Uncle Jim’s Canadian Nursery Rhymes For Family and Kindergarten Use

Edwardian and Georgian Canadian Poets

28th Jun 2016Posted in: Edwardian and Georgian Canadian Poets 0

UNCLE JIM’S CANADIAN NURSERY
RHYMES

[unnumbered page]

[blank page]

UNCLE JIM’S CANADIAN
NURSERY RHYMES

For Family and Kindergarten Use

[handwritten: By David Boyle –]

Illustrated by C. W. Jefferys

THE MUSSON BOOK CO. LIMITED
London, England Toronto, CANADA

[unnumbered page]

[blank page]

A WORD TO THE OLD FOLK

NURSERY RHYMES are not necessarily either of sense or of reason. What very young children do demand, however, are jingle and repetition. Among the lower races of mankind a similar desire characterises adults, and even among ourselves something of the kind prevails throughout life.

We find, therefore, in all civilised countries, numerous forms of what have become standards of nursery lilts, as well as of child folklore; and it is not probable, or even desirable, that the world will ever become too old, or too wise, to enjoy such simple compositions. Naturally, variants of this kind are marked by local color, and it is from a desire to supply something of the sort for Canadian children that the following attempts have been made.

While “Ride a cock-horse,” “Old Mother Hubbard,” and the like, have by right of occupation, made good their claim to stay, there would seem to be a reason why some rhymes with a flavour of Canada should find a place in our homes, if only for patriotic purposes, in a small way.

Mr. Jefferys’ very excellent illustrations are, in themselves, of more than a little educational value in this direction.

UNCLE JIM

[page 3]

[illustration:
FRANCE
ENGLAND SCOTLAND
IRELAND]

[page 4]

[illustration:
HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE
DIEU ET MON DROIT
TO OUR KING AND QUEEN
Edward-Emperor and King
Alexandra-Empress-Queen:
Long may you live,
Long may you reign,
Beloved Briton,
Darling Dane.]

[page 5]

[illustration]

[page 6]

[illustration: The Squirrel

Hoppity, jiggity, hig
A squirrel up on a twig
Isn’t it fun
To see him run?
Hoppity, jiggity, jig!] [page 7]

[illustration]

[page 8]

TO THE HEAD

[illustration]

[illustration]	This is the roof of the Shanty.		{Patting the Top of the Child’s head}
[illustration]	These are the windows for looking through
	Under the roof of the Shanty		{Touching the eyes}
[illustration]	This is the handle that opens the door, Or keeps it shut in the Shanty.		{Touching the nose}
[illustration]	This is the door where things go through Some large, some small, some old, some new,		{Touching the mouth}
	Some sweet, some sour, some many, some few; For the use of those in the Shanty.		[illustration]
[illustration: Some Large]	[illustration: Some Small]	[illustration: Some Sweet]	[illustration: Some Sour]

[page 9]

PAPOOSE

[illustration]

[page 10]

TO THE TOES

     Ninkum, winkum! little boy in White
What I want to know is, where you’ll sleep to-night?
     Ninkum, winkum! little boy in Black
What I want to know is, when you will come back?
     Ninkum, winkum! little boy in Brown
What I want to know is, where you live in town?
     Ninkum, winkum! little boy in Blue
What I want to know is, how old are you?
     Ninkum, winkum! little boy in Red
What I want to know is, when you’ll go to bed?

[illustration]

[page 11]

[illustration]
HEPATICA

[page 12]

[illustration]

THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL

When the Governor-General came to town
His lady wore a purple gown,
But when his lordship went away
Her ladyship wore a gown of gray.

[illustration]

[page 13]

[illustration]

[page 14]

[illustration:
How the rain pours
   And the lightnings flash!
How the wind roars
   And the thunders crash!
But my little baby is safe as can be
Cuddling here on mother’s knee.]

