Children's Literature. Charles Madison Curry

And pretty maids all in a row.

66

       Table of Contents

      Multiplication is vexation,

       Division is as bad;

       The Rule of Three perplexes me,

       And Practice drives me mad.

67

       Table of Contents

      Needles and pins, needles and pins,

       When a man marries his trouble begins.

68

       Table of Contents

      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 fine fiddle,

       And a very fine fiddle had he;

       Twee tweedle dee, tweedle dee, went the fiddlers.

       Oh, there's one so rare,

       As can compare

       With old King Cole and his fiddlers three!

69

       Table of Contents

      Once I saw a little bird

       Come hop, hop, hop;

       So I cried, "Little bird,

       Will you stop, stop, stop?"

       And was going to the window

       To say, "How do you do?"

       But he shook his little tail,

       And far away he flew.

70

       Table of Contents

      One for the money,

       And two for the show;

       Three to make ready,

       And four to go.

71

       Table of Contents

      One misty, moisty morning,

       When cloudy was the weather,

       I chanced to meet an old man

       Clothed all in leather,

       He began to compliment,

       And I began to grin—

       "How do you do," and "How do you do,"

       And "How do you do" again!

72

       Table of Contents

      1, 2, 3, 4, 5!

       I caught a hare alive;

       6, 7, 8, 9, 10!

       I let her go again.

73

       Table of Contents

      One, two,

       Buckle my shoe;

       Three, four,

       Shut the door;

       Five, six,

       Pick up sticks;

       Seven, eight,

       Lay them straight;

       Nine, ten,

       A good fat hen;

       Eleven, twelve,

       Who will delve?

       Thirteen, fourteen,

       Maids a-courting;

       Fifteen, sixteen,

       Maids a-kissing;

       Seventeen, eighteen,

       Maids a-waiting;

       Nineteen, twenty,

       My stomach's empty.

74

       Table of Contents

      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,

       Put it in the oven for Tommy and me.

75

       Table of Contents

      Pease-porridge hot,

       Pease-porridge cold,

       Pease-porridge in the pot,

       Nine days old;

       Some like it hot,

       Some like it cold,

       Some like it in the pot,

       Nine days old.

76

       Table of Contents

      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.

77

       Table of Contents

      Halliwell suggests that "off a pewter plate" is sometimes added at the end of each line. This rhyme is famous as a "tongue twister," or enunciation exercise.

      Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;

       A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;

       If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

       Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

78

       Table of Contents

      Poor