Marjorie Hare, a teacher at the Blisworth Council School from 1931 to 1966 published this booklet in 1928.
She used it in teaching and made presents of it to worthy pupils.

 

" THE WAYS OF MEN ARE STRANGE."

Close to a wood, on the slope of a hill,
A little brown rabbit sat ;

His eyes were bright and his coat was sleek,

His body both round and fat;

But he scanned the hill with a searching look,

Ere he dared to creep from his hidden nook—

For the ways of men are strange.

The hill was deserted, no danger in sight,
No man with a gun in his hand ;

Wee birdies were nowhere preparing for flight,

But sang in a happy band ;
The scent of flowers was filling the air,

The sky was blue and the day was fair—
But the ways of men are strange.

At the foot of the hill, in a field there grew,
Some lettuce so juicy and green ;

And near to his feast our little friend drew,

Such lettuce he never had seen.
The wrath of the farmer he now would dare,
In spite of the warning board, " Beware ! "-—

But the ways of men are strange.

At home, his mother the tea had spread
In the shade of their snug retreat;
Carrots and parsley on brown bread,
All laid on a cloth so neat.
But her mother-heart now, it filled with fear,

As the hours sped by and the night drew near—

For the ways of men are strange.

And now the story will soon be told,
Of a Bunny kin caught m a trap;
His love of lettuce that made him bold,
Had led to this sad mishap;
And before his terrified Bunny eyes,
Floated visions of stews and rabbit pies—
For the ways of men are strange.

But a kind little elf who had passed just then
Opened the trap-door wide;
He bade little Bunny run back to his glen,
And safely there to hide.
So home to his mother wee Bunnykin flies
Deep thoughts in his heart, and joy in his eyes—
For the ways of men are strange.

 

HOW TO BECOME AN ARTIST,  or
The Rules of Drawing in Verse.

The first and second Drawing Rules,
You very soon may know ;
Just twist them right round from the way
It seems that they should go.

A line an upward course will take,
If it's below the eye,
And nearest to the spectator—
It sometimes runs quite high.

But if that lines above the eye,
Then downward it must go,
From that same point near spectator,
Until it runs quite low.

If on the level of the eye,
That line must be quite straight;
Woe be to those who let it curve—
They meet a dreadful fate.

Now, all lines that are parallel,
To the same point must go ;
And there they vanish out of sight—
Where to, I do not know.

Now, if an object has three sides—
Observe this carefully—
No line in any part of it
Can horizontal be.

And now we come to some object,
Which has four sides or more ;
Start with the nearest vertical line,
Or point, upon the floor.

When drawing things symmetrical,
This fact is brought to light,
A line drawn down the centre first,
Will help you to go right.

'Tis easy now, as you may see,
To recollect each rule ;
A great assistance, you'll admit,
To genius or fool.

 

DOBBIN'S SONG.

Clippety-clop, clippety-clop !
Down the street, past the grocer's shop.
Clickety-clack, clickety-clack !
All the way to market and back.

Jiggety-jig, jiggety-jig !
We may buy apples or else a pig.
Trottety-trot, trottety-trot !
I wish I could tell you, and yet I cannot.

Cloppety-clop, cloppety-clop !
The sun's growing warmer—I wish we could stop!
Clumpety-clump, clumpety-clump!
How I would love a good rest by the pump !

Plunkety-plun, plunkety-plun !
Now market is over, our journey is done.
Clinkety-clain, clinkety-clain !
And soon I'll be home in my stable again.

 

 

MY TEDDY-BEAR.

Our baby has a wooden horse,
With black spots painted on it ;
While Micky has a trumpet gay,
And Susy a new bonnet.
But I have just the lovliest toy,
Which no one else may share ;
I'll tell you what it is—my ownest
Darling Teddy-Bear !

I know he's lost some stuffing,
And he only has one eye ;
But we are just the best of friends,

My Teddy-Bear and I.

Each night when I am tucked in bed,

And Nurse puts out the light,
I take old Teddy in my arms,

And hug him—oh, so tight !

One day I had been very bad,
And so my Nursie said,
" Now in the corner you must stand,
With hands upon your head."
So then I scowled, and, with a frown,
I whispered, " I don't care !—
Because, if you don't love me, Nurse,
There's still my Teddy-Bear"

 

THEODORE MICHAEL AUGUSTE.

Theodore Michael Auguste
Hated the sentence, " You must"
He daily grew thinner,
Would not eat his dinner,
'Cos Mother said, " Yes, dear, you must."

Theodore Michael Augus'
Went out for a ride on a bus :
" Come we must get down,"
Mother said—What a frown !—
Oh, fie, Michael Theo. Augus' !

The Mother of Theodore Mike,
And his Nurse, were both worried alike,
Till they thought of a plan
To cure this young man—
You see they knew Theodore Mike.

