AN OLD-FASHIONED RHYME.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' Sra,—Probably all your correspondents on this subject are perfectly correct in their recollections. Rhymes of the kind quoted were more or less common property after the beginning of the nineteenth century, whether deliberate piracy or the issue of " trade " books—i.e., books issued by a number of firms in agreement—gave them currency. The firm referred to by "A. C. M." is probably either Harvey and Barton or Barton and Harvey, according to the date : representatives of these names were first associated in 1792 or 1793, and sub- sequently owned two closely related businesses, under Varying titles, till fairly late in the next century : they succeeded in rivalling effectively John Newbery's heirs, Harris and *the atilt existing firm of Griffith and Farren. They may have been the first publishers of the book in which the historical rhyme occurs, even as far back as 1792: I cannot find it in my collection of their books. They certainly had premises in Gracechurch Street (it appears as "Gracious Street" on some title-pages), and on Holborn Hill as well. It is quite as likely that Newberi first published the book, though I cannot readily find any reference to it in Mr. Welsh's Life of him. Miss Morton shows that his successors issued it. If he was the original publisher, "A. G.'s " recollection is the most accurate, for Newbery began to publish in London in 1744. I have a few of his books, but the rhyme is not in them, and others are not easily consulted. At any rate, he or my ancestors, or perhaps Messrs. Dean and Munda.y, were in all probability the first to put it in a book intended for children. Whether it had appeared in earlier works or was handed down, like many mnemonic and nursery rhymes, by oral tradition, it is now impossible to say exactly, except through soriae chance antiquarian discovery. Variant readings, of course, would be due to the changes of history during the book's long life. The older publishers were lax in their method of dating books, and sometimes even deceptive, so that a date like 1832 does not preclude a previous appearance two or three genera-
Previous page
