Hey, diddle, diddle!

Two weeks ago I babysat a friend’s child who insisted I read her something to help her go to sleep. From her bookshelf I plucked a book of nursery rhymes, which not only settled her down but also transported me back to my childhood. I suddenly remembered how lovely nursery rhymes are and for the first time appreciated the creativity involved in writing them. Here are a few of my favourites:

THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE

Hey, diddle, diddle!

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed

To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon

EENSY WEENSY SPIDER (Itsy Bitzy Spider)

The eensy weensy spider
crawled up the water spout,


down came the rain
and washed the spider out,


out came the sun and dried up all the rain,


and the eensy weensy spider
crawled up the spout again.

SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye,

Four-and-twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie,

When the pie was opened,

The birds began to sing.

Wasn't that a dainty dish

To set before a king?

The king was in the counting house,

Counting out his money,

The queen was in the parlor,

Eating bread and honey,

The maid was in the garden,

Hanging out the clothes,

When along came a blackbird,

And landed on her nose!