se I'll beat you as black as a coal.

[Illustration:

EVENING AT HOME

THE CAT SAT ASLEEP BY THE FIRE
THE MISTRESS SNORED LOUD AS A PIG.
JACK TOOK UP HIS FIDDLE BY JENNY'S DESIRE
AND STRUCK UP A BIT OF A JIG.]

The cat sat asleep by the fire,
The mistress snored loud as a pig,
Jack took up his fiddle by Jenny's desire,
And struck up a bit of a jig.

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 wasn't at home,
Taffy came to my house,
And stole a marrow bone.
I went to Taffy's house,
Taffy was in bed,
I took the marrow bone,
And beat about his head.

The girl in the lane, that couldn't speak plain,
Cried gobble, gobble, gobble:
The man on the hill, that couldn't stand still,
Went hobble, hobble, hobble.

The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown;
The lion beat the unicorn
All round about the town.
Some gave them white bread,
Some gave them brown,
Some gave them plumcake,
And sent them out of town.

The man in the moon,
Came down too soon,
And ask'd his way to Norwich;
He went by the south
And burnt his mouth
With eating cold plum-porridge.

The man in the wilderness asked me,
How many strawberries grew in the sea?
I answered him as I thought good,
As many red herrings as grew in the wood.

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor Robin do then?
Poor thing!

He'll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing.
Poor thing!

There was a little boy went into a barn,
And lay down on some hay;
An owl came out and flew about,
And the little boy ran away.

There was a little guinea pig,
Who being little was not big;
He always walked upon his feet,
And never fasted when he ate.

When from a place he ran away,
He never at that place did stay;
And while he ran, as I am told,
He ne'er stood still for young or old.

He often squeak'd, and sometimes violent,
And when he squeak'd he ne'er was silent;
Though ne'er instructed by a cat,
He knew a mouse was not a rat.

One day, as I am certified,
He took a whim and fairly died,
And, as I'm told by men of sense,
He never has been living since.

There