The Peter Patter Book of Nursery Rhymes | Page 8

told about the awful rain
That fell in Noah's day,
And one by
one the happy smiles
Began to fade away.
In half an hour the people all
Put on their rubber coats,
And when
he finished everyone
Was out and building boats.

OLD FATHER McNETHER
Old Father McNether
He sorts out the weather
And takes what he
pleases, I'm told,
With a big turkey-feather
He mixes the weather,

And makes it blow hot and blow cold.
[Illustration: OLD FATHER McNETHER]
JERRY WAS A JOKER
Jerry was a joker.
He carried off the poker
And dressed it up from
head to heel
In clover-tops and orange-peel
And fed it bones and
barley meal.
Poor old Rusty Poker!
[Illustration]
KING KOKEM
King Kokem lay snoozing upon his brass bed--
Oh, play an old tune
on your fiddle!
With shoes on his feet, and a crown on his head--

Oh, tune up your rusty old fiddle!
He dreamed of a land where the lions were tame,
Where they fried
their lamb-chops on a griddle,
Where they called all the parrots and
monkeys by name--
Oh, play us a tune on your fiddle!
He dreamed of a sea filled with raspberry pop,
With a cocoanut isle in
the middle,
Where the stones and the boulders had icing on top--

Go strike up a tune on your fiddle!
He dreamed of a sky where the moonbeams all danced
While a comet
was telling a riddle,
Where the stars and the planets and sun-dogs all
pranced
While the moon played his fiddle de diddle.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]

OLD MISSUS SKINNER
Old Missus Skinner
Had dumplings for dinner
And sat on a very
high stool;
When she cut thru the hide
There was nothing inside,

Which I'm sure was not often the rule.
[Illustration: OH MOTHER, OH MOTHER, COME QUICKLY AND
SEE]
OH, MOTHER
Oh, Mother, Oh, Mother,
Come quickly and see,
The house and the
farmyard
Have gone on a spree.
The pig's in the pantry,
The chickens are out,
The parrot is perched

On the tea kettle spout.
And mercy, Oh, mercy,
Oh, what shall I do?
A rat has run off

With my very best shoe.
CELLA REE AND TOMMY TO
Two funny friends that you all know
Are Cella Ree and Tommy To.

About as queer as friends can be,
Are Tommy To and Cella Ree.

For hours they sit there grim and stable
Side by side upon the table.

Tom is red and Cella pale,
His blushes are of no avail;
She sits, in
spite of his endeavor,
As firm and undisturbed as ever,
A funny pair,
you must agree,
This Tommy To and Cella Ree.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
IF I WERE RICHER
If I were richer
I'd buy a pitcher
With scenery on it.
'Jolica ware--

Storks here and there,
And a funny affair
With ladies on it.

In half a minute
I'd mix up in it
A wonderful drink--
Peppermint,
ice,
Lemons and spice--
Taste pretty nice,
What do you think?
THE ARMY OF THE QUEEN
O the Army of the Queen,
The Army of the Queen,
Some are
dressed in turkey-red
And some are dressed in green;
A colonel and
a captain,
A corporal in between,
Their guns are filled with powder

And their swords are bright and keen;
So toot your little trumpet

For the Army of the Queen.
[Illustration: TOOT YOUR LITTLE TRUMPET FOR THE ARMY OF
THE QUEEN]
ROMULUS
Romulus, Romulus,
Father of Rome,
Ran off with a wolf
And he
wouldn't come home.
When he grew up
He founded a city
With an eagle, a bear,
And a
tortoise-shell kitty.
[Illustration]
THE HERO
My dad was a soldier and fought in the wars,
My grandfather fought
on the sea,
And the tales of their daring and valor of course
Put the
sand and the ginger in me.
I'm not scared of tigers or any wild beast,
I could fight with a lion all
right,
I wouldn't be 'fraid of a bear in the least--
Excepting, perhaps,
in the night.
But sister, she's skeery as skeery can be,
She's even afraid of the bark
of a tree.

PENSIVE PERCY
Percy when a little boy
Was quiet as a mouse,
He never set the barn
afire
Nor battered down the house.
He used to sit for hours and hours
Just gazing at the moon,
And
feeding little fishes
Sarsaparilla from a spoon.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
MOON, O MOON IN THE EMPTY SKY
Moon, O Moon in the empty sky,
Why do you swing so low?
Pretty
moon with the silver ring
And the long bright beams where the fairies
cling,
Where do you always go?
I go to the land of the Siamese,
Ceylon and the Great Plateau,
Over
the seas where Sinbad sailed,
Where Moses crossed and Pharaoh
failed,--
There's where I always go.
[Illustration: RAG-MAN, RAG-MAN, TAGGY, TAGGY,
RAG-MAN]
THE RAG-MAN
"Rag-man, rag-man,
Taggy, taggy, rag-man,
Tell us what you've
got there in your sack."
"Oh--it's full of rimes and riddles,
Jingles, jokes, and hi-de-diddles--

This bundle that I carry on my back."
"O tell us, funny rag-man,
Grinny, skinny rag-man,
Where did you
pick up your funny rimes?"
"Some were dancing with corn-flowers,
Some were hiding in

church-towers,
And sprinkled helter-skelter by the chimes."
"Rag-man, rag-man,
Nice old taggy rag-man,
Sing us just one jingle,
tingle song."
"Why, my dears, I've got a plenty,
Sing you one? I'll sing you
twenty--
I've been hoping you would ask me all along."
WHENEVER I GO OUT