of Sul, the local goddess of the waters at Bath.
Other traits preserved in the games of _The Lady of the Land_, _Little Dog I call you_, and _Drop Handkerchief_, probably date from the same period. For the comparison of these games with their foreign parallels enabled us to realize that, in their case also, it is a question of a presiding mother, who, in some of the German versions of the game, was addressed by the name of a heathen mother divinity. _Engelland_, that is Babyland, and the disabled condition of the human mother, which are mentioned in these games, reappear in the ladybird rhymes. In these we also come across Ann or Nan, who reappears under the same name in the corresponding rhymes of Switzerland and Swabia.
On comparing our rhymes with those of other countries, we find that the same thoughts and conceptions are usually expressed in different countries in the same form of verse. The words that are used, both in England and abroad, in dancing and singing games, in custom rhymes like those addressed to the ladybird, and in riddle-rhymes such as that in _Humpty-Dumpty_, are set in short verse that depends on tail rhyme for its consistency. Distinct from them are the pieces that depend for their consistency on repetition and cumulation. Some of these are obviously intended to convey instruction, like the chants of Numbers and of the Creed. Others appear to be connected with the making and unmaking of spells. Again in this case, the parallel pieces of different countries are set in the same form of verse.
Another class of rhymes is represented by the chants on bird sacrifice. Those current among ourselves depend for their consistency on repetition only, while those current abroad which present details on the plucking and the dividing up of the bird, are related in cumulative form. Perhaps the repetition which preserves the simpler facts of the custom is the older form of recitation. The kingship of the wren which is accepted throughout Europe, and which dates some way back in history, in some of these chants is connected with the kingship of the man who was engaged in the hunt. Possibly the custom of killing the king was overlaid by the custom of sacrificing a bird in his stead.
The reverence felt for the wren is equalled among ourselves by the reverence felt for the robin, whose knell remains one of our finest, and perhaps one of our oldest nursery pieces. It is set in dialogue form, which seems to have been generally associated with bells, but which was a primitive manner of recitation, as we gather from other pieces.
The information which can be derived from nursery rhymes corroborates what has been collected elsewhere concerning different stages of social history in the heathen past. Some pieces preserve allusions which carry us back to customs that prevailed during the so-called mother age; others, quite distinct from them, are based on conceptions that may have taken rise before man tilled the soil. The spread of European nursery rhymes, taken in the bulk, appears to be independent of the usual racial divisions. Some of our rhymes, such as that of the ladybird and _Humpty Dumpty_ have their closest parallels in Germany and Scandinavia; others, such as the bird-chants and the animal weddings, have corresponding versions in France and in Spain. Moreover, some of the ideas that are expressed in rhymes carry us beyond the confines of Europe. The chafer was associated with the sun in Egypt, the broken egg engaged the attention of the thinking in Tibet.
Thus the comparative study of the nursery rhymes of different countries throws light on allusions which otherwise remain obscure, and opens up a new vista of research. The evidence which is here deduced from some rhymes, and the interpretation put on others, may be called into question. Much remains to be said on the subject. But the reader will, I think, agree that nursery rhymes preserve much that is meaningful in itself, and worth the attention of the student.
LIST OF FOREIGN COLLECTIONS
The following foreign collections are referred to by initials in the text:--
A. Archivio Storrco per lo Studio delle tradizione popolari. Articles by Canizzaro, I, 1882; by Wesselowski, II, 1883, _etc._
Br. _Birlinger_: Nimm mich mit, 1871.
Bo. _Boehme, F. M._: Geschichte des Tanzes, 1884.
B. _Bujeaud, I._: Chants et chansons des provinces de l'Ouest, 1895.
C. P. Corpus Poet. Borealium, ed. Vigfusson and Powell, 1883.
D. _Dumersan, M._: Chansons et rondes enfantines, 1856.
Du. _Dunger, H._: Kinderlieder aus dem Vogtland, 1874.
D. B. _Durieux et Bruyelles_: Chants et chansons du Cambrésis, 1864.
E. _Erk, L._: Deutscher Liederhort, 1856.
F. _Frischbier, H._: Preussische Volksreime und Spiele, 1867.
G. _Gagnon, E._: Chansons pop. du Canada, 1865.
Gr. _Grimm, J._: Deutsche Mythologie, reprint 1875.
Gt. _Grundtvig_: Gamle Danske Minder, 1854-6.
H. _Handelmann_: Volks--und Kinderspiele aus Schleswig Holstein, 1862.
H. V. _Hersart de la Villemarqué_: Barzas Breis, 1867.
L. _Luzel, F. M._: Chansons de la Basse Bretagne, 1890.
M. _Mannhardt_: Germanische Mythen, 1858.
Ma. _Marin, Rodriguez_: Rimas Infantiles, 1882.