[page 15]

[illustration]

INDIAN PIPE

[page 16]

COUNTING RHYME
Two at a Time

[illustration]	One, Two— Birds so blue.	[illustration]
[illustration]	Three, Four— Crows a score.	[illustration]
[illustration]	Five, Six— Turkey Chicks
[illustration]	Seven, Eight— Owls out late.
[illustration]	Nine, Ten— Common Hen.	[illustration]
[illustration]	Eleven, Twelve— Woodchucks delve.
[illustration]	Thirteen, Fourteen— Deer a sporting
[illustration]	Fifteen, Sixteen— Beavers “fixing.”
[illustration]	Seventeen, Eighteen— Bears go skating.
[illustration]	Nineteen, Twenty— Rabbits plenty.

[illustration]

[page 18]

Three at a Time

One, Two, Three,
A fox I see.

Four, Five, Six,
He’s chasing chicks.

Seven, Eight, Nine,
He wants to dine.

Then, Eleven, Twelve,
Perhaps you do yourself.

[illustration]

[page 19]

[illustration]

[page 20]

COUNTING RHYME
Three at a Time

One, Two, Three,
Touch, taste, see;
Four, Five Six,
Hoes, rakes, picks;
Seven, Eight, Nine,
Sour, sweet, fine.
{Fine goes out}

[illustration]

[page 21]

WOODPECKER

[illustration]

[page 22]

Four at a Time

One, Two, Three, Four,—
A lady knocking at the door;

Five, Six, Seven, Eight,—
Do not let the lady wait;

Nine, Ten, Eleven, a Dozen,—
Perhaps the lady is our cousin.

[illustration]

[page 23]

MILKWEED SEEDS

[illustration]

[page 24]

[illustration:

TOMMY TEMPER

Tommy Temper had a fall,
He bumped his brow and gave a bawl;
As soon’s his head had struck the floor,
Niagara never gave such a roar.

BOBBY’S BOOT

Tickety, Tackety, make a boot
To fit this baby’s little foot—
One for this foot, and one for that;
Tickety, Tackety, pat, pat, pat.]

[page 25]

[illustration]

[page 26]

[illustration]

SCOTS BAIRN SONG

Bonnie wee bairnie, steek your e’en
An’sune ye’ll gang whaur ye gaed yestreen,
Wi’the laverock an’lintie, the doos an’the craws
Wi’oo’o’ ilkee’,mang the wuds and the shaws.
   Swee, shoo; shoo, swee,
   That’s whaur a’the weans should be.

[illustration]

[page 27]

[illustration]

[page 28]

COASTING

Up the hill we haul the sleigh,
Down the hill we go with a dash;
If we don’t steer straight the whole of the way,
I guess you’ll see a bit of a smash.

[illustration]

[page 29]

PEACHES

[illustration]

[page 28]

[illustration: FRUIT]

[illustration]For Apples and for Pears [illustration]
Everybody cares
[illustration]

For Plums and for Peaches
Everybody reaches
[illustration]

For Strawberries and Grapes
Everybody gapes
[illustration]

[page 31]

ARROW HEAD

[illustration]

[page 32]

[3 illustrations:

A foolish little Beaver
Once tried to fell a tree
Across St. Lawrence River,
Two miles, or maybe three

It gnawed a great big maple
Ten nights, or maybe more
Which fall, but wasn’t able
To touch the other shore.

Had this young Beaver gone to school
As little boys and girls do
It would not have been such a fool
As to have acted so.] [page 33]

[illustration: WAKE ROBIN]

[page 34]

RING SONG

[illustration:
          The King is crowned
          Tra la!     Tra la!
          So here we go round
                (hands joined)
          Ha ha!     Ha ha!
Three for the King across the sea
                (clapping)
Two for you and one for me!

          The Queen is crowned
          Tra la!     Tra la!
          So here we go round
          Ha ha!     Ha ha!
Three for the Queen across the sea
Two for you and one for me!]

[2 illustrations]:

The King’s
Crown
&
Sceptre

The Queen’s
Crown
&
Sceptre

          They both are crowned
          Tra la!     Tra la! 
          So here we go round
          Ha ha!     Ha ha!
Three for the Two across the sea
Two for you and one for me! [page 35]

[illustration]

ACORNS

[page 36]

THE CHIPMUNK

A Chipmunk sat in a maple tree
And he scolded and chattered and scolded at me,
Looking as angry as angry could be.
Perhaps he was thinking I wanted to steal
What he had saved for his family meal,
When under a stone-heap, away out of sight
They would spend the cold winter, all day and all night.

