Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part B

In the "Jingles" section of the Nursery Rhymes unit, there are several well-known tales. The first is "Hey Diddle Diddle."

HEY! diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laugh'd
To see the sport,
While the dish ran after the spoon.

The next is "Tweedledum and Tweedledee."

TWEEDLE-DUM and Tweedle-dee
Resolved to have a battle
For Tweedle-dum said Tweedle-dee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew by a monstrous crow
As big as a tar-barrel,
Which frightened both the heroes so
They quite forgot their quarrel.

Another is "Rub-a-dub-dub."

RUB a dub dub,
Three men in a tub:
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick-maker;
Turn 'em out, knaves all three!

As I said in the other reading post about the Nursery Rhymes unit, I think it would be difficult to write my own jingles inspired by these. They are all fairly short and follow a similar rhyme scheme. These jingles, unlike most of the riddles, tell a story, however. I could write my own story inspired by one of these well-known tales. I think it would be most fun to write one inspired by "Hey Diddle Diddle," as I could write a story about the cat, fiddle, cow, dog, dish, and spoon.

Hey Diddle Diddle by Randolph Caldecott

Story source: The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897)

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