Nursery Rhyme. LXXIV. Tales.

        [A tale for the 1st of March.]

    Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;
    Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef:
    I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not at home;
    Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow-bone.

    I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not in;
    Taffy came to my house and stole a silver pin:
    I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,
    I took up a poker and flung it at his head.

Unknown

The identity of this poet is not known. Their works, which are often of significant historical or cultural value, have been attributed to 'Unknown'. This designation is commonly used when the creator of works, ranging from ancient texts to more modern writings, remains anonymous or uncredited. Despite the lack of personal details, the impact and importance of these works endure, offering insight into the eras and cultures from which they originated.

Unknown

Drunkards

Unknown , Simple Poetry

Nursery Rhyme. CCCLXXII. Paradoxes.

Unknown , Simple Poetry

Nursery Rhyme. CCCXCV. Lullabies.

Unknown , Simple Poetry

Nursery Rhyme. IX. Historical

Unknown , Simple Poetry

English

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Nursery Rhyme. LIII. Tales.

    There was a man, and he had naught,
        And robbers came to rob him;
    He crept up to the chimney pot,
        And then they thought they had him.

    But he got down on t'other side,
        And then they could not find him;
    He ran fourteen miles in fifteen days,
        And never look'd behind him.

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. CCLXVIII. Gaffers And Gammers.

        [The tale on which the following story is founded is found in a MS. of the fifteenth century, preserved in the Chetham Library at Manchester.]

    There was an old man, who lived in a wood,
        As you may plainly see;
    He said he could do as much work in a day,
        As his wife could do in three.
    With all my heart, the old woman said,
        If that you will allow,
    To-morrow you'll stay at home in my stead,
        And I'll go drive the plough:

    But you must milk the Tidy cow,
        For fear that she go dry;
    And you must feed the little pigs
        That are within the sty;
    And you must mind the speckled hen,
        For fear she lay away;
    And you must reel the spool of yarn
        That I spun yesterday....

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. LX. Tales.

    Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
    Stole a pig, and away he run!
    The pig was eat, and Tom was beat,
    And Tom went roaring down the street.

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. LXXVIII. Tales.

    Our saucy boy Dick,
    Had a nice little stick
        Cut from a hawthorn tree;
    And with this pretty stick,
    He thought he could beat
        A boy much bigger than he.

    But the boy turned round,
    And hit him a rebound,
        Which did so frighten poor Dick,
    That, without more delay,
    He ran quite away,
        And over a hedge he jumped quick.

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. LXVI. Tales.

        [The following two stanzas, although they belong to the same piece, are often found separated from each other.]

    Robin and Richard were two pretty men;
    They laid in bed till the clock struck ten;
    Then up starts Robin, and looks at the sky,
    Oh! brother Richard, the sun's very high:

    The bull's in the barn threshing the corn,
    The cock's on the dunghill blowing his horn,
    The cat's at the fire frying of fish,
    The dog's in the pantry breading his dish.

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. XLVIII. Tales.

    There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile,
    He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile:
    He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
    And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

Unknown