[illustration]

[page 37]

[illustration]

PORCUPINE

[page 38]

THE MEETING

A Mouse and a Woodchuck went out to walk
     And they met a Porcupine,
     The Woodchuck said “Good-day,”
     The little Mouse said, “Go way,
You’re so rough that I don’t like your talk
Although you may think you are fine.”

[illustration]

[page 39]

[illustration]

[page 40]

[illustration:

A Coon! A Coon! I hear a Coon,
Rustling among the corn.
If baby will not sleep quite soon
He may lie awake till morn.
[illustration]
A Loon! A Loon! I hear a Loon,
Laughing across the lake.
If baby doesn’t get sleepy soon
Why then, he’ll be awake.
[illustration]
An Owl! An Owl! An Owl I hear,
Hooting up in a tree.
If you don’t go to sleep, my dear;
You’ll lie awake on my knee.

So Coon, and Loon, and Owl so wise,
Give over such a din,
Let baby shut his weary eyes,
And give sleep a chance to win.] [page 41]

ELECAMPANE

[illustration]

[page 42]

[illustration]:

MAPLE LEAVES

When the leaves from the beautiful Maple tree
Come fluttering down for you and for me
In crimson, and brown, and yellow, and gray
We know Jack Frost is not far away.

With a little patience if we but wait
He will make the ice for the gliding skate
He will bring the snow for the merry sleigh
And we may go skating or riding each day.

[illustration]

[page 43]

MASKINONGE

[illustration]

[page 44]

OUR LAKES

Ontario! Ontario!
Beautiful where e’er we go

Erie! Erie!
Stormy, but cheery

Huron! Huron!
Fine to tour on

[illustration:LAKE SUPERIOR
LAKE MICHIGAN LAKE HURON
LAKE ERIE LAKE ONTARIO]

[page 45]

JEWEL WEED

[illustration]

[page 46]

[illustration:

HALIFAX BOYS]

Five little boys from Halifax
Were playing on the shore,
When one of them for home “made tracks”
And then there were but four.

Four little boys from Halifax [illustration]
Were chopping down a tree,
When one went home to grind his axe
And then there were but three.

Three little boys from Halifax [illustration]
With cold were looking blue,
When one went home for some warm sacks
And then there were but two.

Two little boys from Halifax [illustration]
Were firing off a gun,
When one went home all full of cracks
And this left only one.

One little boy from Halifax [illustration]
Was playing with a ball,
It bounced and gave him such hard whacks
That it left no boy at all. [page 47]

MOOSE

[illustration]

[page 48]

A FOOLISH BARGAIN

[illustration]

An Indian shot a moose.
A white man shot a goose,
The white man said, “Your moose
Is not as good’s my goose,
But I am tired of goose
And you are tired of moose;
If you give me your moose,
Why, I’ll give you my goose.”
So the white man got the moose
And the Indian took the goose.
But now the Indian thinks his goose
Not half as good’s the white man’s moose;
And the white man thinks his moose
Worth more than the Indian’s goose.
But tho’ the white man wasn’t a moose,
I’m sure the Indian was a goose.

[illustration]

[page 49]

[illustration] GOLDFINCH OR THISTLE BIRD

[page 50]

[illustration]

A RIDDLE

     A little old lady in Ottawa
     Had a married daughter in Nottawa;
     And when the old lady from Ottawa
     Went to call on her daughter in Nottawa
     Then the little old lady in Nottawa
     Was two hundred miles from Ottawa.
If you guess this riddle I’ll owe you a dollar.
If you don’t I’ll say you’re a very poor scholar.

[illustration of map]

[page 51]

LACROSSE STICKS
[illustration:
ANCIENT AND MODERN]

[page 52]

[illustration]

LACROSSE

Hi! Hi! Hi!
   When you play lacrosse
Hi! Hi! Hi!
   Always give the toss
     To one that is your friend
     Or soon the game will end
Hi! Hi! Hi!
   To your loss.

