The study of folk-lore has given a new interest to much that seemed insignificant and trivial. Among the unheeded possessions of the past that have gained a fresh value are nursery rhymes. A nursery rhyme I take to be a rhyme that was passed on by word of mouth and taught to children before it was set down in writing and put into print. The use of the term in this application goes back to the early part of the nineteenth century. In 1834 John Gawler, afterwards Bellenden Ker, published the first volume of his _Essay on the Archaiology of Popular English Phrases and Nursery Rhymes_, a fanciful production. Prior to this time nursery rhymes were usually spoken of as nursery songs. The interest…
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