Rain Rain

There is an old nursery rhyme (come to think of it are there any new nursery rhymes?) which goes:

Rain rain go away,

Come again another day.

Little Johnny wants to play;

Rain, rain, go to Spain,

Never show your face again!

My Mum used to say:

Rain rain go away

Come again on washing day.

I thought of that this morning because I have things to do outside and with the car and it's pouring - yet again. Then I thought how irrelevant both the above are in this day and age.  Little Johnny (in the UK at least) is far more likely to want to play on his computer or watch TV than go and play outside.  Washing day?  This is a concept swept away with modern washing machines, women going out to work, tumble driers and an ethos of wear-it-once which was a luxury few could afford or indeed think of in my childhood.  Now if something is worn for half a day into the wash it goes.  Let Mum (or Dad) deal with it.

Just a thought.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Boy did it rain last night.  So this morning I incanted the old nursery rhyme:

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Rain rain go to Baden
Little GB wants to garden.
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!

 

And the sun came out!

And I gardened (and washed the car).

And started three sentences with a conjunction.  Sorry Adrian.  Feeling guilty is just not enough of a deterrent!

 

Miss Muffet

It can be amazing what one finds when going through old papers and so on. I am completely useless at drawing and rarely attempt anything which vaguely requires an artistic hand - like writing my name! However I came across a sketch I'd drawn (presumably copied knowing me) back in the early 1960s and it amused me so I thought I'd share it:

I assume that my warped sense of humour was thinking of the following nursery rhyme at the time:

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey,
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away
(or, in this case, didn't!)

A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go

One of our family's saying is "'Hey ho', said Rowley". So many times have people asked where the saying came from I have decided to depart from the usual 'diary' aspect of this blog and repeat the nursery rhyme from which the saying originates.

A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go

A frog he would a-wooing go,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
A frog he would a-wooing go,
Whether his mother would let him or no.
With a rowley, powley, gammon and spinich,
Hey ho, says Anthony Rowley.
So of he set with his opera hat,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
So of he set with his opera hat,
And on the road he met with a rat
With a rowley, etc.
Pray Mr Rat, will you go with me?
Hey ho, says Rowley,
Pray, Mr Rat, will you go with me,
With a rowley, etc.
They came to the door of Mousey’s hall,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
They gave a loud knock, and they gave a loud call.
With a rowley, etc.
Pray Mrs Mouse, are you within?
Hey ho, says Rowley,
Oh yes, kind sirs, I’m sitting to spin.
With a rowley, etc.
Pray, Mrs Mouse, will you give us some beer?
Hey ho, says Rowley,
For Froggy and I are fond of good cheer.
With a rowley, etc.
Pray, Mr Frog, will you give us a song?
Hey ho, says Rowley,
Let it be something that’s not very long.
With a rowley, etc.
Indeed, Mrs Mouse, replied Mr Frog,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
A cold has made me as hoarse as a dog.
With a rowley, etc.
Since you have a cold, Mr Frog, Mousey said,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
I’ll sing you a song that I have just made.
With a rowley, etc.
But while they were all a-merry-making
Hey ho, says Rowley,
A cat and her kittens came tumbling in.
With a rowley, etc.
The cat she seized the rat by the crown,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
The kittens they pulled the little mouse down.
With a rowley, etc.
This put Mr Frog in a terrible fright,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
He took up his hat and wished them goodnight.
With a rowley, etc.
But as Froggy was crossing over a brook,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
A lily-white duck came and gobbled him up.
With a rowley, etc.
So there was the end of one, two, three,
Hey ho, says Rowley,
The rat, the mouse, and the little frog-ee.

With a rowley, etc.