Me. _Meier, Ernst_: Kinderreime und Kinderspiele aus Schwaben, 1851.
Mi. _Mila y Fontanals_: Romancerillo Catalan, 1882.
Mo. _Morlidas_: Grande Encyclopedie des Jeux.
M. L. _Montel et Lambert_: Chants populaires du Languedoc, 1880.
N. _Newell, W. W._: Songs of American Children, 1884.
_N. & Q._ Notes and Queries.
R. _Rochholz_: Alemannisches Kinderlied und Spiel, 1859.
Ro. _Rolland_: Faune populaire, 1876-83.
S. _Schleicher_: Volksthümliches aus Sonneberg, 1858.
Sch. _Schuster, F. W._: Siebenbürg-sächs. Volkslieder, 1856.
Sim. _Simrock_: Das deutsche Kinderbuch.
St. _Stöber_: Elsässisches Volksbüchlein, 1842.
V. _Vemaleken_: Spiele und Reime aus Oesterreich, 1873.
W. _Wossidlo_: Volksthümliches aus Mecklenburg, 1885.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX
A PAGES
A cat came fiddling out of a barn, 34, 35
A frog he would a-wooing ride, 29, 31
A new dyall (_Christmas carol_), 149
A was an apple pie, 14
A was an archer who shot at a frog, 37
A whistling woman and a crowing hen (_Proverb rhyme_), 73 n.
Ann _or_ Nan, 97, 217
As high as a castle, 108
As round as an apple, 107
Ass, chants on the, 193 ff.
B
Babbity Bowster (_a game_), 60
Babyland, 79 ff., 100, 217
Balalin, balalan (_French knell_), 212
Balanli, balanlau (_French knell_), 213
Ballads and rhymes, 44 ff.
Bells, 54, 56, 212, 213
Bird sacrifice, 185 ff.
Bishop, bishop, barnabee, 94
Blackbird, sacrificed and eaten, 189
Bless you, bless you, bonnie bee, 95
Boule, boule (_French riddle_), 107
Bryan o'Lin had no watch to put on, 53
Bufe (_name of a dog_), 88
Burdens and their origin, 29
Burnie bee, burnie bee, 94
Buy this of me (_a game_), 139
C
Can, caer, Killoré (_Breton chant_), 152
Can you make me a cambrick shirt?, 49
Chants of Numbers, 134 ff.
Chants of the Creed, 142 ff.
Chi è morto? (_Italian knell_), 213
Club Fist (_a game_), 127
Collections of English Nursery Rhymes, 11
Collections of foreign rhymes, 221
Come, and I will sing you (_a chant_), 159
Come, dance a jig, 33
Cotillon (_a dance_), 58, 216
Country dances, 57 ff.
Cuddy (_bird and ass_), 197
Cumulative pieces 115, ff.
Cushion Dance, 60, 216
Custom Rhymes, 89 ff.
D
Das Englein aufziehen (_German game_), 83
Das Haus vom hölzernen Mann (_German piece_), 124
Dépecer le merle (_French chant_), 188
Der har du det haus (_Scandinavian piece_), 122
Dic mihi quid unus (_Latin chant_), 145
Dicky (_bird and ass_), 197
Ding dong bell, 54
Dipping, custom of, 69
Doctor Sacheverel, 14
Dog, character in games, 80, 85
Dog sacrifice, 214
Dowdy cow, dowdy cow, 94
Drop handkerchief (_a game_), 87, 216
Dump (_a game_), 126
E
Early references to rhymes, 13 ff.
Echod me jodea (_a Hebrew chant_), 143
Eggs in religious belief, 104 ff.
Eight ships on the main, 140
Eight was the crooked straight (_a chant_), 161
Enfille aiguille (_French dance_), 56
Engelland (_in German folk-lore_), 84, 217
Es ist ein Baum (_German piece_), 125
Es ist etwas in meinem Haus (_Swabian riddle_), 108
Es kam eine Maus gegangen (_German piece_), 123
Es schickt der Herr (_German piece_), 125
F
Father Hubbard, 42
Fire, fire, says the town crier, 44
First appearance of rhymes in print, 1 ff.
Flieg, käfer, flieg (_German rhyme_), 100
Fly, ladybird, fly, 94
Frau Gode, Rose, Sole (_German divinities_), 81 ff.
Fuzzy-Muzzy chorus, 175
G
Gabriel hounds, 87, 165
God Almighty's colly cow, 95
Goldchäber flüg up (_Swiss rhyme_), 97
Gossen och Geten Näppa (_Swedish piece_), 130
Gowden bug, gowden bug, 93
Great A, little a, Bouncing B, 9
Great Lord Frog and Lady Mouse (_a song_), 31
Green grow the rushes, O (_a chant_), 158
Guid day now, bonnie Robin (_a ballad_), 192
H
Heathen chants of the Creed, 152 ff.