For dinner next day, Theo. Guste,
Had plum pie with a very thick crust ;
He said, " Eat it I won't ! "—
Nurse replied " Well, dear, don't ! "—
Oh, how that surprised Theo. Guste !

Now Theodore Michael Auguste,
Is cured, and when he hears, " you must,"

He replies, " Yes, I will ; "

And he's doing it still,

Is Theodore Michael Auguste.

 

 

THE POLAR BEAR.

A Polar Bear lives at the Zoo.
It's not polite
To ask him—though I wonder why
His coat is white.

Perhaps it's 'cos he always lives
Among the snow.
And snowflakes fly all over him

When cold winds blow.

And yet again he often sits
Upon the ice ;
And this may be the reason why

His coat's so nice.

But, after all, perhaps it's just
The way he's made ;
I'd ask him if I did not feel
Quite so afraid.

But my book says that Polar Bears
Just love to bite ;
And so I cannot ask him why

His coat is white.

THE LEOPARD.

The Leopard cannot change one spot—
Though he may try, he just cannot ;
And, somehow, this seems very strange,
For surely he must need a change.

Now, if you chance to pass his cage,
Don't put the poor beast in a rage :
He must grow tired of hearing folks,
About his spots, make silly jokes.

All day he softly treads, pid-pad,
Oh, I am sure he would feel glad,
If someone kind would gently say,
" Leopard, how nice you look to-day ! "

Oh, yes, he would then feel content,
And all his hours would be well spent ;
And I am sure that he would not
Then long to change one single spot.

THE BINGLE-BOO.

The Bingle-Boo lives all alone,
He loves to rush and roar and roam ;
With bread-and-butter in his hand
He chases wildly round the land.

And when the people cry, " Oh, stay ! "
He shakes his head—says, " Not to-day ; "
And then ere you can heave a sigh,
The Bingle-Boo has passed you by.

But where he goes, I cannot tell—
And really that is just as well ;
For if the Bingle-Boo you meet,
He rudely treads upon your feet.

So do not ever try to seek,
To-day, to-morrow or this week.
Because I know that, if you do,
You'll never find the Bingle-Boo.

I  WONDER.

I wonder why the raindrops go
Pit-patter on the sill ?
It's really no use asking nurse—
So I don't think I will.
You see, she doesn't understand
The things that puzzle me ;
Like, " Why do I live in a house,
And oysters in the sea ? "

So when I ask her to explain,
She wisely shakes her head,
And says, " Don't worry me just now—
Besides it's time for bed."
I've thought and thought until my head's

All muddled up inside ;

But I can't find the answer yet,

Although I've tried and tried.

I want to find out many things—
Why clocks are made just so ?

Why birds can't swim, and fish can't fly ?—

Does no one really know ?

But hark ! Who's coming up the stairs
And through the nursery door ?
It's mother !—why I never, never
Thought of that before.
I'll go at once and ask her now,
Before I have my tea ;

I'm certain sure she will explain

The things that puzzle me.

MANNERS.

If you should meet a roaring lion,
Remember, you must be polite ;
Take off your hat, and deeply bow,
And ask, " How do you feel to-night ?"

The lion will then be so surprised,
He'll quite forget it's time for tea ;
And he will not have time to think
That you are fat as fat can be.

Suppose you're sailing in a boat,
And very soon there comes a gale :
If you are blown right overboard,
And you should chance to meet a whale,

Oh, do not show vou feel afraid,
But smile at him most joyfully,

And murmur, " Why it's Mr. Whale ! "
Then he will ask you home to tea.

A tiger's not a pleasant beast,
But how can he do what is right ;
For, after all, to say the least,
He's never learned to be polite.

I really wish that I could teach
These poor beasts what they ought to do ;
Then everyone would daily rush

To pay a visit to the Zoo.

THE PEDLAR-MAN.

I Saw a Pedlar with his pack,
He had it slung upon his back :
And, oh, I wished that he would tell
Of all the things he had to sell.

And so I followed him, unseen,
Till he came to the village green.
He set his pack upon the ground,
And all the people gathered round.

As I drew near I heard him cry
" What do you lack ?—Come now, and buy I "
Knives, scissors, trinkets, ribbons gay—
The Pedlar can please all to-day."

I thought, " Oh, I will have a knife,
Then I'll be happy all my life.
But though the Pedlar's wares were many,
Like Simon, I had not a penny."

DOROTHY KATE

Before it's too late—
I'll tell you the fate—
Of Dorothy Kate,
Who would say, " I hate"

She said, " I hate soup !
"I hate my new hoop !
I just hate to stoop
To tie my shoe-loop ! "

Her shoes came undone,
Of buttons she'd none.
"Oh, see what you've done!"
Cried everyone.

Then Kate hung her head—
" I'm sorry," she said,
And Dorothy Kate
Stopped saying, " I hate."