Page 18 - eMuse Vol.9 No.04_Classical

Hey Diddle Diddle Kangaroo Song
Hey, diddle, diddle! The cat and the fiddle
Are getting old fashioned, I trow;
More novel ‘twould be for a great wallaby
The organ to play with one toe.
For the moon to give chase to the man on her face,
And the comet to join in the fun;
or the ever green rabbit to weep at the habit
Of squatters infesting its run.
For the novelist pale to yield up his tale
To the sheep of Bo-peep’s woeful verse;
For the ghost in the corner to sit on Jack Horner
While Coroner Cats seek a hearse.
For small dogs to giggle when cows give a wiggle,
That lands away past the moon,
Is really quite stale, as is also the tale
Of the dish making off with that spoon.
Now, not to make off with a spoon when there’s a moon, And ‘Right! we are coming!’ the others barked back.
Is a far more astonishing thing;
And to see the moon wriggle — oh, hey, diddle, diddle, I wish you had seen how old Bumpity stood
In that case you really might sing
Ethel Turner, “Gum Leaves” 1900
Au Revoir
Solomon Simon met a snake,
He passed the time of day,
‘And next time you’re not wide awake,
Just send me word I pray.’
‘I’m sleeping now,’ the snake replied,
And curled up in a hurry .
Said Simon, ‘Glad to hear it friend,
Sweet dreams, but I must scurry.’
Ethel Turner, “Gum Leaves” 1900
Mary Had
Mary had a little shark,
Its teeth were pearly white.
She said, ‘Alas! it cannot bark,
Though, bless me, can’t it bite.
‘To keep the burglars bold away
Each night we turn it loose;
But it can’t run as fast as they,
And isn’t any use .
‘But stay,’ she cried, and clapped her hand,
And started off to run,
‘I’ll take it to a dog-fish, and
‘Twill learn to bark like fun.’
Ethel Turner, “Gum Leaves” 1900
My Pet
Have you seen the cat of Dorothy Lee?
The one she calls Catty Puss?
If she’s proud of her pet, then what should I be?
I’ve got a duck billed platypus.
Ethel Turner, “Gum Leaves” 1900
18 eMuse
Old Bumperty Jumpety Hop and Go One
Was lying at ease on his side in the sun,
And this old Kangaroo, he was whisking the flies
With his glossy long tail from his coat and his eyes.
Bumpety Jumpety Hop and Go One,
Hop and Go One, Hop and go one
Sleep with an eye open out in the sun,
Bumpety Jumpety Hop.
He was wild in his youth this old Kangaroo,
And learned from experience all that he knew,
He could tackle a rabbiter’s pack, one and all,
For they often hunted him, when he was small.
Bumpety Jumpety, etc .
Now foolish young Frisky, the woodcutter’s dog,
Came peeping at Bumpity over a log,
So it’s ‘Up, Boys, and at ‘im!’ he barked to the pack,
Bumpety Jumpety, etc .
And boxed all their ears in the heart of the wood!
And he hopped off in triumph as soon aas he’d done, —
So we’ll all cry ‘Hurroosha!’ for Hop and Go One!
Bumpety Jumpety, etc .
Annie R Rentoul, Bush Songs of Australia for Young and Old 1910.
Kookaburra
Kookaburra, Kookaburra, sitting on a gum tree,
High among the branches, up tip-top,
Down below the gum-boughs where you swing.
Kookaburra, Kookaburra, we got bushed at sundown!
Snakes and skeeturs scared us all around!
Then you came and sought us, laughing till you brought us
To the dear home-paddock safe and sound.
Annie R Rentoul, Bush Songs of Australia for Young and Old 1910.
Variations on Nursery Rhymes
Goosey Goosey Gander,
Whither do you wander?
Your place is in the poultry yard
And not on the verandah .
E.R. ‘Australian Nursery Rhymes’, Bulletin 5 November 1908.
I had a little pony,
His name was Dapple Gray.
I sent him down to Melbourne,
To win the Cup one day.
He couldn’t beat Poseidon,
For Poseidon’s hard to beat,
And now he pulls a hansom cab
Along a Sydney street .
E.R. ‘Australian Nursery Rhymes’, Bulletin 5 November 1908.
April 2020