The Peter Patter Book of Nursery Rhymes
Chapter 1
Produced by K Nordquist, Close@Hand re-scanned some illustrations, Jacqueline Jeremy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
THE PETER PATTER BOOK OF NURSERY RHYMES
THE PETER PATTER BOOK OF NURSERY RHYMES
_by_ LEROY F. JACKSON
_Pictures by_ BLANCHE FISHER WRIGHT
_To_ ANDREW, PUDGE, AND BOBBY My first appreciative audience
Copyright © 1918 by Rand McNally & Company. Renewal copyright 1946 by Rand McNally & Co. All rights reserved.
PETER PATTER _told them to me, All the little rimes, Whispered them among the bushes Half a hundred times.
Peter lives upon a mountain Pretty near the sun, Knows the bears and birds and rabbits Nearly every one; Has a home among the alders, Bed of cedar bark, Walks alone beneath the pine trees Even when it's dark.
Squirrels tell him everything That happens in the trees, Cricket in the gander-grass Sings of all he sees; Rimes from bats and butterflies, Crabs and waterfowl; But the best of all he gets From his Uncle Owl.
Sometimes when its day-time, But mostly in the night, They sit beneath an oak tree And hug each other tight, And tell their rimes and riddles Where the catty creatures prowl-- Funny little Peter Patter And his Uncle Owl._
LIST OF THE RHYMES
PAGE
A Copper Down a Crack 9
I'm Much Too Big for a Fairy 9
Did You Ever Play Tag with a Tiger? 9
The Blue Song 10
Hippity Hop to Bed 10
Away to the River 11
Our Little Pat 12
The Animal Show 12
Tommy Trimble 12
Dickie, Dickie Dexter 14
On the Road to Tattletown 14
Polly and Peter 14
I Went to Town on Monday 15
Where Are You Going? 16
Christopher Crump 17
Pinky, Pinky, Pang 18
Tick, Tock 18
Under the Willow 20
High on the Mantel 20
Boots, Boots, Boots 21
Butterfly 22
Beela By the Sea 22
A Matter of Taste 23
Tommy, My Son 23
Oh, Said the Worm 23
Buzzy Brown 24
The Wind 24
The Hobo Band 24
A Beetle on a Broomstraw 26
Mule Thoughts 26
A Candle, a Candle 27
Baxter 28
Loddy, Gin, and Ella Zander 28
As I Was Going Down the Hill 28
A Little Boy Ran to the End of the Sky 30
Discretion 31
A Beetle Once Sat on a Barberry Twig 31
The Thieves 32
Upon The Irish Sea 32
Duckle, Daisy 32
I've Got a New Book 34
The Carrot and the Rabbit 35
Hippy-Hi-Hoppy 35
Up on the Garden Gate 37
'Most Any Chip 37
A Moon Song 37
What Makes You Laugh? 38
Timmy O'Toole 38
A Man Came From Malden 39
Baron Batteroff 39
Six Little Salmon 39
To Carry on the Toot-Toot 40
Doubbledoon 40
The Party 42
I've Got a Yellow Puppy 43
Doctor McSwattle 45
Columbus 45
Terrible Tim 46
What's the Use? 46
All Aboard for Bombay 47
Water 47
Old Molly is Lowing 48
Snowflakes 48
Dippy-Dippy-Davy 48
When I'm as Rich as Uncle Claus 50
Rinky-Tattle 50
Twenty Little Snowflakes 51
Slippery Slim 51
The Freighter 53
No One at Home 53
Patters and Tatters 53
Crown the King with Carrot Tops 54
The Canada Goose 54
Hipperty, Clickerty, Clackerty, Bang 55
Sonny 56
The Stove 56
The Thunder Baby 58
Hinky, Pinky, Pearly Earl 59
Tipsy Tom 60
Jolly Jinks 60
Transformation 60
The Thief Chase 62
Somebody 62
Consolation 63
The Robin and the Squirrel 63
The King Had a Platter 63
Rain 64
Old Father McNether 64
Jerry Was a Joker 64
King Kokem 66
Old Missus Skinner 67
Oh, Mother 69
Cella Ree and Tommy To 69
If I Were Richer 70
The Army of the Queen 70
Romulus 70
The Hero 72
Pensive Percy 72
Moon, O Moon in the Empty Sky 73
