Chapter 1 of 2 · 3976 words · ~20 min read

Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes

1. Certain typographic errors were silently corrected.

2. Illustrations moved next to Song-titles, were contextually captioned.

3. The text version is coded for italics and the like mark-ups i.e.,

(a) italics are indicated thus _italic_;

(b) small-caps are indicated thus +CAPS+;

Elfin Songs of Sunland

ELFIN SONGS OF SUNLAND

BY CHARLES KEELER

[Illustration]

DECORATIONS +BY+ LOUISE KEELER

FOURTH EDITION

[Illustration]

LIVE OAK PUBLISHING COMPANY

Berkeley California

Decorations by LOUISE KEELER

DEDICATION

Elfin songs of sunland, Frolicland and funland; Little rhymes of child hours, Wood elves and wild flowers; Jingles of the forest green, Songs for little Merodine!

[Illustration: Merodine]

[Illustration: Boy with owl]

NAMES OF THE SONGS

PAGE

_I. A RING AROUND OF PLAYTIME_

+COME AWAY CHILDREN+ 1

+HAND-ORGAN MAN+ 3

+POPPING CORN+ 5

+THE BAKER MAN+ 7

+TOPS+ 9

+THE KITE+ 11

+THE SEE-SAW+ 13

+SOAP BUBBLES+ 14

+THE BRASS BAND+ 15

+THE MERRY-GO-ROUND+ 17

+THE OVERLAND FLYER+ 19

+SPORTS+ 21

+THE SWIMMING POOL+ 22

+A SONG OF LEONARDE+ 24

_II. SONGS OF THE WILDWOOD_

+A CHILD’S BOOK+ 27

+A LESSON+ 28

+A WINTER WALK+ 29

+WINTER RAIN IN CALIFORNIA+ 30

+MR. WIND+ 32

+WILD-WOOD BOGIES+ 34

+THE COYOTE+ 36

+THE HUMMINGBIRD+ 38

+THE ROADRUNNER+ 40

+THE BURROWING OWL+ 42

+THE CRESTED JAY+ 44

+TROUBLE IN THE TREES+ 46

+THE SQUIRREL+ 48

+THE POLLIWOG THAT LOST ITS TAIL+ 50

+THE HORNED TOAD+ 52

+A FAIRY IN A FLOWER+ 53

+BUTTERCUP+ 55

+THE COLUMBINE+ 56

+THE LEOPARD LILY+ 57

+JOHNNY JUMP-UP+ 58

+SONG OF THE BROWN LILY+ 59

+SHOOTING STAR FLOWERS+ 60

+THE SCARLET LARKSPUR+ 61

+THE TRILLIUM+ 62

+BABY BLUE-EYES+ 63

+WHO KNOWS ROSALIE+ 64

+TO A WILD ROSE+ 65

+THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES+ 66

_III. QUIPS AND CRANKS_

+MY AUNTIE+ 71

+THE BEAR HUNTER+ 73

+TRYING TO PLAY+ 74

+MAGGIE MULDOON+ 75

+THE BOOBITY BUMPKIN+ 76

+FARMER JONES’ GOAT+ 77

+POOR MR. MIDAS+ 78

+THREE WISE MEN+ 79

+A GOBBLER IN TROUBLE+ 80

+THE TALE OF A POOR LITTLE WORM+ 82

_IV. RHYMES FOR TODDLERS_

+PUSSY WHITE+ 87

+CHINA DOLLS+ 88

+DOLLIE’S LULLABY+ 90

+BABY LIFE+ 92

+LITTLE BROTHER+ 93

+PLAYING HORSE+ 94

+MY DONKEY+ 95

+BABY IN THE BARNYARD+ 96

+BABY’S GOOD-NIGHT+ 98

+DOGS+ 100

+MY ANIMALS+ 101

_V. BROWN BABY BALLADS_

+SIX LITTLE ESKIMO+ 105

+PICCANINNY LULLABY+ 107

+THE MEXICAN BABIES+ 109

+THE LITTLE PIUTE+ 111

+THE HONOLULU BOY+ 113

+A SAMOA SLEEPY-SONG+ 114

A RING AROUND OF PLAYTIME

[Illustration: Elfin Songs of Sunland]

COME AWAY CHILDREN

COME away children, frisk along with me, For I’ll be the piper and merry will we be; With laughter and dancing and sports to make us gay, O there’s sunshine and there’s singing--come away, come away!

Come away children, leave the town behind; Follow me to Happy-land and see what we shall find, Where the flowers smile to see you and the birdies trill and play Just because the sun is shining--come away, come away!

Come away children, I’ll pipe an elfin tune And we’ll play that we are fairies dancing in the summer moon; We’ll pretend that we are flowers in the carnival of May If you’ll join the merry crew and come away, come away!

HAND-ORGAN MAN

HAND-ORGAN MAN, O hand-organ man, Grind out the music as fast as you can, With a tum-turi tum-turi hippity hay, And a red-coated monkey to frolic and play.

