Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes

One, two, buckle my shoe,
Three, four, shut the door,
Five six, pick up sticks,
Seven, eight, lay them straight.

    (1810, p. 30.)
The rhyme is sometimes continued as far as twenty: —

Nine, ten, a good fat hen,
Eleven, twelve, who shall delve? etc.

The tabulation of the explanations of numbers of these various songs will give an idea of the degradation to which words are liable, when they have lost their meaning. It shows also that some information can be recovered from comparing what is apparently nonsensical.

One.– Scotland: One all alone.
Dorset: One is one and all alone.
Cornwall: Is all alone and ever must remain so.
Derbyshire: One was dressed in green O.
Norfolk: One left alone no more can be seen O.
Hereford: One was God to the righteous man.

Two.– Sc.: Lilly and rose.
Dt.: Lilly white boys.
C.: Lilly white maids clothed in green.
Db.: Lilly white maids.
N.: Lily white boys.
H.: Jewry.

Three.– Sc.: Thrivers.
Dt.: Rivals.
C.: Bright shiners.
Db.: Threble thribers.
N.: Rare O.
H.: Trinity.

Four.– Sc.: Gospelmakers.
Dt. "
C. "
Db.: Gospelrhymers.
N.: Gospelmakers.
H.: Lady's bower.

Five.– Sc.: Hymnlers of my bower.
Dt.: Symbols at your door.
C.: Ferrymen in a boat and one a stranger.
Db.: By water.
N.: Thimble in a bowl.
H.: Man alive.

Six.– Sc.: Echoing waters.
Dt.: Proud walkers.
C.: Cheerful waiter.
Db.: Came on board.
N.: Provokers.
H.: Crucifix.

Seven.– Sc.: Stars in heaven.
Dt.: Stars in the sky.
C. " "
Db.: Golden stars.
N.: Stars in the sky.
H.: Bride of heaven.

Eight.– Sc.: Table rangers.
Dt.: Bold rainers.
C.: Archangels.
Db.: Gabriel riders.
N.: Bright walkers.
H.: Crooked straight.

Nine.– Sc.: Muses.
Dt.: Bright shiners.
C.: Bold rainers.
Db.: Bright shiners.
N.: Gable rangers.

Ten.– Sc.: Commandments.
Dt. "
C. "
Db. "
N. "

Eleven.– Sc.: Maidens in a dance.
Dt.: Went up to heaven.
C. ""
Db.: Archangels.
N.: Evangelists.

Twelve.– Sc.: Apostles.
Dt. "
C. "
Db. "
N. "

From this table we see that the thrivers of Scotland are threble thribers in Derbyshire. These, according to the explanation of Addy, are the three Norns or white ladies,[62 - Addy, S. O., loc. cit., p. 150.] and this view is supported by the three queens of the one Breton chant, which probably suggested The Three Maries of the one Spanish version.

Again, the table rangers of the Scottish song are Gabriel riders, otherwise known as Gabriel hounds or gabbe ratches in Derbyshire. Gabriel hounds is a word applied to the winds. The winds are also associated with eight in the one Breton chant. In Cornwall bright shiners are associated with three, but in Dorsetshire and Derbyshire bright shiners are associated with nine, and nine is the number of maidens in one Breton chant also. We are reminded of the priestesses who were devoted to religious rites on some island of the Atlantic, perhaps Ushant, off Brittany, when Pytheas, in the fourth century before Christ, visited these shores. Nine of them attended a famous oracle, and professed to control the weather.

The interest of these chants is increased when we compare them with what folk-lore preserves on the subject. The followers of Mohammed tell a tale which describes how a rich man promised a poor man his ox if he could explain to him the numbers, and the following dialogue ensued: —