The Rag-Man 75
Whenever I Go Out to Walk 75
A Free Show 76
Billy Bumpkins 76
Blue Flames and Red Flames 77
Timothy Grady 77
Captain Tickle and his Nickel 77
Grandmother Grundy 78
Needles and Pins 78
A Toe Rime 78
Harry Hooker 78
Jelly Jake and Butter Bill 80
Cut Up a Caper 81
Eat, Eat, Eat 83
Hetty Hutton 83
A Big, Fat Potato 84
A Bundle of Hay 85
Peter, Popper 86
Old Father Annum 86
The Tippany Flower 86
Here Comes a Cabbage 88
Plenty 89
The Runaways 89
A Race, A Race to Moscow 91
The Salesman 91
A Prince from Pepperville 91
Boats 92
Pretty Things 92
Did You Ever? 92
Hootem, Tootem, Clear the Track 94
Doctor Drake 94
Babies 95
Twenty Thieves From Albion 95
As I Came Out of Grundy Greet 96
THE PETER PATTER BOOK
A COPPER DOWN A CRACK
Jingle, jingle, Jack, A copper down a crack. Twenty men and all their wives, With sticks and picks and pocket knives, Digging for their very lives To get the copper back.
I'M MUCH TOO BIG FOR A FAIRY
I'm much too big for a fairy, And much too small for a man, But this is true: Whatever I do, I do it the best I can.
DID YOU EVER PLAY TAG WITH A TIGER?
Did you ever play tag with a tiger, Or ever play boo with a bear; Did you ever put rats in the rain-barrel To give poor old Granny a scare?
It's fun to play tag with a tiger, It's fun for the bear to say "boo," But if rats are found in the rain-barrel Old Granny will put you in too.
THE BLUE SONG
Hot mush and molasses all in a blue bowl-- Eat it, it's good for you, sonny. 'T will make you grow tall as a telephone pole-- Eat it, it's good for you, sonny.
Fresh fish and potatoes all on a blue plate-- Eat it up smart now, my sonny. 'T will make you as jolly and fat as Aunt Kate-- Eat it up quick now, my sonny.
Sweet milk from a nanny-goat in a blue cup-- Drink it, it's good for you, sonny, 'T will fill you, expand you, and help you grow up, And make a real man of you, sonny.
HIPPITY HOP TO BED
O it's hippity hop to bed! I'd rather sit up instead. But when father says "must," There's nothing but just Go hippity hop to bed.
AWAY TO THE RIVER
Away to the river, away to the wood, While the grasses are green and the berries are good! Where the locusts are scraping their fiddles and bows, And the bees keep a-coming wherever one goes.
Oh, it's off to the river and off to the hills, To the land of the bloodroot and wild daffodils, With a buttercup blossom to color my chin, And a basket of burs to put sandberries in.
OUR LITTLE PAT
Our little Pat Was chasing the cat And kicking the kittens about. When mother said "Quit!" He ran off to sit On the top of the woodpile and pout; But a sly little grin Soon slid down his chin And let all the sulkiness out.
THE ANIMAL SHOW
Father and mother and Bobbie will go To see all the sights at the animal show. Where lions and bears Sit on dining room chairs, Where a camel is able To stand on a table, Where monkeys and seals All travel on wheels, And a Zulu baboon Rides a baby balloon. The sooner you're ready, the sooner we'll go. Aboard, all aboard, for the Animal Show!
TOMMY TRIMBLE
Billy be nimble, Hurry and see Old Tommy Trimble Climbing a tree. He claws with his fingers And digs with his toes. The longer he lingers The slower he goes.
DICKIE, DICKIE DEXTER
Dickie, Dickie Dexter Had a wife and vexed her. She put him in a rabbit cage And fed him peppermint and sage-- Dickie, Dickie Dexter.
