Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Tales of England

Note from the Editor:James Orchard Halliwell wrote and published this book in England, in 1853, and I am humbly grateful to be able to bring it to a new generation of children, more than a century and a half later. I have maintained the original words, apelling, punctuation, and grammar, so far as I have been able, using multiple digital copies of the text as my guides. The spacing in this edition is not precisely the same as in Mr. Halliwell’s edition, and I have tried to keep his intent in mind, when making judgement calls about how text should be spaced, both horizonally, across the page, and vertically. I hope the reader will forgive slight diffeences in the use of white space between the 1853 edition and this one.It is my belief that nursery rhymes, nursery tales, riddles, proverbs, and other forms of children’s folklore should be preserved, so that our children and their descendants will remember and learn from that which folklorists, like Mr. Halliwell, were at some pains to preserve in their own days. These rhymes and tales contain bits and fragments of many things experienced by children of centuries past, including their lifeways, customs, traditions, history, and religion. Mr. Halliwell provided, in this book, a wealth of annotation and discussion, to help readers understand and connect more deeply with the rhymes and tales contained herein. I hope you, the reader of this book, will carry this priceless folklore on to future generations, so that its riches will never be lost.Your humble editor,Debbie BarryLapeer, Michigan, January 13, 2023 Read more