Father

The new rhyme for this week is:

MY FATHER DIED A MONTH AGO

My father died a month ago,
And left me all his riches,
A feather bed, a wooden leg,
And a pair of leather breeches.

A bit of land at my command,
A horse both lame and blind,
You'd swear he'd in a trap been catch'd,
He was cropt so close behind.

He left me a teapot without a spout,
A cup without a handle,
A tobacco pipe without a lid,
And half a farthing candle.

This is a rhyme not often heard, yet easy to remember. When referring to a horse who was "cropt" the writers referred to their tail being cut to the dock, much like many fighting dogs were until recently. This is believed to refer to the American War of Independence, as that was the approximate time wherein the making of leather breeches halted. It was first published in 1825 as part of the song, "The Bumkins Wife", but was also possibly related to "Willie Winkie's Testament", published in 1733, which had similar wording.

Credit goes to The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes yet again.

To learn more about the War of Independence try here or here.

This week's old favourite is:

WEE WILLIE WINKIE

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs in his night-gown,
Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,
Are the children all in bed, for now it's eight o'clock.

Before the days of television, internet or even radio, town criers were employed to walk through town shouting the most recent news. Children, who needed to associate everyday tasks with their own lives, had their own crier, known as a Wee Willie Winkie, who did the same as a town crier, only tailored for children. Today, Willie Winkie is also known as the sandman, who encourages children to sleep. There is another theory that this refers to William III, though the valitity of that theory is unknown. This poem was written by William Miller in 1841 and first published in Whistle-binkie: Stories for the Fireside.

Credit famousquotes.me.uk, same book as above.

Find out more about the Sandman here or William Miller here.

Again, any help needed rhyme wise, just ask.

Evelyn