ON THE ROAD TO TATTLETOWN
On the road to Tattletown What is this I see? A pig upon a pedestal, A cabbage up a tree, A rabbit cutting capers With a twenty dollar bill-- Now if I don't get to Tattletown Then no one ever will.
POLLY AND PETER
Polly had some china cows And Peter had a gun. She turned the bossies out to browse, And Peterkin, for fun, Just peppered them with butter beans And blew them all to smithereens.
* * *
Now what will pretty Polly do For milk and cream and butter too?
I WENT TO TOWN ON MONDAY
I went to town on Monday To buy myself a coat, But on the way I met a man Who traveled with a caravan, And bought a billy-goat.
I went to town on Tuesday And bought a fancy vest. I kept the pretty bucklestraps, Buttonholes and pocketflaps, And threw away the rest.
I went to town on Thursday To buy a loaf of bread, But when I got there, goodness sakes! The town was full of rattlesnakes-- The bakers all were dead.
I went to town on Saturday To get myself a wife, But when I saw the lady fair I gnashed my teeth and pulled my hair And scampered for my life.
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Where are you going, sister Kate? I'm going to swing on the garden gate, And watch the fairy gypsies dance Their tim-tam-tum on the cabbage-plants-- The great big one with the purple nose, And the tiny tad with the pinky toes.
Where are you going, brother Ben? I'm going to build a tiger-pen. I'll get iron and steel and 'lectric wire And build it a hundred feet, or higher, And put ten tigers in it too, And a big wildcat, and--mebbe--you.
Where are you going, mother mine? I'm going to sit by the old grapevine, And watch the gliding swallow bring Clay for her nest from the meadow spring-- Clay and straw and a bit of thread To weave it into a baby's bed.
Where are you going, grandma dear? I'm going, love, where the skies are clear, And the light winds lift the poppy flowers And gather clouds for the summer showers, Where the old folks and the children play On the warm hillside through the livelong day.
CHRISTOPHER CRUMP
Christopher Crump, All in a lump, Sits like a toad on the top of a stump. He stretches and sighs, And blinks with his eyes, Bats at the beetles and fights off the flies.
PINKY, PINKY, PANG
A tortoise sat on a slippery limb And played his pinky pang For a dog-fish friend that called on him, And this is what he sang: "Oh, the skies are blue, And I wait for you To come where the willows hang, And dance all night By the white moonlight To my pinky, pinky, pang!"
TICK, TOCK
Tick, tock! Tick, tock! Forty 'leven by the clock. Tick, tock! Tick, tock! Put your ear to Grandpa's ticker, Like a pancake, only thicker. Tick, tock! Tick, tock! Catch a squirrel in half a minute, Grab a sack and stick him in it. Tick, tock! Tick, tock! Mister Bunny feeds on honey, Tea, and taters--ain't it funny? Tick, tock! Tick, tock! When he goes to bed at night, Shoves his slippers out of sight; That is why Old Fox, the sinner, Had to go without his dinner. Tick, tock! Tick, tock! So says Grandpa's clock.
UNDER THE WILLOW
Put down your pillow under the willow, Hang up your hat in the sun, And lie down to snooze as long as you choose, For the plowing and sowing are done.
Pick up your pillow from under the willow, And clamber out into the sun. Get a fork and a rake for goodness' sake, For the harvest time has begun.
HIGH ON THE MANTEL
High on the mantel rose a moan-- It came from an idol carved in bone-- "Oh, it's so lonesome here alone, With no one near to love me!"
A cautious smile came over the face Of a pensive maid on a Grecian vase "Are you sure," she said, with charming grace, "There's no one near to love you?"
BOOTS, BOOTS, BOOTS
Buster's got a popper gun, A reg'lar one that shoots, And Teddy's got an engine With a whistler that toots. But I've got something finer yet-- A pair of rubber boots. Oh, it's boots, boots, boots, A pair of rubber boots! I could walk from here to China In a pair of rubber boots.
