Little Dame Crump, with her little hair broom
One morning was sweeping her little bedroom,
Where, casting her little gray eyes on the ground
In a snug little corner, a penny she found.
“Odds bobs!” cried the dame, while she stared with surprise;
How lucky I am, bless my heart, what a prize!
To market I’ll go and a pig I will buy,
And Little John Gubbins shall make him a sty.”
So she washed her face clean, and put on her gown,
Then locked up her house and set off for the town.
Where to market she went, and a bargain she made,
For a little white pig the penny she paid.
When she purchased the pig she was puzzled to know
How they both should get home if the pig would not go;
So, fearing the piggy might play her a trick,
She drove him along with a little crab stick,
Piggy ran till he came to the foot of a hill,
Where a little bridge stood o’er the stream of a mill,
When he grunted and squealed and no further would go,
O, fie, little pig, to serve little dame so!
Now she went to the mill where she borrowed a sack,
Which she popped the pig in and took on her back,
Piggy cried to get out, but the little dame said,
“If you won’t go by fair means, you then must be made.”
She soon to the end of her journey was come,
And was mightily pleased when she got piggy home,
So she carried the pit to his nice little sty,
And made him a bed of clean straw, snug and dry.
With a handful of peas little pig she then fed,
Then she put on her nightcap and went into bed,
Having first said her prayers, then she put out the light,
And being quite tired, we’ll bid her good night.
G.W.T.
