I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me

Page 1


First published 2024 by The O’Brien Press Ltd.

12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, D06 HD27, Ireland.

Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777

E-mail: books@obrien.ie; Website: www.obrien.ie

The O’Brien Press is a member of Publishing Ireland.

ISBN 978-1-78849-449-6

Copyright for this collection © Sarah Webb

Copyright for illustrations © Paul Delaney

The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.

Copyright for layout, editing, design © The O’Brien Press Ltd.

Cover and internal design by Emma Byrne

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including for text and data mining, training arti cial intelligence systems, photocopying, recording or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

The author and publisher understand that many of these verses are in the public domain. However, if any infringement has occurred we ask the holder of such copyright to contact the publisher. We wish to credit the following: Spike Milligan Productions Limited for permission to reproduce ‘On the Ning Nang Nong’ and ‘A Baby Sardine’ by Spike Milligan; Domino Music Publishing for permission to reproduce ‘Goodnight World’ by Lisa O’Neill; Faber Music for permission to reproduce ‘Dingle Dangle Scarecrow’ by Geo rey and Mollie Russell-Smith; Mary O’Malley for permission to reproduce ‘Lullaby’; Gordon Snell for permission to reproduce ‘The Jelly sh’s Tongue Twister’ and ‘The Sloth’s Sneeze’; and E.R. Murray for permission to reproduce ‘Garden Song’.

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2827262524

Printed and bound by Oriental Press, Dubai

This book is produced using pulp from managed forests.

Dedication

To my darling niece, Lucy, with much love. Watch out, Rosie, your book is coming next! (SW)

To my Mom and Dad, who allowed their son to be a dreamer.(PD)

Acknowledgements

My great thanks to Paul Delaney for bringing these pages alive with such colour, joy and energy. Thank you to all at The O’Brien Press, especially my wonderfully kind and helpful editor, Nicola Reddy, and the wise and ever-patient Emma Byrne, Queen of Art and Design. These collections are dear to my heart; thank you for helping me bring my childhood alive! (SW)

Published in:

Introduction f

Anne of Green Gables

as a child and I struggled to read by myself until I was nine and a half. But I was lucky. As the poet Strickland Gillilan writes in his famous poem below, I had a mother (and a father) who read to me, for which I am eternally grateful.

The collection you hold in your hands is designed to be read to children from birth upwards. Babies and toddlers are never too little to listen or to look at the pictures!

The rhymes, poems and songs within come from a variety of sources. I found some of the clapping and street rhymes in the Schools’ Collection of the National Folklore f f gather folklore in their home districts. It’s a fascinating resource.

contemporary Irish poets and songwriters such as E.R. Murray and Lisa O’Neill. Happy reading!

Sarah Webb

The Reading Mother (extract)

Strickland Gillilan

I had a mother who read to me

Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea, Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth, ‘Blackbirds’ stowed in the hold beneath.

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Richer than I you can never be –I had a mother who read to me.

I See the Moon

I see the moon and the moon sees me, The moon sees somebody I want to see. God bless the moon and God bless me, And God bless that somebody I want to see.

Three Little Kittens

Three little kittens, They lost their mittens,

And they began to cry,

‘Oh, mother dear,

We sadly fear Our mittens we have lost.’

‘What! Lost your mittens, You naughty kittens!

Then you shall have no pie.

Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. You shall have no pie.’

The three little kittens, They found their mittens,

And they began to cry,

‘Oh, mother dear,

See here, see here, Our mittens we have found.’

‘What! Found your mittens, You darling kittens!

Then you shall have some pie.

Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow. You shall have some pie.’

The three little kittens, Put on their mittens,

And soon ate up the pie.

‘Oh, mother dear,

We greatly fear Our mittens we have soiled.’

‘What! Soiled your mittens, You naughty kittens!’

Then they began to sigh, ‘Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.’ They began to sigh.

The three little kittens, They washed their mittens, And hung them out to dry.

‘Oh mother dear,

Look here, look here, Our mittens we have washed.’

‘What! Washed your mittens, You’re such good kittens.

I smell a rat close by!

Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush!

Hush! Hush! Hush!

I smell a rat close by.’

Under the Bambushes

Under the bambushes,

Down by the sea,

True love for you, my darling, True love for me.

I’d Like to Be a Lighthouse

Rachel Field

I’d like to be a lighthouse

All scrubbed and painted white.

I’d like to be a lighthouse

And stay awake all night

To keep my eye on everything

That sails my patch of sea;

I’d like to be a lighthouse

With the ships all watching me.

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.

They all jumped out of a rotten potato.

Bangor boat’s away, we have no timetostay, One in a boat, two in a boat, Bangorboat’saway.

On the Ning Nang Nong

Spike Milligan

On the Ning Nang Nong

Where the Cows go Bong!

And the monkeys all say BOO!

There’s a Nong Nang Ning

Where the trees go Ping!

And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.

On the Nong Ning Nang

All the mice go Clang

And you just can’t catch ’em when they do!

So it’s Ning Nang Nong

Cows go Bong!

Nong Nang Ning

Trees go ping

Nong Ning Nang

The mice go Clang

What a noisy place to belong

Is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!