BUTTERFLY
Butterfly, butterfly, Sit on my chin, Your wings are like tinsel, So yellow and thin.
Butterfly, butterfly, Give me a kiss; If you give me a dozen There's nothing amiss.
Butterfly, butterfly, Off to the flowers,-- Wee, soulless sprite Of the long summer hours.
BEELA BY THE SEA
Catch a floater, catch an eel, Catch a lazy whale, Catch an oyster by the heel And put him in a pail.
There's lots of work for Uncle Ike, Fatty Ford and me All day long and half the night At Beela by the sea.
A MATTER OF TASTE
"Thank you, dear," said the big black ant, "I'd like to go home with you now, but I can't. I have to hurry and milk my cows-- The aphid herds on the aster boughs." And the ladybug said: "No doubt it's fine, This milk you get from your curious kine, But you know quite well it's my belief Your cows are best when turned to beef."
TOMMY, MY SON
"Tommy, my son," said the old tabby cat, "Go catch us some mice, and be sure that they're fat. There's one family lives in the carpenter's barn; They've made them a nest of the old lady's yarn. But the carpenter has a young cat of his own That is healthy and proud and almost full grown, And consider it, son, an eternal disgrace To come home at night with a scratch on your face."
OH, SAID THE WORM
"Oh," said the worm, "I'm awfully tired of sitting in the trees; I want to be a butterfly And chase the bumblebees."
BUZZY BROWN
Buzzy Brown came home from town As crazy as a loon, He wore a purple overcoat And sang a Sunday tune.
Buzzy Brown came home from town As proud as he could be, He found three doughnuts and a bun A-growing on a tree.
THE WIND
The wind came a-whooping, down Cranberry Hill And stole an umbrella from, Mother Medill.
It picked up a paper on Patterson's place And carried it clean to the Rockaby Race.
And what was more shocking and awful than that, It blew the new feather off grandmother's hat.
THE HOBO BAND
The roads are good and the weather's grand, So I'm off to play in the Hobo Band; With a gaspipe flute and a cowhide drum I'm going to make the music come. With a toot, toot, toot, and a dum, dum, dum, Just hear me make the music come!
A BEETLE ON A BROOMSTRAW
A robin and a wren, as they walked along one night, Saw a big brown beetle on a broomstraw. Said the robin to the wren: "What a pretty, pretty sight-- That big brown beetle on a broomstraw!" So they got their plates and knives, Their children and their wives, And gobbled up the beetle on the broomstraw.
MULE THOUGHTS
A silly little mule Sat on a milking stool And tried to write a letter to his father. But he couldn't find the ink, So he said: "I rather think This writing letters home is too much bother."
A CANDLE, A CANDLE
A candle, a candle To light me to bed; A pillow, a pillow To tuck up my head. The moon is as sleepy as sleepy can be, The stars are all pointing their fingers at me, And Missus Hop-Robin, way up in her nest, Is rocking her tired little babies to rest. So give me a blanket To tuck up my toes, And a little soft pillow To snuggle my nose.
BAXTER
Baxter had a billy-goat Wall-eyed and double jointed. He took him to the barber shop And had his head anointed.
LODDY, GIN, AND ELLA ZANDER
Loddy, Gin, and Ella Zander Rode to market on a gander; Bought a crane for half a dollar; Loddy led him by the collar.
Mister Crane said: "Hi there, master, Can't you make your legs work faster? We can't poke along this way." Then he slowly flew away. Loddy held him fast, you bet, And he hasn't come home yet.
AS I WAS GOING DOWN THE HILL
As I was going down the hill In front of Missus Knapp's I saw the little Knapperines All in their winter wraps-- Purple mitts and mufflers And knitted jersey caps.
As I was coming back again In front of Missus Knapp's I saw that awful lady Give about a dozen slaps To every little Knapperine-- I thought it was, perhaps, Because they gathered stickers In their knitted jersey caps.
