Nursery Rhyme. V. Historical

        [The following perhaps refers to Joanna of Castile, who visited the court of Henry the Seventh, in the year 1506.]

    I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear
    But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear;
    The king of Spain's daughter came to visit me,
    And all was because of my little nut tree.
    I skipp'd over water, I danced over sea,
    And all the birds in the air couldn't catch me.

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

Nursery Rhyme. DCXLIV. Relics.

Unknown , Simple Poetry

Nursery Rhyme. DXCV. Accumulative Stories.

Unknown , Simple Poetry

Nursery Rhyme. CLXX. Songs.

Unknown , Simple Poetry

Nursery Rhyme. CCCLXVIII. Paradoxes.

Unknown , Simple Poetry

English

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Nursery Rhyme. XXVI. Historical

        [From MS. Sloane, 1489, fol. 19, written in the time of Charles I. It appears from MS. Harl. 390, fol. 85, that these verses were written in 1626, against the Duke of Buckingham.]

    There was a monkey climb'd up a tree,
    When he fell down, then down fell he.

    There was a crow sat on a stone,
    When he was gone, then there was none.

    There was an old wife did eat an apple,
    When she had eat two, she had eat a couple.

    There was a horse going to the mill,
    When he went on, he stood not still.

    There was a butcher cut his thumb,
    When it did bleed, then blood did come.

    There was a lackey ran a race,
    When he ran fast, he ran apace.

    There was a cobbler clowting shoon,
    When they were...

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. IV. Historical

        [The following lines were obtained in Oxfordshire. The story to which it alludes is related by Matthew Paris.]

    One moonshiny night
    As I sat high,
    Waiting for one
    To come by;
    The boughs did bend,
    My heart did ache
    To see what hole the fox did make.

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. VI. Historical

        [From a MS. in the old Royal Library, in the British Museum, the exact reference to which is mislaid. It is written, if I recollect rightly, in a hand of the time of Henry VIII, in an older manuscript.]

    We make no spare
    Of John Hunkes' mare;
    And now I
    Think she will die;
    He thought it good
    To put her in the wood,
    To seek where she might ly dry;
    If the mare should chance to fale,
    Then the crownes would for her sale.

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. XII. Historical

        [The tune to the following may be found in the 'English Dancing Master,' 1631, p. 37.]

    The rose is red, the grass is green,
    Serve Queen Bess our noble queen;
            Kitty the spinner
            Will sit down to dinner,
    And eat the leg of a frog;
            All good people
            Look over the steeple,
    And see the cat play with the dog.

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. XIII. Historical

    Good Queen Bess was a glorious dame,
    When bonny King Jemmy from Scotland came;
    We'll pepper their bodies,
    Their peaceable noddies,
    And give them a crack of the crown!

Unknown

Nursery Rhyme. IX. Historical

    The king of France, with twenty thousand men,
    Went up the hill, and then came down again;
    The king of Spain, with twenty thousand more,
    Climb'd the same hill the French had climb'd before.

Unknown