Who put the overalls in Mrs Murphy ’ schowder? Nobody answered so she saiditallthelouder.

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Who lives on Drury Lane?

Who lives on Drury Lane.

Oranges and Lemons

Oranges and lemons,

Say the bells of St. Clement’s. f

Say the bells of St. Martin’s.

When will you pay me?

Say the bells at Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,

Say the bells at Shoreditch.

When will that be?

Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,

Says the great bell at Bow.

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,

Aiken Drum

There was a man lived in the moon, lived in the moon, lived in the moon, There was a man lived in the moon, And his name was Aiken Drum. And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle, And he played upon a ladle, and his name was Aiken Drum.

There Was an Old Woman

There was an old woman tossed up in a basket Nineteen times as high as the moon; Where she was going I couldn’t but ask it, For in her hand she carried a broom.

A Wee Little Worm

A wee little worm in a hickory-nut Sang, happy as could be, ‘Oh, I live in the heart of the whole round world. And it all belongs to me.’

Jack be nimble, Jackbequick , Jackjumpoverthecandlestick

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That’s an Irish Lullaby)

Over in Killarney, Many years ago, My mother sang a song to me In tones so sweet and low.

Just a simple little ditty, In her good old Irish way, And I’d give the world if she could sing That song to me this day.

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral,

Too-ra-loo-ra-li,

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Hush, now don’t you cry!

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li, Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, That’s an Irish lullaby.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Chauncey Olcott and George Graff Jr.

When Irish eyes are smiling

Sure it’s like a morn in spring, In the lilt of Irish laughter

You can hear the angels sing.

When Irish hearts are happy

All the world seems bright and gay, And when Irish eyes are smiling

Sure they steal your heart away.

Old Mother Hubbard

Sarah Catherine Martin

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 had none.

She went to the baker’s

To buy him some bread;

But when she came back

The poor dog was dead.

She went to the undertaker’s

But when she came back

The poor dog was laughing.

She went to the fruiter’s

To buy him some fruit;

But when she came back

She went to the tailor’s

To buy him a coat;

But when she came back

He was riding a goat.

She went to the hatter’s

To buy him a hat;

But when she came back

He was feeding the cat.

She went to the barber’s

To buy him a wig;

But when she came back

He was dancing a jig.

She went to the cobbler’s

To buy him some shoes; But when she came back

He was reading the news.

The dame made a curtsy, The dog made a bow;

The dame said, ‘Your servant’, The dog said, ‘Bow-wow’. It’ s raining cats and dogs.

Six Little Ducks

Six little ducks that I once knew,

Fat ones, skinny ones, fair ones too.

But the one little duck with a feather on her back,

She led the others with a quack, quack, quack!

Quack, quack, quack! Quack, quack, quack!

She led the others with a quack, quack, quack!

Down to the river they would go,

Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble

To and fro;

But the one little duck with a feather on her back, She led the others with a quack, quack, quack!

Quack, quack, quack! Quack, quack, quack!

She led the others with a quack, quack, quack!

Home by the river they would come,

Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble

Ho hum hum;

But the one little duck with a feather on her back, She led the others with a quack, quack, quack!

Quack, quack, quack! Quack, quack, quack!

She led the others with a quack, quack, quack!

She led the others with a quack, quack, quack!

Three gray geese in agreen

f

eldgrazing, Gray were the geese andgreen wasthegrazing.

The Months of the Year

January brings the snow, f

February brings the rain, Thaws the frozen lake again.

March brings breezes, loud and shrill,

April brings the primrose sweet, Scatters daisies at our feet.

June brings tulips, lilies, roses, Fills the children’s hands with posies.

Hot July brings cooling showers,

August brings the sheaves of corn, Then the harvest home is borne.

Warm September brings the fruit; Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasant; Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Dull November brings the blast; Then the leaves are whirling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet, f

March winds, Aprilshowers,

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye.

Four and twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened, The birds began to sing. Wasn’t that a dainty dish

To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house, Counting out his money.

The queen was in the parlour, Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes, When down came a blackbird

Old King Cole

Old King Cole was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he; He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl,

Oh, there’s none so rare as can compare

The Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts

She made some tarts,

All on a summer’s day; The Knave of Hearts

He stole those tarts, And took them clean away.

The King of Hearts

Called for the tarts, And beat the knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts

Brought back the tarts, And vowed he’d steal no more.

Hector Protector

Hector Protector was dressed all in green, Hector Protector was sent to the Queen. The Queen did not like him, No more did the King, So Hector Protector was sent back again.

Tick tack two, menda lady ’ s shoe, A red shoe, a red shoe, ticktacktwo.

Hickety, Pickety, My Black Hen

Hickety, pickety, my black hen, She lays eggs for gentlemen; Sometimes nine and sometimes ten, Hickety, pickety, my black hen!

To Market, To Market

To market, to market,

To buy a fat pig.

Home again, home again, Jiggedy jig.

To market, to market,

To buy a fat hog.

Home again, home again, Jiggedy jog.

Higgledy, Piggledy, Pop

Higgledy, piggledy, pop,

The dog has eaten the mop!

The pig’s in a hurry,

Higgledy, piggledy, pop!

There once was a rat for wantofastairs, went down a rope to say hisprayers.

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