The Peter Patter Book of Nursery Rhymes | Page 8

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.
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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.
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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 TO WALK
Whenever I go out to walk,?All the geese begin to gawk;?And when I start to wander back,?All the ducks begin to quack.
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A FREE SHOW
Mister McCune?Can whistle a tune,
Old Uncle Strong?Can sing us a song,
Benjamin Biddle?Can play on the fiddle,
Captain O'Trigg?Can dance us a jig,
And I, if I'm able,?Will tell you a fable.
BILLY BUMPKINS
Heigho, Billy Bumpkins,?How d' you grow your pumpkins??"At six o'clock I sows 'em,?At ten o'clock I hoes 'em,?An' jes before I goes to bed?I puts 'em in the pumpkin shed."
Tell us, Billy Bumpkins,?How d' you sell your pumpkins??"I lends 'em to the ladies,?I gives 'em to the babies,?An' trades a hundred for a kiss?To any pretty little miss."
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BLUE FLAMES AND RED FLAMES
Blue flames and red flames?In a world all dark;?Blue flames and red flames,?And a tiny spark?Hurrying to heaven, lest it should be late;?Lest the cautious seraphim close the shining gate,?And leave the little wanderer forevermore to fly?Like an orphan angel through the endless sky.
TIMOTHY GRADY
Poor little Timothy Grady?Screwed up his face at a lady,?And, jiminy jack!?It wouldn't come back.?The louder he hollered?The tighter it grew,?His eyes are all red?And his lips are all blue.?Oh, mercy me, what in the world will he do??Poor little Timothy Grady!
CAPTAIN TICKLE AND HIS NICKEL
Captain Tickle had a nickel?In a paper sack,?He threw it in the river?And he couldn't get it back.?Captain Tickle spent his nickel?For a rubber ball,?And when he cut it open?There was nothing there at all.
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GRANDMOTHER GRUNDY
O Grandmother Grundy,?Now what would you say?If the katydids carried?Your glasses away--
Carried them off?To the top of the sky?And used them to watch?The eclipses go by?
NEEDLES AND PINS
Needles and pins, hooks and eyes!?I saw a doughnut in the skies.?Flipperjinks the circus clown?Climbed a tree and got it down.
[Illustration: NEEDLES AND PINS, HOOKS AND EYES!]
A TOE RIME
Tassle is a captain,?Tinsel is a mayor,?Tony is a baker-boy?With 'lasses in his hair,?Tipsy is a sailor,?With anchors on his chest,?And Tiny is the baby boy?Who bosses all the rest.
HARRY HOOKER
Harry Hooker had a book?And couldn't find a teacher.?But still he managed very well,?He climbed a box and rang a bell?And turned into a preacher.
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JELLY JAKE AND BUTTER BILL
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Jelly Jake and Butter Bill?One dark night when all was still?Pattered down the long, dark stair,?And no one saw the guilty pair;?Pushed aside the pantry-door?And there found everything galore,--?Honey, raisins, orange-peel,?Cold chicken aplenty for a meal,?Gingerbread enough to fill?Two such boys as Jake and Bill.?Well, they ate and ate and ate,?Gobbled at an awful rate?Till I'm sure they soon weighed more?Than double what they did before.?And then, it's awful, still it's true,?The floor gave way and they went thru.?Filled so full they couldn't fight.?Slowly they sank out of sight.?Father, Mother, Cousin Ann,?Cook and nurse and furnace man?Fished in forty-dozen ways?After them, for twenty days;?But not a soul has chanced to get?A glimpse or glimmer of them yet.?And I'm afraid we never will--?Poor Jelly Jake and Butter Bill.
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CUT UP A CAPER
Cut up a caper,?You've got a paper?And I've got a widget of string.?You be the army?And let nothing harm me?For I am the captain