[illustration]

[page 53]

[illustration] INDIAN CORN

[page 54]

[illustration]

THE WICKED CROW

[illustration]	Who pulled up the corn? “I,” said the crow, “With my bill for a hoe, I pulled up the corn.”	[illustration]
	Who’ll take him to jail? “I,” said the quail, “And that without fail, I’ll take him to jail.”	[illustration]
	Who’ll guard his door? “I,” said the shrike, “It’s a job I would like, I’ll guard his door.”	[illustration]
	Who’ll be his judge? “I,” said the owl, “I’m the wisest of fowl, I’ll be his judge.”	[illustration]
	Who’ll be our lawyer? “I,” said the hawk, “I scream when I talk, I’ll be your lawyer.” [page 55]	[illustration]

SHRIKE [illustration]

[illustration] QUAIL

[page 56]

[illustration]	Who’ll be the jury? ’Twas then there was fury! For all the rest fluttered And chuckled and hackled And chattered and gobbled And twittered and cackled. “I’ll go for one”— “Take me for another”— “He killed my babies,”— “He ate up my brother”—	[illustration]
[illustration]	“A wickeder bird We are sure we don’t know, Or one that is harder
	To catch than a crow.”	[illustration]

	Said the judge at the trial, “This corn did you steal”? “Not I,” said the crow, I just wanted a meal,
	So I pulled up a spoonful Or two with my bill But you’re all just as bad When you want a good fill.	[illustration]

[illustration]	And some are much worse, For your Honor takes pickings From dear little lambs, And the lawyer kills chickens, While others take all sorts Of fruit from the trees, Or in fields and in barnyards
	Devour what they please.” Then the judge said, “To-day, I’m not clear in the head, We shall put this case off Till the crow is found dead”!	[illustration]

This happened ten thousand or more years ago, But I never have heard that they found this dead crow. [page 57]

PIPSISSEWA

[illustration]

[page 58]

[illustration of map]

THE UNITED COUNTIES

Dundas for men of dare and do,
Stormont for women fair and true,
But Glengarry is best for “both of the two.”

[illustration]

[page 59]

[illustration: BLACK EYED SUSAN]

[page 60]

TOMMY TATTLEWELL

Tell me, Tommy Tattlewell, come tell me if you can,
How far away is Canada from China and Japan?
“I see” said Tommy Tattlewell, “that you are rather green:
You do not say what part it is of Canada you mean.
From Victoria, Vancouver, to the Nova Scotia shore,
There is just a little difference of the three thousand miles and more. [illustration]

Tell me, Tommy Tattlewell, come tell me now I beg
How far I take the C.P.R. from here to Winnipeg?
“I see,” said Tommy Tattlewell, “The answer’s very clear.
You’d have to travel twice as far as half way there to here. [illustration]
But if you take this for a joke, or only idle talk,
Don’t go to Winnipeg at all, or if you do go—walk.”

[illustration]

[page 61]

[illustration] GOLDEN ROD

[page 61]

[illustration]

TORONTO FAIR

I’m going to see Toronto Fair, Toronto Fair, Toronto Fair; I’m going to see Toronto Fair Said little Johnnie Jumper.	DANDLING THE CHILD ON ONE KNEE

And what will you do when you get there, When you get there, when you get there What will you do when you get there? Said little Billie Bumper.	THEN ON THE OTHER

I’ll see a thousand million things— I’ll see a man who has no wings, I’ll see a horse that never sings, I’ll see a cow that never could talk I’ll see a fish that cannot walk And a fly as big as a lump of chalk, Said little Johnnie Jumper. [page 63]	TOUCHING THE TIPS OF THE CHILD’S FINGERS

ADDER’S TONGUE

[illustration]

[page 64]

[illustration]

THE CITIZEN’S WISH

I wish some fairy charmer [illustration]
   Would turn me into a farmer;
I’d like to plough and dig and sow,
   And weed and water, and harrow and how,
And reap and thrash, make cheese and churn,
   And chop the wood we’d need to burn.
I’d like to grow all kinds of fruits,
   Potatoes, tomatoes, and other roots:
To trim the turnips on the trees,
   To feed the sheep, pigs, hens and bees;
To store the apples in the bows
   And get fresh buttermilk from the cows.
I’d only eat what the ground would give,
   And it wouldn’t cost me a cent to live. [page 65]

BLUEBERRIES

[illustration]

