cow's back, wi' the tail owre his shouther. And she burst out into a fit o' laughter. When they made inquiry wha made her laugh, it was found to be Jock riding on the cow. Accordingly, Jock is sent for to get his bride. Weel, Jock is married to her, and there was a great supper prepared. Amongst the rest o' the things there was some honey, which Jock was very fond o'. After supper, they were bedded, and the auld priest that married them sat up a' night by the fireside. So Jock waukens in the night-time, and says, 'Oh, wad ye gi'e me some o' yon nice sweet honey that we got to our supper last night?' 'Oh ay,' says his wife; 'rise and gang into the press, and ye'll get a pig fou o't.' Jock rises, and thrusts his hand into the honey-pig for a nievefu' o't; and he could not get it out. So he came awa wi' the pig on his hand, like a mason's mell, and says, 'Oh, I canna get my hand out.' 'Hout,' quo' she, 'gang awa’ and break it on the cheek-stane.' By this time the fire was dark, and the auld priest was lying snoring wi' his head against the chimney-piece, wi' a huge white wig on. Jock gaes awa', and ga'e him a whack wi' the honey-pig on the head, thinking it was the cheek-stane, and knocks it a' in bits. The auld priest roars out 'Murder!' Jock tak's down the stair, as hard as he can bicker, and hides himsel’ amang the bees' skeps. That night, as luck wad have it, some thieves came to steel the bees' skeps, and in the hurry o' tumbling them into a large gray plaid, they tumbled Jock in alang wi’ them. So aff they set, wi' Jock and the skeps on their backs. On the way, they had to cross the burn where Jock lost his bannet. Ane o' the thieves cries, 'Oh, I ha'e fand a bannet!' and Jock, on hearing that, cries out, 'Oh, that's mine!' They thocht they had got the deil on their backs. So they let a' fa' in the burn; and Jock, being tied in the plaid, coudna get out; so he and the bees were a' drowned thegither. If a' tales be true, that's nae lee.* * From a manuscript of the late Mr Andrew Henderson, editor of a collection of Scottish Proverbs. RHYMES APPROPRIATE TO CHILDREN'S AMUSEMENTS. SAID by boys, when enjoying the amusement of riding upon each other's backs Cripple Dick upon a stick, Sandy on a sow, Ride away to Galloway, To buy a pund o' woo. Sung to their hobby-horses, or to walking-canes exalted to an equestrian capacity I had a little hobby-horse, His mane was dapple-gray, His head was made o' pease-strae, A boy standing upon a hillock or other eminence, from which he defies the efforts of his companions to dislodge him, exclaims, by way of challenge I, Willie Wastle, Stand on my castle; And a' the dogs o' your toon Will no drive Willie Wastle doon. When Oliver Cromwell lay at Haddington, he sent to require the governor of Home Castle in Berwickshire to surrender. There is an unvarying tradition that the governor replied in the above quatrain of juvenile celebrity, but was soon compelled to change his tune by the victor of Dunbar. 1651, Feb. 13. One Jhone Cockburne, being governor of the castle of Hume, after that a breach was made in the wall, did yield the same to Cromuell and his forces.'-Lamont's Diary. Stottie ba', hinnie ba', tell to me, Ane to live, and ane to dee, And ane to sit on the nurse's knee! -Addressed to a hand-ball by girls, who suppose that they will have as many children as the times they succeed in catching it. A party of boys take a few straws, and endeavour to hold one between the chin and the turned down under lip, pronouncing the following rhyme:— I bought a beard at Lammas fair; It's a' awa' but ae hair Wag, beardie, wag! He who repeats this oftenest without dropping the straw, is held to have won the game. In the days of villeinage, when a freeman gave up his liberty, put himself under the protection of a master, and became his man, he took hold of his own fore-top, and so handed himself over to his future lord. This very significant formula is still preserved among children, one of whom takes hold of the fore-top of another, and says— Tappie, tappie tousie, will ye be my man? If the answer is 'no,' the first speaker pushes back the recusant against the hair, saying contemptuously— Gae fae me, gae fae me, gae fae me! If he says 'ay,' he pulls the slave towards him, and says— Come to me, come to me, come to me! A boy folds in the fingers of one hand, so as to leave a space, which is denominated the corbie's hole. He disposes one or two of the sharpest-nailed fingers of the other in such a way as to close hard in upon anything which might come into the hole, and invites the fingers of his companions into the trap prepared for them, in the following words :Put your finger in the corbie's hole, The corbie's no at hame; Pykin at a bane. A most treacherous instance, however, of the sinful lie of 'Not at Home!'-for the instant that a single finger enters the hole, the nails which lie in wait for its reception spring upon it, and give it a hearty pinching. A game on the fingers, chiefly for girls This is my lady's knife and fork, This is my lady's table, This is my lady's looking-glass, At the first line, the hands are clasped with their backs downwards, and the fingers projecting upwards. At the second, the backs are turned upwards, with the knuckles close together, thus forming a flat surface. At the third, the last arrangement is only changed by the two forefingers being set up against each other. At the fourth, the little ones are also set up, opposite to the two others. KATHARINE NIPSY. A PLAY PERFORMED ON THE FINGERS. The The nurse says, 'Now come, bairns, and I'll tell ye the bonny story o' Katharine Nipsy.' [All flock about her, and she begins by holding up her right hand before them, the back of it downwards, and the fingers turned up. first and third fingers are brought together as close as possible, to represent the door of the house; while the second remains behind, to represent a robber in the disguise of a friar, wanting admittance. The thumb is the lady of the house, and the little finger is Katharine Nipsy, her servant. All being thus arranged, the second finger is made to tap twice at the supposed door.] THE LADY (in a grave slow voice). Who's that knocking at my door, Katharine Nipsy? KATHARINE (in a sharp quick voice). Wha's that knocking at my lady's door? [Little finger wagged peremptorily. THE DISGUISED ROBBER (in a low intreating tone). A poor friar a poor friar. KATHARINE. It's a poor friar, my lady. LADY (inclining her head kindly). Bid him come in; bid him come in. [The first and third fingers are then parted, and the second comes forward between, bowing twice as he enters. DISGUISED ROBBER. Your servant, madam; your servant, madam. NURSE (in a hurried voice). And he worried them a'! NIEVIE-NICK-NACK. Some small article, as a marble, a comfit, or other trifle, is put into one hand secretly. The boy then comes up to a companion with both hands closed, and cries, as he revolves the two fists (nieves) before his friend's eyes— Nievie-nievie nick-nack, Tak' the right, tak' the wrang, The fun is in the challenged person choosing the hand in which there is nothing. "Na, na," answered the boy; "he is a queer auld cull; he disna frequent wi' other folk, but lives up by at the Cleikum. He gave me half-a-crown yince, and forbade me to play it awa' at pitch and toss." "And you disobeyed him, of course?" "Na, I didna disobeyed him-I played it awa' at nievie-nievie nick-nack."-St Ronan's Well. Half-a-dozen urchins, collected by the fireside of a winter's evening, would amuse themselves by such rhymes as the following: Or else Braw news is come to town, First she gat the frying-pan, Here is a lass with a golden ring, Here is a lass with a golden ring, So early in the morning. Gentle Johnie kissed her, Three times blessed her, Sent her a slice o' bread and butter, In a silver saucer. Who shall we send it to, Send it to, send it to ; Who shall we send it to ? To [Mrs Ritchie's] daughter. * Naming some girl of the party. |