XI.—NURSERY-SONGS.
Reading edition
XI.—NURSERY-SONGS.
BILLY, MY SON.
MY COCK LILY-COCK.
JACK SPRAT.
DABBLING IN THE DEW.
HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE!
TOMMY LINN.
THE BEGGARS OF RATCLIFFE FAIR.
The earliest and simplest form in which the nursery song appears is the lullaby, which may be defined a gentle song used for the purpose of inducing sleep. The term was generally, though not exclusively, confined to nurses:
Philomel, with melody
Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby.
The etymology is to be sought for in the verb lull, to sing gently, which Douce thinks is connected with λαλεω or λάλλη. One of the earliest nursery lullabies that have descended to our day occurs in the play of Philotimus, 1583:
Trylle the ball againe my Jacke,
And be contente to make some play,
And I will lull thee on my lappe,
With hey be bird now say not nay.
Another is introduced into the comedy of Patient Grissel, printed in the year 1603:
Hush, hush, hush, hush!
And I dance mine own child,
And I dance mine own child,
Hush, hush, hush, hush!