[page 66]

[illustration]

THE FARMER’S WISH

I wish some fairy with his charm
   Would coax some fellow to buy my farm;
Another day I would work no more,
   For I’d go to town and start a store:
I’d buy things cheap, and sell them dear,
   And make my fortune in a year.
But if I found this wouldn’t work,
   I’d hire with someone as a clerk,
And as nothing pays in town like cheek,
   I’d ask about fifty dollars a week;
To live would cost only two or three,
   So I’d very soon get rich do you see?
All I want to say to end this rhyme
   Is that city chaps have an easy time. [page 67]

[illustration] BOUNCING BET

[page 68]

[illustration] WHO? [illustration]

If I was you, and you was me,
(Which never, never, never could be
Because the grammar is bad you see)
But, if I were you and you were I,
When one got hurt, which one would cry?

[3 illustrations]

[page 69]

[illustration: WITCH HAZEL]

[page 70]

[illustration] OMEEMEE

An Indian woman, named Omeemee, shot a big black squirrel with her bow and arrow, but when the squirrel dropt from the tree it fell into the river and floated away, out of Omeemee’s reach. By-and-by, she saw a duck on the river, and she said, “Duck, I wish you would swim down the river and bring back to me that big black squirrel I shot.” The duck said, “If I bring back that big black squirrel to you, you’ll catch me too, so I shall not do what you want me to do.”

Then the woman saw a muskrat, and she said, “Muskrat, I wish you would ask that duck to swim down the river and bring back to me that big black squirrel I shot.” But the muskrat said, “The duck is so far away now I could [page 71]

TRAILING
ARBUTUS

[illustration]

[page 72]

not catch up to him so I shall not do what you want me to do.”

Then Omeemee saw a fox, and she said, “Fox, I wish you would tell that muskrat to ask the duck to bring back to me that big black squirrel I shot.” But the fox said, “The muskrat would swim away under the water if I went near him—he’s afraid of me, so I shall not do what you want me to do.”

Then Omeemee saw a wolf, and she said, “Wolf, I wish you would order that fox to tell the muskrat to ask the duck to bring back to me that big black squirrel I shot.” But the wolf said, “Fox and I are not very good friends just now, so I shall not do what you want me to do.”

Then Omeemee saw a lynx, and she said, “Lynx, I wish you would coax that wolf to order the fox to tell the muskrat to ask the duck to bring back to me the big black squirrel I shot. But the lynx said, “People like you want to kill all the rest of us. Now, if you will promise that you will not try to kill any of us for a whole moon, I shall speak to the wolf.” [page 73]

[illustration]

BUNCH BERRY

[page 72]

Omeemee promised this. Then the lynx coaxed the wolf to order the fox to tell the muskrat to ask the duck to bring back the squirrel, and the wolf ordered the fox to tell the muskrat to ask the duck to bring back the squirrel, and the fox told the muskrat to ask the duck to bring back the squirrel, and the muskrat asked the duck to bring back the squirrel; and the duck swam away down the river and caught the big black squirrel just before it went over the falls and brought it back to Omeemee, who cooked it outside of her wigwam and had it for supper.

THIS IS THE WHOLE STORY.

[page 75]

[illustration]

[page 76]

THE PRETTY WABIGOON

[illustration]

THOUSANDS and thousands of moons ago, long before there was any white man here, it was always cold, and the old man who had to attend to the weather was called Pee-poon. But by-and-by, the Manitoo who had more power than Pee-poon, thought it would be nice to have a change by making everything warmer, and I am going to tell you the way it happened, but he did not let poor old Pee-poon know a single word about it.