A LITTLE BOY RAN TO THE END OF THE SKY
A little boy ran to the end of the sky With a rag and a pole and a gooseberry pie. He cried: "Three cheers for the Fourth of July!" With a rag and a pole and a gooseberry pie.
He saw three little donkeys at play, He tickled their noses to make them bray, And he didn't come back until Christmas Day-- With a rag and a pole and a gooseberry pie.
DISCRETION
A man with a nickel, A sword, and a sickle, A pipe, and a paper of pins Set out for the Niger To capture a tiger-- And that's how my story begins.
When he saw the wide ocean, He soon took a notion 'T would be nicer to stay with his friends. So he traded his hat For a tortoise-shell cat-- And that's how the chronicle ends.
A BEETLE ONCE SAT ON A BARBERRY TWIG
A beetle once sat on a barberry twig, And turned at the crank of a thingum-a-jig. Needles for hornets, nippers for ants, For the bumblebee baby a new pair of pants, For the grizzled old gopher a hat and a wig, The beetle ground out of his thingum-a-jig.
THE THIEVES
Tibbitts and Bibbitts and Solomon Sly Ran off one day with a cucumber pie. Tibbitts was tossed by a Kensington cow, Bibbitts was hanged on a brambleweed bough, And poor little Solomon--what do you think? Was drowned one dark night in a bottle of ink.
UPON THE IRISH SEA
Some one told Maria Ann, Maria Ann told me, That kittens ride in coffee cans Upon the Irish Sea.
From quiet caves to rolling waves, How jolly it must be To travel in a coffee can Upon the Irish Sea!
But when it snows and when it blows, How would you like to be A kitten in a coffee can Upon the Irish Sea?
DUCKLE, DAISY
Duckle, duckle, daisy, Martha must be crazy, She went and made a Christmas cake Of olive oil and gluten-flake, And set it in the sink to bake, Duckle, duckle, daisy.
I'VE GOT A NEW BOOK
I've got a new book from my Grandfather Hyde. It's skin on the cover and paper inside, And reads about Arabs and horses and slaves, And tells how the Caliph of Bagdad behaves. I'd not take a goat and a dollar beside For the book that I got from my Grandfather Hyde.
THE CARROT AND THE RABBIT
A carrot in a garden And a rabbit in the wood. Said the rabbit, "Beg your pardon, But you're surely meant for food; Though you've started in to harden, You may still be very good."
HIPPY-HI-HOPPY
Hippy-Hi-Hoppy, the big fat toad, Greeted his friends at a turn of the road.
Said he to the snail: "Here's a ring for your tail If you'll go into town for my afternoon mail."
Said he to the rat: "I have talked with the cat; And she'll nab you so quick you won't know where you're at."
Said he to the lizard: "I'm really no wizard, But I'll show you a trick that will tickle your gizzard."
Said he to the lark: "When it gets fairly dark We'll chase the mosquitoes in Peek-a-Boo Park."
Said he to the owl: "If it were not for your scowl I'd like you as well as most any wild fowl."
Said he to the wren: "You're tiny, but then I'll marry you quick, if you'll only say when."
UP ON THE GARDEN GATE
Set me up on the garden gate And put on my Sunday tie; I want to be there With a round-eyed stare When the circus band goes by.
Give me a bag of suckerettes And give me a piece of gum, Then I'll get down And treat the clown, And give the monkey some.
'MOST ANY CHIP
'Most any chip Will do for a ship, If only the cargo be Golden sand From the beautiful land Of far-off Arcady. For faith will waft The tiny craft O'er Fancy's shining sea.
A MOON SONG
Who hung his hat on the moon? The owl in his bubble balloon. One bright summer night He sailed out of sight, And, hooting like Lucifer, hung in delight His three-cornered hat on the moon.
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"What makes you laugh, my little lass, From morning until noon?" "I saw a dappled donkey Throwing kisses at the moon."
"What makes you cry, my little lass, And get your eyes so red?" "I saw a cruel gardener cut A poor old cabbage head."
"What makes you run, my little lass? You're almost out of breath." "A pumpkin made a face at me, And scared me half to death."