3 | Booful Rhymes | Colly

‘I'd like to welcome you all to my farm'
Said Booful the cat, oozing with charm

‘And a day such as this
With company so rich'
Booful purrs deeply with a whisker's twitch

‘I have set you a task which I know you'll adore
Stuffed with curious conundrums ready in store

I've threaded some puzzles through these gallery barns
And tied them to tools and the trades of my farm

You'll need eyes broad, deep and wide
So thinking caps on, so no clues can hide

And with a reward for every keyword find
I've laid down a tune, a song, a rhyme

Which you'll have heard before and will love again
As the barns' time turns inside a looking glass lens

But before our journey through my house begins
I'd request you do a couple of brilliant things

First let your eyes do all the walking
Fingers are for pointing rather than touching

The tools in my barn are old and worn
And the last thing I'd want is for your clothes to get torn

The second is to sing with the rhymes you find
Grab a space on the floor to sit and shine

Sing the songs twice, the first just a refresher
For a double song sung, is just so much the better

So now I've talked for too long a time'
Said Booful the cat in his deep purring chime

‘Gather in your groups and stick close by
The answers are for your team, not for other prying eyes

And when all the six puzzles are complete
We'll meet back here for the end of my treat'

(Everyone into their groups to read the first clue and follow the instructions)

Note – this is a great moment to go through the six groups and ask each in turn to read their first clue out loud, they should all have a different one, if not then don't worry, it'll all be fine but if you can swap one group to another version of the same story it will be better.

Here is a song for tiny ears
A rhyme which straddles the arc of the years

And still loved today by young and old
‘Now sing gently with me' said Booful the bold

There was an old woman tossed up in a basket
Seventeen times as high as the moon
Where she was going I couldn't but ask it
For in her hand she carried a broom

Old woman old woman old woman said I
Where are you going up so high?
To brush the cobwebs off the sky
May I go with you? Aye by-and-by

And since we have time
Here is a second rhyme

Four and twenty tailors
Went to catch a snail
The bravest one amongst them
dared not touch her tail
she put out her horns
like a little Kyloe cow
Run tailors run
Or she'll catch you even now

And Booful said
‘Now there's enough of that beautiful singing here
Let's find the next rhyme to tickle my ear'

Here is a song for tiny ears
A rhyme which straddles the arc of the years

And still loved today by young and old
‘Now sing gently with me' said Booful the bold

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And doesn't know where to find them
Leave them alone and they'll come home
Bringing their tails behind them

Little Bo Peep fell fast asleep
And dreamt she heard them bleating
But when she awoke she found it a joke
For they were still a-fleeting

Then up she took her little crook
Determined for to find them
She found them indeed but it made her heart bleed
For they'd left their tails behind them

It happened one day, as Bo Peep did stray
Into a meadow hard by
There she espied their tails side by side
All hung on a tree to dry

She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye
And over the hillocks went rambling
And tried what she could as a shepherdess should
To tack each again to its lambkin

And Booful said
‘Now there's enough of that beautiful singing here
Let's find the next rhyme to tickle my ear'

Here is a song for tiny ears
A rhyme which straddles the arc of the years

And still loved today by young and old
‘Now sing gently with me' said Booful the bold

Hey diddle diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon

And since we have time
Here is a second rhyme

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey
Along came a spider who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away!

And Booful said
‘Now there's enough of that beautiful singing here
Let's find the next rhyme to tickle my ear'

Here is a song for tiny ears
A rhyme which straddles the arc of the years

And still loved today by young and old
‘Now sing gently with me' said Booful the bold

One two three four five
Once I caught a fish alive
Six seven eight nine ten
Then I let it go again
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on my right

And since we have time
Here is a second rhyme

Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes

And Booful said
‘Now there's enough of that beautiful singing here
Let's find the next rhyme to tickle my ear'

Here is a song for tiny ears
A rhyme which straddles the arc of the years

And still loved today by young and old
‘Now sing gently with me' said Booful the bold

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?

The king was in his counting house counting out his money
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

And Booful said
‘Now there's enough of that beautiful singing here
Let's find the next rhyme to tickle my ear'

Here is a song for tiny ears
A rhyme which straddles the arc of the years

And still loved today by young and old
‘Now sing gently with me' said Booful the bold

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock

And since we have time
Here is a second rhyme

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after

Up Jack got, and home did trot
As fast as he could caper
He went to bed to mend his head
With vinegar and brown paper

And Booful said
‘Now there's enough of that beautiful singing here
Let's find the next rhyme to tickle my ear'

Sing, sing, what shall I sing?
The cat's run away with the pudding string
Do, do, what shall I do?
The cat has bitten it quite in two

And Booful listens to the voices so sweet
And purrs in contentment now your trail is complete
But some of the groups are still finding their way
So perhaps one or two more poems today

How many miles to Babylon?
Three score miles and ten
Can I get there by candlelight?
Yes, and back again
If your heels are nimble and light
You will get there by candlelight

And one more to see us through

Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir yes sir
Three bags full
One for the master
One for the dame
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane

And if the other groups are still to attend
Then scroll up the list to read the rhymes again

Here are some questions about the story, read and discuss whilst some of the other groups finish and catch up.

Q – Which was your favourite rhyme and how did it fit into the gallery?

Q – Is there a nursery rhyme which should have been included that links to the museum?