In My Nursery. Richards Laura Elizabeth Howe

good!

      I'll go and be a babe

      In the wood.

      I'll run away to sea,

      And a pirate I will be.

      Then they'll never dare call me

      Rough and rude.

      How hungry I am getting!

      Let me see!

      I wonder what they're going to have

      For tea.

      Of course there will be jam

      And – oh! that potted ham!

      How unfortunate I am!

      Dear me!

      Oh! it's growing very dark

      In here.

      And that shadow in the corner

      Looks so queer!

      Won't they bring me any light?

      Must I stay in here all night?

      I shall surely die of fright.

      Oh dear!

      Mother, darling, will you never

      Come back?

      Oh! I'm sorry that I hit him

      Such a crack!

      Hark! yes, 'tis her voice I hear!

      Now good-by to every fear!

      For she's calling me her dear

      Little Jack!

      BED-TIME

      How many toes has the tootsey foot?

      One, two, three, four, five.

      Shut them all up in the little red sock,

      Snugger than bees in a hive.

      How many fingers has little wee hand?

      Four, and a little wee thumb.

      Shut them up under the bedclothes tight,

      For fear that Jack Frost should come.

      How many eyes has the Baby Bo?

      Two, so shining and bright.

      Shut them up under the little white lids.

      And kiss them a loving good-night.

      BIRD-SONG

      Sweet! sweet! sweet! sweet!

      Sing we in the morning,

      Sending up to heaven's blue our happy waking song;

      Daily, gayly, our tiny home adorning,

      Working all so merrily the whole day long.

      Sweet! sweet! sweet! sweet!

      Sing we in the noontide;

      Half the day is over now, half our work is done;

      Neatly, featly, the moss and twigs are blended,

      Feather, flower, leaf, and stems, all added one by one.

      Sweet! sweet! sweet! sweet!

      Sing we in the evening;

      Happy day is past, past, happy night begun;

      Wooing, cooing, we nestle 'mid the branches,

      Sinking down to rest with the sinking of the sun.

      Soft, soft, soft, soft,

      Sleep we through the still night;

      Tiny head 'neath tiny wing comfortably curled,

      Singing, springing, with the breath of morning,

      Waking up once more to all the wonder of the world.

      GEOGRAPHI

[Air: There was a maid in my countree.]

      There was a man in Manitobá,

      The only man that ever was thar;

      His name was Nicholas Jones McGee,

      And he loved a maid in Mirimichi.

      Chorus. Sing ha! ha! ha! for Manitobá!

      Sing he! he! he! for Mirimichi!

      Sing hi! hi! hi! for Geographi!

      And that's the lesson for you and me.

      There was a man in New Mexico,

      He lost his grandmother out in the snow;

      But his heart was light, and his ways were free,

      So he bought him another in Santa Fé.

      Chorus. Sing ho! ho! ho! for New Mexico!

      Sing he! he! he! for Santa Fé!

      Sing hi! hi! hi! for Geographi!

      And that's the lesson for you and me.

      There was a man in Austra-li-a,

      He sat and wept on the new-mown hay;

      He jumped on the tail of a kangaroo.

      And rode till he came to Kalamazoo.

      Chorus. Sing hey! hey! hey! for Austra-li-a!

      Sing hoo! hoo! hoo! for Kalamazoo!

      Sing hi! hi! hi! for Geographi!

      And that's the lesson for me and you.

      There was a man in Jiggerajum,

      He went to sea in a kettle-drum;

      He sailed away to the Salisbury Shore,

      And I never set eyes on that man any more.

      Chorus. Sing hum! hum! hum! for Jiggerajum!

      Sing haw! haw! haw! for the Salisbury Shore!

      Sing hi! hi! hi! for Geographi!

      And that's the lesson the whole world o'er.

      HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDY

      Higgledy-piggledy went to school,

      Looking so nice and neat!

      Clean little mittens on clean little hands,

      Clean little shoes on his feet.

      Jacket and trousers all nicely brushed,

      Collar and cuffs like snow.

      "See that you come home as neat to-night,

      Higgledy-piggledy oh!"

      Higgledy-piggledy came from school,

      In such a woful plight,

      All the people he met on the road

      Ran screaming away with fright.

      One shoe gone for ever and aye,

      T'other one stiff with mud,

      Dirt-spattered jacket half torn from his back,

      Mittens both lost in the wood.

      Higgledy-piggledy stayed in bed

      All a long, pleasant day,

      While his father fished for his other boot

      In the roadside mud and clay.

      All day long his mother must mend,

      Wash and iron and sew,

      Before she can make him fit to be seen,

      Higgledy-piggledy oh!

      BELINDA BLONDE

      Belinda Blonde was a beautiful doll,

      With rosy-red cheeks and a flaxen poll.

      Her