This book is dedicated to Ann Waters Denslow with much love and gratitude for her help in its making.

Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall;

All the king's horses, and all the king's men

Cannot put Humpty-Dumpty together again.

(an egg)

Mistress Mary, quite contrary

How does your garden grow?

With cockle-shells and silver bells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

Bye, baby bunting,

Daddy's gone a hunting,

He'll never get this rabbit's skin,

To wrap the baby bunting in.

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!"

Old King Cole

Was a merry old soul,

And a merry old soul was he:

He called for his pipe,

And he called for his bowl,

And he called for his fiddlers three.

Every fiddler, he had a fiddle,

And a very fine fiddle had he;

Twee tweedle dee, tweedle dee, went the fiddlers.

Oh, there's none so rare,

As can compare

With King Cole and his fiddlers three.

Baa, baa, black sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes, marry, have I,

Three bags full;

One for my master,

And one for my dame,

And one for the little boy

Who lives in the lane.

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man!

So I will, master, as fast as I can:

Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T, and

Put in the oven for Tommy and me.

Great A, little a,

Bouncing B!

The cat's in the cupboard,

And she can't see.

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,

Home again, home again, dancing a jig:

Ride to market to buy a fat hog,

Home again, home again, jiggety-jog.

I love little Pussy, her coat is so warm,

And if I don't hurt her, she'll do me no harm.

I'll sit by the fire, and give her some food,

And Pussy will love me, because I am good.

Higglepy, Piggleby, My black hen,

She lays eggs For gentlemen;

Sometimes nine, And sometimes ten,

Higglepy, Piggleby, My black hen!

Hickety; dickety, dock,

The mouse ran up the clock;

The clock struck one,

Down the mouse ran,

Hickety, dickety, dock.

Hush-a-bye, baby, on on the tree top,

When the wind blows the cradle will rock;

When the bough bends it never can fall,

Safe is the baby, bough, cradle and all.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,

She had so many children she didn't know what to do;

She gave them some broth with plenty of bread,

She kissed them all fondly and sent them to bed.

Poor old Robinson Crusoe!

Poor old Robinson Crusoe!

They made him a coat

Of an old nanny goat

I wonder how they could do so!

With a ring-a-ting tang,

And a ring-a-ting tang,

Poor old Robinson Crusoe!

Rain, rain, go away,

Come again another day;

Little Arthur wants to play.

The rose is red,

The violet's blue,

Sugar is sweet,

And so are you.

Little Boy Blue, come blow up your horn,

The sheep's in the meadow, the cow in the corn.

There was an old woman tossed up in a basket

Nineteen times as high as the moon;

Where she was going I couldn't but ask it,

For in her hand she carried a broom.

Old woman, old woman, old woman, quoth I,

O whither, O whither, O whither so high?

To brush the cobwebs off the sky!

Shall I go with thee? Aye, by-and bye.

Ride a cockhorse to Banbury-cross

To see an old lady upon a white horse,

Rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes,

And so she makes music wherever she goes.

The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,

All on a summer's day;

The Knave of Hearts, he stole the tarts,

And took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for the tarts,

And beat the Knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts,

And vowed he'd steal no more.

Little Bo-peep has lost her sheep,

And can't tell where to find them;

Leave them alone, and they'll come home,

And bring their tails behind them.

The north wind doth blow,

And we shall have snow,

And what will poor Robin do then?

Poor thing!

He'll sit in a barn,

And to keep himself warm,

Will hide his head under his wing,

Poor thing!

There was an old woman, and what do you think?

She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink:

Victuals and drink were the chief of her diet;

And yet this old woman could never be quiet.

Simple Simon met a pieman,

Going to the fair;

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

"Let me taste your ware."

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,

"Show me first your penny."

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

"Indeed I have not any."

Simple Simon went a-fishing

For to catch a whale:

All the water he had got

Was in his mother's pail.

Little Miss Muffet,

She sat on a tuffet,

There came a great spider,

Who sat down beside her,

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Little Tom Tucker

Sings for his supper,

What shall he eat?

White bread and butter.

Mary had a little lamb,

Its fleece was white as snow;

And everywhere that Mary went,

The lamb was sure to go.

He followed, her to school one day;

That was against the rule;

It made the children laugh and play

To see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned him out,

But still he lingered near,

And waited patiently about

Till Mary did appear.

"What makes the lamb love Mary so?"

The eager children cry.

"Oh, Mary loves the lamb, you know."

The teacher did reply.

A diller, a dollar,

A ten o' clock scholar,

What makes you come so soon?

You used to come at ten o'clock,

But now you come at noon.

I had a little hobby-horse,

And it was dapple grey;

Its head was made of pea-straw,

Its tail was made of hay.

I sold it to an old woman

For a copper groat;

And I'll not sing my song again

Without a new coat.

Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,

Had a wife, and couldn't keep her;

He put her in a pumpkin-shell.

And there he kept her very well.

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.

The man in the moon,

Came down too soon,

To inquire his way to Norwich.

He went by the south,

And burnt his mouth

With eating cold pease porridge.

Hey! diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed to see such sport.

And the dish ran after the spoon.

There was a fat man of Bombay,

Who was smoking one sunshiny day,

When a bird called a snipe,

Flew away with his pipe,

Which vexed the fat man of Bombay.

Hark, hark!

The dogs do bark,

Beggars are coming to town;

Some in tags,

Some in rags,

And some in velvet gowns.

Jack be nimble,

Jack be quick,

And Jack jump over the candle stick.

Three wise men of Gotham

Went to sea in a bowl,

And if the bowl had been stronger,

My song would have been longer.

Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son John

Went to bed with his trousers on;

One shoe off, the other shoe on,

Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son John.

Cock a doodle doo,

My dame has lost her shoe;

My master's lost his fiddle-stick,

And knows not what to do.

Polly, put the kettle on,

Polly, put the kettle on,

Polly, put the kettle on,

And let's drink tea.

Sukey, take it off again,

Sukey, take it off again,

Sukey, take it off again,

They've all gone away.

The verses in this

book have been

hand-lettered by

FRED W. GOUDY.