ding on a ladle!

Or again:--

The cattie rade to Passelet,
To Passelet, to Passelet,
The cattie rade to Passelet,
Upon a harrow-tine, O.

'Twas on a weetie Wednesday,
Wednesday, Wednesday:
'Twas on a weetie Wednesday,
I missed it aye sin syne, O.

Lighting a stick, and making it wave to and fro, so as to form a
semi-circle of red fire before the child's eyes, the nurse will sing or
croon:--

Dingle, dingle dousy,
The cat's at the well,
The dog's awa' to Musselbro'
To buy the bairn a bell.

Greet, greet bairnie,
And ye'se get a bell;
If ye dinna greet faster,
I'll keep it to mysel'.

Or again, dandling the child, the entertainment may be what some
Perthshire children know well:--

Riding on a horsie, never standing still,
Doun by St. Martins, and owre by Newmill,
In by Guildtown and round by Cargill,
Richt up Burstbane, and owre by Gallowhill,
Yont by the Harelaw, and doun to Wolfhill,
And that's the way to ride a horse and never stand still.

Or the universal favourite may ensue:--

Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross,
To see an old woman ride on a white horse;
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.

Or:--

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed,
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

In a reposeful attitude, such rhymes as follow may be employed:--

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down
And broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Shoo shuggie, owre the glen,
Mammie's pet, and daddie's hen.

Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full;
One for the master, one for the dame,
One for the little boy that lives in the lane.

Goosey, Goosey Gander,
Where shall I wander?
Upstairs, downstairs,
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him downstairs.

Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cupboard,
To fetch her poor doggie a bone;
But when she got there, the cupboard was bare,
And so the poor doggie got none.

Little Polly Flinders
Sat among the cinders,
Warming her pretty little toes,
Her mother came and caught her,
And whipped her