[illustration]

One time Pee-poon made the weather so cold that it was too cold for himself, for he was so cold that he could hardly walk through the woods to find dead branches and bits of bark to make a fire in his wigwam, where he just had to sit and shiver all the time Ke-wa-din, the north wind, was blowing among the trees and through the openings in the sides of his hut. You see, although Pee-poon could make the air cold, he had no power to make it warm. Well, at last the wild wind came with a [page 77]

WIGWAM

[illustration]

[page 78]

howl, stronger than ever, and was so nearly blowing the wigwam away in pieces that he was very sorry for what he had done. Just then the flap of birch-bark that was his door was blown away, and the same blast brought down from the sky a beautiful young woman, who now stood outside. Her eyes were like the eyes of a fawn, her cheeks as red as wild roses, and her hair was so long that she had to hold it up from the ground. But the strangest thing of all was the way she was clothed. Her dress was made of ferns, sweet-grass, and meadow-iris leaves, dotted with sprigs of sugar-maple, oak and elm; and for shoes, she wore two large and beautiful pink swamp-lilies (such as we now call the moccasin flower). As soon as she came into the wigwam the storm ceased to blow so hard, and the air became warmer. Pee-poon said to her “O-da-ne-se-ma, I am very sorry it is so cold here, but I am glad you have come. I am lonely and I thought I would die when Ke-wa-din was blowing as he was a little while ago. Now tell me where you come from, and how you happen to be here. Then I shall tell you all about Pee-poon,* for that is my name.”

The girl said, “I should not speak until after you do, so I will wait until you begin, but I may tell you that my name is Me-no-kuh-me.”

By this time the old man had lighted his pipe, and after smoking a little while, he said, “I am a manitoo. When I

*The old Indians do not like to tell one another their names. A third person may do so, but in this story there is no third person present. They think that by telling their names they give away part of themselves.

[page 79]

[illustration]

WINTERGREEN BERRIES

[page 80]

breathe towards the north, the lake and the river become ice, and the snow falls.”

Then said she, “I am a manitoo, also, and when I breathe, the flowers spring up all through the forest, and the rain falls.”

Pee-poon went on, “When I go about, the beasts hide in the ground and in hollow trees, and the tress drop all their leaves.”

Me-no-kih-me smiled and said, “When I go about, the grass and the trees turn green, the birds come back and make their nests and sing because they are happy, and the old men and the old women sit outside in the sun, and make things.”

While she was speaking, the air got warmer, and warmer, and Pee-poon fell asleep. By-and-by the wind stopped blowing altogether, the sun came out strong, the streams began to flow, and the blue-birds came to sing on the top of the wigwam “Nin-ne-baug-way, Nin-ne-baug-way,” which means “I am thirsty,” and the lakes and rivers said “We are full, come and drink all you want.”

By this time old Pee-poon had shrunk so much that he went quite out of sight, and his clothing turned into a small heap of dry leaves.

When Me-no-kuh-me saw this, she stooped and took from her bosom some little seeds, and put them under the withered leaves, saying, “I love you more than all the other flowers I ever made, you are my sweetest Wa-bi-goon.” By-and-by the seeds grew into a very pretty little white flower, and now the white folk call it the Trailing Arbutus.

[page 81]

MOCCASIN FLOWER

[illustration]

[page 82]

INDEX

CHILDREN like to learn new words, and the Indian forms of a few of the words used in the story are given. The text forms thus treated are in italics.

BEAUTIFUL YOUNG WOMAN, gwa-	MOONS, kee-zis-og.
nauch-ban-i-kway.	O-DA-NE-SE-MA, my daughter.
BIRDS, pee-nash-ig.	RIVER, see-bee.
COLD, ke-ze-nah.	SHIVER, ne-gin-gish-kah.
DOOR, ish-kwan-dum.	SKY, kee-zhig.
DRY LEAVES, aneebishun.	SNOW, sag-i-po.
FAWN, ket-a-gaw-koong.	SORRY, koosh-kan-dum.
FERNS, a-hwahgun-usk.	SUN, kee-sis.
FIRE, ish-koo-ta.	SWEET-DRASS, wish-co-bad; mash-ko-so.
FLOWERS, wa-bi-goon.	WARM, kez-nah-ta.
HUT, we-gi-wam or wigwam.	WEATHER (BAD), nis-ka-dood.
I AM THIRSTHY, nin-ni-baug-we.	WHERE DO YOU COME FROM, nind-au-
LAKE, kitchi-gumme.	kee (your country).
MANITOO, spirit.	WHITE MAN, wa-bish-ke-way.
MEADOW-IRIS, mushkeeg, nub-bug-ushk-	WOODS, metik-wahkee.
og (?).
ME-NO-KUH-ME, spring.