P. 233, IV, 497.
'Little Sir William,' Miss M.H. Mason's Nursery Rhymes and
Country Songs, p. 46.
| 1 |
Easter Day was a holiday,
Of all days in the year,
And all the little schoolfellows went out to play,
Bat Sir William was not there. |
| 2 |
Mamma went to the Jew's wife's house,
And knocked at the ring,
Saying, Little Sir William, if you are there,
Oh, let your mother in! |
| 3 |
The Jew's wife opened the door and said,
He is not here to-day;
He is with the little schoolfellows out on the green,
Playing some pretty play. |
| 4 |
Mamma went to the Boyne water,
That is so wide and deep,
Saying, Little Sir William, if you are there,
Oh, pity your mother's weep! |
| 5 |
'How can I pity your weep, mother,
And I so long in pain?
For the little penknife sticks close in my heart,
And the Jew's wife has me slain. |
| 6 |
'Go home, go home, my mother dear,
And prepare my winding sheet,
For tomorrow morning before eight o'clock
You with my body shall meet. |
| 7 |
'And lay my Prayer-Book at my head,
And my grammar at my feet,
That all the little schoolfellows as they pass by
May read them for my sake.' |
Notes and Queries, Eighth Series, II, 43, July, 1842. 'The
Jew's Daughter,' communicated by Mr. C.W. Penny, as repeated to
his brother, the vicar of Stixwould, Lincolnshire, by one of the
oldest women in the parish. "A song sung by his nurse to a
Lincolnshire gentleman, now over sixty years of age."
| 1 |
You toss your ball so high,
You toss your ball so low,
You toss your ball into the Jew's garden,
Where the pretty flowers grow. |
| 2 |
Out came one of the Jew's daughters,
Dressed all in green:
'Come hither, pretty little dear,
And fetch your ball again.' |
| 3 |
She showed him a rosy-cheeked apple,
She showed him a gay gold ring,
She showed him a cherry as red as blood,
And that enticed him in. |
| 4 |
She set him in a golden chair,
She gave him kisses sweet,
She threw him down a darksome well,
More than fifty feet deep. |
[241 a. The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich have
been edited by Drs. Jessopp and James.]
