Nursery Rhyme Test
It’s been a long time since children learned Nursery Rhymes at their mother’s knee, but we still think we know most of them. And maybe you do, so here’s a chance to see if you do. I’m going to give you clues in today’s vernacular, and then also give you (and me) what they really said. Okay, here we go, and you’ll know most of them . . . . that is, after you read the answers.
1. Mother spanks her daughter for sitting in cinders.
2. Boy kisses girls, then flees.
3. Curly haired girl with split personality.
4. Farmer’s wife attacked by sightless rodents.
5. Boy goes to bed wearing stockings.
6. Girl is frightened by spider.
7. Men and animals fail to revive crash victim.
8. Married couple prove to be hearty eaters.
9. Wool supply assured, inquiry reveals.
10. Mother encouraged nudity.
11. Bovine specie orbits in space.
12. Pig thief punished.
13. Game postponed by bad weather.
14. Elderly woman needs Planned Parenthood advice.
15. Pupil questioned about his tardiness to school.
16. Woman lacks food, and dog starves.
17. Differences between sexes revealed.
18. Cripple finds bent coin.
Well, those headlines don’t sound to me like lead-ins for Pre-kindergarten students, but I figured out a couple of them anyway. Cheat if you want, it’s all clean fun.
1. Little Molly Flinders sat among the cinders, warming her pretty toes. Along came her mother, and spanked her pretty daughter for soiling her nice clean clothes.
2. Georgie Porgie, Pudding and Pie, kissed the girls and made them cry, and when the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away.
3. There was a pretty girl, who had a pretty curl, right in the middle of her forehead, and when she was good, she was very, very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid.
4. Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice, see how they run, see how they run, They all ran after the Farmer’s wife, who cut off their tales with a carving knife. Did you ever see such a sight in your life, as three blind mice?
5. Diddle, diddle Johnson, my son John, went to bed with his stocking on, one shoe on and one shoe off, Diddle, diddle Johnson, my son John.
6. Little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey. Down came a spider, and sat down beside her, and frightened Miss Muffett away.
7. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, and all the King’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again.
8. Jack Spratt could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean, but all together, they licked the platter clean.
9. Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. One for my master, one for his dame, and one for the little girl who lives down the lane.
10. Mother, may I go out to swim? Yes, my darling daughter. Hang your clothes on a Hickory Limb, but don’t go near the water.
11. Hi, diddle, diddle, the Cat and the fiddle and the cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such sport, and the dish ran away with the spoon.
12. Tom, Tom the Piper’s son, stole a pig and away he run, The pig got eat, Tom got beat, and then went bellowing down the street.
13. Rain, rain, go away, little Johnnie wants to play, so come again some other day.
14. There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, she had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.
15. A diller a dollar, a ten o’clock scholar, what makes you come so soon. You used to come at ten o’clock and now you come at noon.
16. Old Mother Hubbard, went to the cupboard to get her poor dog a bone. but when she got there, the cupboard was bare and so the poor dog got none.
17. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all things nice, and what are little boys made of? Snips and snails and puppy dog tails.
18. There was a crooked man, who walked a crooked mile, and found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked style.
Well, these were all before ‘our time’, but I betcha a few ‘rang a bell with you’ and anyway, it was a nice stroll down Memory Lane, and glad you came along.