Hebrew chants, 119, 143
Hemp seed I set, 56
Here comes a woman from Babyland, 79
Herrgotspferdchen (_German rhyme_), 102
Hick-a-more, Hack-a-more, 113
Highty, tighty, paradighty, 113
Himmelsküchlein (_German rhyme_), 95
Hitty Pitty within the wall, 112
Hiuki and Bill (_heathen divinities_), 20
Hoddy doddy with a round body, 111
Hümpelken Pümpelken (_German rhyme_), 106
Humpty Dumpty (_a drink_), 109
Humpty Dumpty (_a game_), 110
Humpty Dumpty sate on the wall, 91, 105, 217, 219
Hunting the wren, 173 ff.
I
I had a little dog whose name was Buff, 88
I have a little dog and it won't bite you, 87
I'll sing you one, oh! (_a song_), 158, 160
I won't be my father's Jack, 22
Il sortait un rat (_French piece_), 123
In those twelve days, in those twelve days (_a carol_), 149
It was a frog in the well (_a song_), 29
J
Jack and Gill went up the hill, 20 ff., 215
Je suis pauvre (_French game_), 81
Jenny Wren fell sick, 203
Joan Saunderson (_a dance_), 59
John Ball shot them all, 15
Johnny Armstrong killed a calf, 15
Joy, health, love, and peace (_a custom rhyme_), 181
K
King, King Golloway, 94
King Stephen was a worthy king (_a song_), 17
Kiss in the ring (_a game_), 67
Kit and Kitterit and Kitterit's mother, 54
Kluge Else (_German tale_), 56
Kommt ein Tonn (_German riddle_), 109
L
L'alouette plumée (_French chant_), 188
La fourmiho e le pouzouil (_French piece_), 207
La golondrina y el pinzon (_Spanish piece_), 206
La premiere partie de la foi (_French chant_), 136
La purga y er piejo (_Spanish piece_), 207
La Soule (_a French divinity_), 77
Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home, 93
Lady cow, lady cow, fly and be gone, 93
Lady, lady landers, 94
Laughing, significance of, 80, 85
Laüschen und Flöhchen (_German tale_), 207
Lavender blue, fiddle faddle, 34
Le conjurateur et le loup (_French piece_), 131
Le merle a perdu le bec (_French chant_), 189
Le pied de bœuf (_French game_), 128
Le testament de l'âne (_French chant_), 193
Les dons de l'an (_French game_), 136
Lille Bulle (_Scandinavian riddle_), 106
Lillylow, lillylow, 113
Limping, significance of, 86
Little Dog, I call you (_a game_), 80, 85 ff., 216
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, 14, 65
Little Mary Ester, 64
Little Miss Mopsey, 64
Little Miss Muffet, 64, 90
Little Nancy Etticoat, 113
Little Polly Flinders, 64
Little Robin Redbreast sitting on a pole, 210
Little Tom Tacket, 64
Little Tom Tucker, 65
Lou pinson et l'alouseta (_French chant_), 206
Lucy Locket lost her pocket, 15
L'y a un loup (_French chant_), 131
M
Malisons, malisons, mair than tens, 204
Malt or millet, 131
Mäten ist ein Esel (_German rhyme_), 198
Martin (_bird or ass_), 198
Mister Chinnery then, 32
Mister Moffit is a very good man, 172 n.
Mjölnir _or_ miller, 99
Mohammedan dialogue story, 165
Mother Bunch (_a traditional name_), 27, 56
Mother Goose (_a traditional name_), 3
Mother Hubbard, 38, 215
Mother Ross, 82
My father left me three acres of land, 49
My plaid awa' (_a ballad_), 46
N
Nan _or_ Ann, 97, 217
Nin ziblus bec (_Breton chant_), 186
Nines, punishment by, 128
Nous la plumerons l'alouette (_French chant_), 188
O
O, where are you going, says Milder to Malder, 176
Old King Cole was a merry old soul, 18, 215
Old Mother Hubbard she went to the cupboard, 38, 42
One God, one baptism, and one faith (_a poem_), 149
One old Oxford oyster, 141
One, two, buckle my shoe, 162
One, two, three, four, five, 161
Our good Quane Bess, 17
P
Peter and Paul sat on the wall, 22
Peter Piper picked a peck, 141
Pinson et Cendrouille (_French chant_), 207
Plenty of ale to-night, my boys (_a song_), 160
Plumer le roitelet (_French chant_), 186
Pretty little girl of mine (_a game_), 67
Q
Qu'est-ce-qui est rond (_French riddle_), 108
Quién me dira (_Spanish chant_), 156
Quien s'ha muerto (_Spanish knell_), 214
R
Riddle-rhymes, 104 ff.
