FACE, FEET, AND FINGER STORIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1674, 22 December 1883, Page 13

FACE, FEET, AND FINGER STORIES.

The earliest stories told to children have little sequence or plot, and are often emphasised with gentle pantomime, in which the s,enses of sight and touch, as well as of hearing, are called into play. Even the clever and wellillustrated books which circulate among our modern children cannot quite take the place of the living storyteller, who has no scruples in making -the most frightful grimaces and in varying the voice from a squeak to a deep growl. Sometimes, too, a story is rendered more effective if the narrator is on his or her feet, and expresses by rapid or hesitating movement, by sudden starts or abrupt pauses, by hopeful or despairing gestures of limbs or ■body, the various situations and emotions in which the personages find themselves. The story of the " Three Bears " when read cannot come up to its effectiveness when told with the gruff loud voice of the great, big, huge, immense bear, the middling voice of the middling-sized bear, and the wee squeaky voice of the wee tiny bear, whose chair was broken, whose porridge was eaten, and whose bad was invaded by Little Golden-hair. We recollect thinking that the kind auntie who told us th? tale of Red Riding Hood, with such awful pantomime at the close, might possibly grow to be a wolf herself. We think the Scotch and the Germans are particularly strong in childish folk lore. My own earliest recollections are of two decidedly Scotch baby stories, though they may probably have been modified for the use of English children. The first is that of the mother's or nurse's hand working softly up from the little pink toes to the bosom, with this accompanying legend :— There was a little niousie, That wanted a housie, And cime creepie, crawpie, oreepie, crawpie, up to baby'B bosie. The other was played vigorously on the feet, one in each hand of the storyteller. John Smith, fellow fine, Can you shoe this horse of mine ? Yes, master, that I canJust as well as any man ; There's a nail upon tho tae (toe) For to make him speel the brae (climb the ascent) ; There's a nail upon the heel, For to make him gallop weel ; There's a nail, and there's a brod (? bradnail), There's a horsie well shod.

Well shod, well shod, ad finitum, crossing the little feet alternately one on the other while this satisfactory conclusion is come to.

Another story told oa the feet, one in each hand, runs thus : — ' Thia is Willie Walker, and that is Tom Sim, Arid he bade him to a feast, and he bade him, And he stuck him with the spit and he stuck him, And he over him, and ho over him, And he over him, and he over him, Till day broke.

The distinction is kept up between the two he's, which in reading are rather confused by the one foot being Willie Walker and the other Tom Sim.

One of Sir Walter Scott's childish recollections was of a rhyme told with both arms and legs:— Twa wee dories went to the mill, This way and that way ; They took o- lick out ol this wife's poke, And a lick out of that wife's poke, And a leap in tho race and a dip in tho dam, And went home walloping, walloping, wallopiDg, &c.

Of what may be called face stories the best known in all languages is this, which is accompanied by touching each feature — Knock at the door— tho forehead ; Pepp in-the eyes ; Lift the latch— the nose ; Walk in— the mouth.

It is sometimes made more amusing by scraping the feet on the teeth before going down into the open mouth, but it rather spoils the rhyme to say " Scrape your feet." A Scotch variation is pretty :—: — Brow, brow brenty ; Kye, eye winky ; Nose, nose nobby ; Cheek, cheek cherry ; Mouth, mouth merry ; Chin, chin chuk up. This last done with a sudden snap, for which the child prepares by getting the tongue out of the way. Of hand and finger stories there is a great variety, the best known being : — Pat a cake, p?.t a cake, baker's man, ' Yea, I will make it as fast I can ; Prick it, and pat it, and mark it with B, And toas it in the oven for baby and me. This is a German variation : — Pat-a-pat, pat-a-pafc, pottery man, Make me a pitcher, and make me a pan. , Here is a penny to make me a plate, I'm in a hurry, no longer I'll wait. ' Put b, plum-pie in the pantry for me, When I come back I will have it for tea. Pile up a plateful, and pottery man, tat-a-pat. pat-a-pat, fast as yoxi can. There are three touches of Nature in this rhyme — one is that with a penny anything can be bought ; another is the hurry that the child is in for whatever the heart is set on, whether pottery or pie ; the third is that the plate must be filled full. A modern version is, I think, inferior :— Bandy Dan, the baker's man, Baked a cake in an earthen pan, y>nd chridtenej it Kindy-kandy-ban. And when he had made it he marked it with B, Jiut ho did not give a crumb to me ; Though if he had chosen another letter And eaten it all, 'twould have been no better.

There is altogether too much logic in this conclusion.

Of stories told on the fingers the beginning is always made on the thumb working straight through to the little finger. lam almost ashamed to write down the most universally popular one, because all my readers must know it ; but if I were to put down all the good things that the middle finger has been said to have had in my hearing, it would run into half a dozen lines — roast beef, bread and butter, apple-pie, plum-pudding ; or, more comprehensively, breakfast, dinner, supper, or tea. So here is the nursery classic, which cannot be left out in 1 anything like an exhaustive treatment of this important subject :—: — This little pig went to market ; Thi i little pig stayed at home ; This little pig got roast beef ; This little pig had none ; And this little pig wont squeaking (or said squeak, squeals, squeak) all the way home. A Scotch variation runs thus :—: — • This is the man that broke tho barn, This is the man that stole the corn, Thia is the man that sat aud saw, This is the man that ran awa', And poor little pirlie winlde paid for a', paid for a', paid for a. Another Scotch variation is :—: — This little pig says, " I want wheat 1" Thia little pig says, " Where will we get it?' This little pig says, " In father's barn," This little pig says, " But the door s locked," And pirlie wirlie winkio sayj, " I've got tho key."

There is a very pretty German finger story translated in the " Child's Delight," with an illustration of a little girl telling her fingers under a shady tree, with a gaily dressed doll on her lap : — Tell me, fingers on my hand, Whom I love best in all the land. Thumbkiii stands for dear papa, who giveß mo clothes, and toys, and food ; And next there stands my dear mamma, who is always sweet and good ; Then there come 3 biir brother John- he is straight, and strong, and tall ; Next my gentle sister Kate— Dolly last and least of all. Yes, you are my darling Dolly, though you're not so good a* they, For you can't love me in earnest, though I'do lot you in play.

All these finger stories can be played on the toes, and create quite a new sensation. And bed-time stories are often told when the little nightgown is on, and the shoes and stockings are off. — Exchange.

Dogs as well as children were fed on oatmeal, and a lick out of the meal bag or poke was considered acceptable to every living creature. Sometimes the baby was regarded as a wooden vessel in need of "coopering, and the nurse said :—

" Donald Cooper, carle," quoth she, " Can you gird my coggie ?" " Yes, mistress, that I can, As well as anybody 1" When the job was fairly taken in hand the arms were put round the little one instead of of hoops, while the second verse was sung or recited :—

There's one about the mouthie, And one about the body, And one about the leggies, And that's a well-girt coggie.