, I sucked his blood,
And left his skin a hanging-o.

CCXXXV.

I had a little castle upon the sea-side,
One half was water, the other was land;
I open'd my little castle door, and guess what I found;
I found a fair lady with a cup in her hand.
The cup was gold, filled with wine;
Drink, fair lady, and thou shalt be mine!

CCXXXVI.

Old father Graybeard,
Without tooth or tongue;
If you'll give me your finger,
I'll give you my thumb.

[Illustration]

EIGHTH CLASS--CHARMS.

CCXXXVII.

Cushy cow bonny, let down thy milk,
And I will give thee a gown of silk;
A gown of silk and a silver tee,
If thou wilt let down thy milk to me.

CCXXXVIII.

[Said to pips placed in the fire; a species of divination
practised by children.]

If you love me, pop and fly;
If you hate me, lay and die.

CCXXXIX.

[The following, with a very slight variation, is found in Ben
Jonson's 'Masque of Queen's,' and it is singular to account
for its introduction into the modern nursery.]

I went to the toad that lies under the wall,
I charmed him out, and he came at my call;
I scratch'd out the eyes of the owl before,
I tore the bat's wing, what would you have more.

CCXL.

[A charm somewhat similar to the following may be seen in the
'Townley Mysteries,' p. 91. See a paper in the 'Archaeologia,'
vol. xxvii, p. 253, by the Rev. Lancelot Sharpe, M.A. See also
MS. Lansd. 231, fol. 114, and Ady's 'Candle in the Dark,' 4to,
London, 1650, p. 58.]

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Guard the bed that I lay on!
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels round my head;
One to watch, one to pray,
And two to bear my soul away!

CCXLI.

[Ady, in his 'Candle in the Dark,' 4to, Lond. 1656, p. 59,
says that this was a charm to make butter come from the churn.
It was to be said thrice.]

Come, butter, come,
Come, butter, come!
Peter stands at the gate,
Waiting for a butter'd cake;
Come, butter, come!

CCXLII.

[From Dr. Wallis's "Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae," 12mo, Oxon.
1674, p. 164. This and the nine following are said to be
certain cures for the hiccup if repeated in one breath.]

When a Twister a twisting, will twist him a twist;
For the twisting of his twist, he three times doth intwist;
But if one of the twines of the twist do untwist,
The twine that untwisteth, un