Sarah Webb and Steve McCarthy

FAVOURITE RHYMES FROM AN IRISH CHILDHOOD

First published 2017 by The O’Brien Press Ltd.

12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, D06 HD27, Ireland.

Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777

E-mail: books@obrien.ie; Website: www.obrien.ie

The O’Brien Press is a member of Publishing Ireland.

ISBN 978-1-84717-794-0

Copyright for this collection © Sarah Webb

Copyright for illustrations © Steve McCarthy

Copyright for layout, editing, design © The O’Brien Press Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any way or by any means, electronic

or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without

permission in writing from the publisher.

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Printed and bound by Drukarnia Skleniarz, Poland.

The author and publisher understand that many of these verses are in the public domain. However, if any

infringement has occurred we ask the holder of such copyright to contact the publisher. We wish to credit

the following: ‘Worms Can’t Fly’ pg. 8 to Aislinn and Larry O’Loughlin; ‘If You Should Meet a Crocodile’

pg. 13 to Christine F. Fletcher; ‘Mice’ pg. 25 to The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the

Estate of Rose Fyleman; ‘Kingdoms’ pg. 31 and ‘Golden Stockings’ pg. 44 to Veronica Jane O’Mara; ‘An Old

Woman of the Roads’ pg. 38 to Padraic Colum, with the permission of the estate of Padraic Colum; ‘Earth

Whispers – White’ pg. 43 to Julie O’Callaghan; ‘Beware the Ghoul’s Lunchbox’ pg. 50 to Lucinda Jacob; ‘A

Happy Day’ pg. 59 to Alice Taylor.

Sarah Webb was the dlr Writer in Residence 2016–2017.

She worked on this book during her residency.

Dedications –This one’s for my darling niece and god-daughter, Rosie (SW)To my parents, my biggest heroes Nick and Rosie, and Poppy the dog (SMcC) Acknowledgements –With thanks to Ide ní Laoghaire, Nicola Reddy, Emma Byrne and all the O’Brien Press team for their hard work and enthusiasm

Published in:

Introduction 4

Limerick 5

She’ll Be Coming ’round the Mountain 6

Worms Can’t Fly 8

St Patrick Was a Gentleman 9

Wiggly Woo 10

Have You Ever Seen? 11

There’s music in a hammer 11

Do Your Ears Hang Low? 12

If You Should Meet a Crocodile 13

A Wise Old Owl 14

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat 15

Lean Out of the Window 16

The Lake Isle of Innisfree 17

Óró, Sé Do Bheatha ’Bhaile 18

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring 19

It’s raining cats and dogs 19

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean 20

Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake 21

On Top of Spaghetti 22

Jelly on a Plate 23

The North Wind Doth Blow 24

Mice 25

I’ll Tell Me Ma 26

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear 27

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales 27

The Rattlin’ Bog 28

Child’s Song 30

Happy Thought 30

Kingdoms 31

1, 2, 3, O’Leary 31

Spelling! 32

Pardon Me 32

Jumping on the Bed 33

I scream, you scream 33

Molly Malone 34

I’ll Tell You a Story 35

Charlie Chaplin went to France 35

A Skipping Rhyme 36

Eating Worms 37

An Old Woman of the Roads 38

Beetle Her Champ 39

The Big Ship Sails on the Ally-Ally-Oh 40

A Sailor Went to Sea 41

In fourteen hundred and ninety-two 41

To My Little Nephew, Seumas 42

Earth Whispers – White 43

When night is dark 43

Golden Stockings 44

Symphony in Yellow 45

Tongue Twister 46

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck? 46

There Was an Old Man with a Beard 47

She sells sea shells 47

Brian O’Linn 48

Beware the Ghoul’s Lunchbox 50

Beans 51

Four Ducks on a Pond 52

Ducks’ Ditty 53

Monday’s Child 55

Over in the Meadow 56

Thirty Days Hath September 58

A Happy Day 59

Oh, the More We Get Together 60

My Little Brother 61

Montague Michael 62

Are you the bee’s knees? 63

An Irish Farewell 64

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IntroductionAs a child, I loved nursery rhymes and poetry – and I still love them to this day. I have fond memories of sitting on my father’s knee as he shared his favourite verses, swaying together to the rhythm of Edward Lear’s ‘The Owl and the Pussy-Cat’, laughing as we twisted our tongues to Peter Piper and his peck of pickled peppers.

In this book I’ve collected some of my childhood favourites, from traditional Irish songs to street and skipping rhymes, all brought to life by Steve McCarthy’s magical illustrations. I also wanted to give children a taste of Irish verse from some of the greats, from W.B. Yeats’s iconic ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ to James Joyce’s ‘Lean Out of the Window’, shortened to suit younger children.

Some of the songs have fascinating backgrounds. ‘Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake’ is a version of a popular ballad from the nineteenth century by Charles Frank Horn (the original was called ‘Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake’), which was immortalised by the same Mr Joyce at the tender age of six when he sang it at a concert in aid of the Bray Boat Club in 1888. The song is also referenced in Finnegans Wake.

I adore adding yippee-ayes and ye-haas to ‘She’ll Be Coming ’round the Mountain’, a song that never fails to cheer me up, and I was delighted to discover an Irish connection while researching this book. The woman referenced in the song is said to be Mother Jones, aka Cork-born Mary Harris Jones, once called ‘the most dangerous woman in America’ for her work in organising strikes for coal miners and railway workers.

I hope you enjoy sharing this book as much as I enjoyed putting it together. And don’t forget to add plenty of your own ye-haas!

Sarah Webb

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Limerick

There once was a small girl called MaggieWhose dog was enormous and shaggy,The front end of himLooked vicious and grim,But the tail end was friendly and waggy.

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She’ll Be Coming ’round the Mountain

She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes,She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes, She’ll be coming ’round the mountain, coming ’round the mountain,Coming ’round the mountain when she comes.

She’ll be driving six white horses when she comes, She’ll be driving six white horses when she comes, She’ll be driving six white horses, driving six white horses, Driving six white horses when she comes.

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She’ll be wearing red pyjamas when she comes, She’ll be wearing red pyjamas when she comes, She’ll be wearing red pyjamas, wearing red pyjamas, Wearing red pyjamas when she comes. Singing aye aye yippee, yippie aye,Singing aye aye yippee, yippie aye,Singing aye aye yippee, aye aye yippee,Aye aye yippee, yippee aye.

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Worms Can’t Fly Aislinn and Larry O’Loughlin

Then tell me, please,Why do birdsWait in trees?

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St Patrick Was a GentlemanHenry Bennett Oh! St Patrick was a gentleman, Who came of decent people, He built a church in Dublin town, And on it put a steeple.

His father was a Gallagher, His mother was a Brady, His aunt was an O’Shaughnessy, His uncle an O’Grady.

For he’s a saint so clever, Oh! He gave the snakes and toads a twist, And bothered them forever!

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Wiggly Woo

There’s a worm at the bottom of my garden,And his name is Wiggly Woo.There’s a worm at the bottom of my garden,And all that he can doIs wiggle all day and wiggle all night,The neighbours all say what a terrible sight!There’s a worm at the bottom of my garden,And his name is Wiggly,Wig-Wig-Wiggly,Wig-Wig-Wiggly Woo!

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Have You Ever Seen?

Have you ever, ever, ever In your long-legged life Seen a long-legged sailorWith a long-legged wife?

No, I’ve never, never, neverIn my long-legged lifeSeen a long-legged sailorWith a long-legged wife.

There’s music in a hammer,

There’s music in a nail, There’s music in a tom-cat

If you tread upon his tail.

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