Robbin and Bobbin, two great belly'd men, 182
Robert Rowley rolled, 141
Robin and Richard were two pretty men, 183
Robin-a-Bobbin bent his bow, 183
Robin-the-Bobbin, the big-headed hen, 183
Roses are red, diddle, diddle, 33
Rowley, rowley, rattlebags, 141
S
Sacrificial hunting, 171 ff.
Sally Waters (_a game_), 62, 67 ff., 216
Salt, significance of, 85
Seven years' time reckoning, 51, 69 ff.
Si un cordonnier cordant (_French rhyme_), 142
Sing a song of sixpence, 190
Sing hey diddle diddle, 35
Sommervögele flueg aus (_German rhyme_), 96
Sprinkling the pan (_a ceremonial act_), 71
Stout (_a traditional name_), 55
Sul (_a divinity_), 75
T
Tam o' th' Lin and a' his bairns, 53
The birds' lamentation (_a song_), 202
The comic adventures of Mother Hubbard (_a toy-book_), 38 ff.
The courtship of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren (_a toy-book_), 205, 209
The death and burial of Cock Robin (_a toy-book_), 37, 210
The first day of Christmas (_a game_), 135
The gaping, wide-mouthed, waddling frog (_a game_), 37, 116, 138
The king sent his lady (_a game_), 135
The Lady of the Land (_a game_), 78 ff., 216
The Lady of the Mountain (_a game_), 67
The life and death of Jenny Wren (_a toy-book_), 202
The man in the moon drinks claret, 21
The old woman and her pig _or_ kid, 119 ff.
The robin and the wren, 200 ff.
The robin redbreast and the wren, 201
The Robin's Testament (_a song_), 191 ff., 201
The tragic death of A, apple pie (_a toy-book_), 37
The twelve days of Christmas (_a game_), 134 ff.
The two grey cats, 54
The wife who expects to have a good name (_a proverb_), 86
The wren she lyes in care's bed (_a song_), 202
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, 180
The Yule days (_a game_), 135
There lived a puddy in a well (_a song_), 30
There was a bonny blade (_a song_), 25
There was a frog lived in a well (_a song_), 32
There was a little man who woo'd, 24
There was a little man who had a little gun, 25
There was a little old woman, and she lived in a shoe, 41
There was a little woman as I've heard tell, 55
There was a wee wifie (_a song_), 26
There was an old woman tossed in a blanket (_a song_), 25
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, 100
There were two blackbirds, 22
This is the house that Jack built, 117 ff.
This ladyfly I take from the grass, 95
Three blind mice, 28, 29, 90
Tittymouse and Tattymouse (_a cumulative story_), 208
Tom Hickathrift (_a chapbook_), 99
Tommy Linn is a Scotchman born, 52, 215
Toy-books, 3, 36 ff., 202, 204
Twelve huntsmen, with horns and hounds, 139
U
Une femme qui siffle (_French proverb_), 73 n.
V
Voici la maison que Pierre a bâtie (_a French piece_), 123
W
Wallflowers (_a game_), 72 n.
We hunted the wren, 177
We will a' gae sing, boys (_a chant_), 157
We will go to the wood, 174
Wer is dod (_German knell_), 212
What care I how black I be, 28
What care I how fair she be (_a song_), 28
What though now opposed I be (_a song_), 28
What's in the cupboard? says Mr. Hubbard, 43
When a twister a twisting, 141
When Arthur first in court began, 17
When good King Arthur rul'd the land, 16
Where have you been to-day, Billy, my son?, 50
Whishin dance, 60
Whistle, daughter, whistle, 73
Who did kill Cock Robbin?, 210
Widdicote, widdicote (_a riddle-rhyme_), 114
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BY THE SAME AUTHOR
WOMAN UNDER MONASTICISM CHAPTERS ON SAINT LORE AND CONVENT LIFE BETWEEN A.D. 500 AND 1500.
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Obvious typos and printer errors have been corrected without comment. Other than obvious errors, the author's spelling, grammar, and use of punctuation are retained as in the original publication.
In addition to obvious errors, the following changes have been made:
Pages 101 and 102: The word "Bŷskip/ bŷskips" appears in the original with an inverted breve over the y. Since this character is not available in the utf-8 code lists, a variant spelling is used in this text with a circumflex over the y.
Page 144: endquote removed from the phrase, "... heavens and the earth...."
Page 154: closing parenthesis added in the phrase, "(i.e. the constellation)"
Page 193: "bonuie" changed to "bonnie" in the phrase, "... bonnie feathers...."
Page 205: "it" changed to "its" in the phrase, "... was at its height...."
Page 213: closing quote added in the phrase, "... are plenty." (M. L., p. 232.)