English Rhymes on Geography

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockleshells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

***

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,

The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.

But where is the boy that looks after the sheep?

He’s under a haycock, fast asleep.

Will you wake him? No, not I;

For if I do, he’ll sure to cry.

***

Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full:

One for my master, and one for my dame,

And one for the little boy that lives down the lane.

***

The south wind brings wet weather,

The north wind wet and cold together;

The west wind always brings us rain,

The east wind blows it back again.

***

A red sky at night is the shepherds delight;

A red sky in the morning is the shepherd’s warning.

***

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!

Little children want to play!

Rain, rain, go to Spain, never show your face again!

***

A sailor went to sea to see what he could see.

And all that he could see was sea, sea, sea.

***

The north wind doth blow, and we shall have snow,

And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?

O, he’ll go to the barn, and to keep himself warm

He’ll hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

***

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather is not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather is hot,

We’ll whether the weather whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not!

***

Over in the meadow, In the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother toadie And her little toadie one
" Wink! " said the mother; " I wink! " said the one,
So they winked and they blinked

In the sand in the sun

Over in the meadow, Where the stream runs blue
Lived an old mother fish And her little fishes two
" Swim! " said the mother; " We swim! " said the two,
So they swam and they leaped
Where the stream runs blue

Over in the meadow, In a hole in a tree
Lived an old mother bluebird

And her little birdies three
" Sing! " said the mother; " We sing! " said the three
So they sang and were glad In a hole in the tree

Over in the meadow, In the reeds on the shore
Lived an old mother muskrat

And her little ratties four
" Dive! " said the mother; " We dive! " said the four
So they dived and they burrowed
In the reeds on the shore

Over in the meadow, In a snug beehive
Lived a mother honey bee And her little bees five
" Buzz! " said the mother; " We buzz! " said the five
So they buzzed and they hummed
In the snug beehive

Over in the meadow, In a nest built of sticks
Lived a black mother crow And her little crows six
" Caw! " said the mother; " We caw! " said the six
So they cawed and they called
In their nest built of sticks

Over in the meadow, Where the grass is so even
Lived a gay mother cricket

And her little crickets seven
" Chirp! " said the mother;

" We chirp! " said the seven
So they chirped cheery notes

In the grass soft and even

Over in the meadow, By the old mossy gate
Lived a brown mother lizard

And her little lizards eight
" Bask! " said the mother; " We bask! " said the eight
So they basked in the sun On the old mossy gate

Over in the meadow, Where the quiet pools shine
Lived a green mother frog

And her little froggies nine
" Croak! " said the mother; " We croak! " said the nine
So they croaked and they splashed
Where the quiet pools shine

Over in the meadow, In a sly little den
Lived a gray mother spider

And her little spiders ten
" Spin! " said the mother; " We spin! " said the ten
So they spun lacy webs
In their sly little den