ll have a wedding at our house."

CHAPTER V.

CAT RHYMES.

The old saying of "A cat may look at the queen" is thus expressed in a
dialogue between a ward nurse of Elizabeth's time and a truant tom on
its return to the nursery.

"_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?

"_Cat_: I've been to London to see the queen.

"_Ward Nurse_: Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?

"_Cat_: I frightened a little mouse from under her chair."

No doubt the incident giving rise to this verse had to do with the
terrible fright Queen Bess is supposed to have had on discovering a
mouse in the folds of her dress--for it was she of virgin fame to whom
pussy-cat paid the visit. It has been asked again and again, "Why are
old maids so fond of cats?" and "Why are their lives so linked
together?" Maybe it is to scare, as did the cat in the rhyme, "a little
mouse from under her chair."

* * * * *

"Ten little mice sat down to spin,
Pussy looked down, and she looked in.
What are you doing, my little men?
We're making some clothes for gentlemen.
Shall I come in to cut your threads?
No, kind sir, you'll bite off our heads."

* * * * *

One more rhyme of Queen Elizabeth's time begins--

"The rose is red, the grass is green,
Serve Queen Bess, our noble queen."

* * * * *

"Kitty, the spinner,
Will sit down to dinner,
And eat the leg of a frog.
All the good people
Will look o'er the steeple
And see a cat play with a dog."

* * * * *

"I love little pussy, her coat is so warm,
And if I don't hurt her she'll do me no harm;
I won't pull her tail, nor drive her away,
But pussy and I together will play."

* * * * *

"Three cats sat by the fireside,
In a basket full of coal-dust;
One cat said to the other,
'Su pu, pell mell--Queen Anne's dead!'
'Is she?' quoth Grimalkin, 'then I'll reign in her stead.'
Then up, up, up, they flew, up the chimney."

* * * * *

"Great A, little b,
The cat's in the cupboard
And she can't C."

* * * * *

"There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile;
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bou