And that's the first beginning;
She had a calf, and that's half;
She took it by the tail,
And threw it over the wall, and that's all.

Old Woman Drowned

There was an old woman, her name it was Peg;
Her head was of wood, and she wore a cork-leg.
The neighbours all pitched her into the water,
Her leg was drown'd first, and her head followed a'ter.

Old Woman of Stepney

At Stepney there lived,
As every one knows,
An old woman who had
A plum tree on her nose!

The boys, while she slept,
Would cautiously take
The plums from her tree
Before she could wake.

This old woman went
One day to the lawn
Of my Lord Cockagee,
And there saw a fawn.

Having shot him, she tied
His hind legs to her tree,
And so quitted the lawn
Of my Lord Cockagee.

She'd nearly reached home,
When the constable came,
And put her in prison
For killing the game.

While locked in her cell,
She thought again and again
Of how to escape,
But kept thinking in vain.

She considered each plan,
Till she found out a way
Of escaping the prison
In the course of the day.

She cut the plum tree
close off from her nose,
And made a scarecrow,
Dress'd up in her clothes;

This she set on a stool,
With it's back to the wall,
And watch'd near the door
For fear it would fall.

Soon the jailor came in
With her water and bread;
He stared at the figure,
While from prison she fled.

The old woman reached home,
Singing diddle-dee-dee;
And again on her nose
There grew a plum tree.

[Page 108--Old Woman Tales]

Funny Old Women

There was an old person of Smyrna,
Whose Granny once threatened to burn her;
But she seized on the cat,
And said "Granny, burn that!
You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!"

There was an old lady of Bute,
Who played on a silver-gilt flute;
She played several jigs
To her Uncle's white pigs,
That amusing old lady of Bute.

There was an old lady of Ryde,
Whose shoe-strings were seldom untied,
She purchased some clogs,
And some small spotted dogs,
And frequently walked about Ryde.

There was an old lady of Parma,
Whose conduct grew calmer and calmer,
When they said "Are you dumb?"
She merely said "Hum!"
That provoking old lady of Parma.

There was an old lady of Troy,
Whom several large f