The organ rings merrily on down the street, And the very policeman steps out to your beat, When, sucking her stick of molasses, comes Jennie To give that impertinent monkey a penny.

O toodle de toodle de, hand-organ grinder, No man in the city to children is kinder, And my little kid brother just played not to care When the monkey jumped on him and grabbed at his hair.

POPPING CORN

COME, you merry little fellows, Poke the coals and blow the bellows; Here’s the popper, shell the corn, And let it pop this winter morn.

Pop-a-tee-pop-pop-pop! See the kernels skip and hop, See them puff out full and white, Hear them crackle in affright.

Now shake, shake, shake, Till your hands and faces bake; Tip it, turn it, Or you’ll burn it, And a dreadful muss you’ll make.

Now it’s done we’ll have a feast; Smallest hands must take the least! Hot and crisp and white and sweet,-- Isn’t this a jolly treat!

[Illustration: Around the fire popping corn]

THE BAKER MAN

O WHO do you think is the baker man, And how do you think he makes his cake? He mixes his dough in an old tin can And puts it out in the sun to bake. He pats pats pats at his little mud pies; He rounds them and rolls them and looks so wise.

The baker man is my brother Ned, And out in the garden he’s working away, Right by the scarlet geranium bed, And his hands and his face are just covered with clay, As he pats pats pats at his little mud pies; As he rounds them and rolls them and looks so wise.

[Illustration: Ned making mud pies in the garden]

TOPS

HOW would you like to be a top, To be made to spin till you couldn’t stop;-- To be pitched head first from a coil of string, To be made to dance till you sigh and swing?

There’s the top that is whipped and the top with a peg That gouges its brother and leaves him to beg; There’s the musical top with holes in its side, That is said to have played till it fell down and died.

But of all the tops that ever were spun, The biggest are those of the old daddy Sun; And I’ll wager he has just the jolliest sport With the Earth and with Saturn and tops of that sort.

[Illustration: Top spins from a coil of string]

THE KITE

BLOW, wind, blow, wind, Fly, kite, fly! On and on you go, wind, Up, kite, high!

Out sweeps your tail, kite, Tug on the string; Far away you sail, kite, Proudly you swing.

If I were like you, kite, One white wing, With nothing else to do, kite, But tug upon the string.

I’d sail up from town, kite, To see the moon’s back, And then slide down, kite, The Milky-Way’s track.

[Illustration: Flying a kite]

THE SEE-SAW

O BALANCE the ladder atop of the rail, And up we go, down we go, all in a gale, Singing like birds as we teeter away, Bouncing and jouncing each other in play.

You are Queen Sally and I am King Peter, And where are we going astride of our teeter? Riding to fairyland, over the moon. Up we go,--down!--and we’ll be there soon.

SOAP BUBBLES

FLUBBLETY, flopplety, bubble and spatter, Soap-suds and water and clay-pipes and chatter! Puff little cheeklets and blow, blow, blow! Look at the bubbles beginning to grow!

O what a beauty, all purple and pink! Whiff! it has vanished before you can think! Now look at this one with clouds and a tree Swimming about in a gold-lighted sea!

Hurrah, it is floating away through the air! Car of the fairies was never more fair. Zip comes a goblin and clips it away! What will the fairy who rode in it say?

THE BRASS BAND

IT makes me feel so fine and gay When drums are beat and bugles play; I think I’d like to be a king And rule the earth and everything.

The big bass-drum Goes dum, dum, dum, The horns play tweedle dee, And every toot and every beat Just catches hold of my two feet And makes them run away from me. And this is what I hear them say As down the street they march away: Te dum ratta dum, ratta dum, dum dee, Te dum, ratta dum, shout hurrah boys with me! Tweedle twee twee twee, tweedle anything you can, For I’m going to be a soldier when I get to be a man!

[Illustration: I’m going to be a soldier when I get to be a man]

THE MERRY-GO-ROUND

STAND still, Mr. Horse, while I jump on your back To ride in the ring of the whirligig’s track. The boys and girls shout as the man cries, “Hold fast.” The music is playing--we’re started at last!

O faster and faster we rock and we spin Around, keeping time to the musical din, Then I pull on my reins and cry “Whoa!” to the horse, For that is the right way to stop him, of course.

But we go and we go and we don’t mind a pin If we end where we started and have to begin On the merry-go-round, the merry-go-round-- ’Tis the best kind of travel I ever have found!

THE OVERLAND FLYER

TO-TOO! to-too! Ka-ding, ka-dong! Down the mole comes the flyer a-zipping along,-- Smoke clouds panting and hissing of steam, Rattling of rails and a sudden scream!

The iron dragon snorts up to the station, The proudest beast in the wide creation; Fed on fire it puffs and blows, Cyclops-eyed like a fiend it glows.

We kiss our hands to the friends by the Bay, On the dragon’s tail we are whisked away, And faster we whiz by the glistening shore,-- Towns spin past as we ride with a roar.

Now the iron throat is gasping astrain As the beast up the mountains is dragging his train. O where are you taking us, monster of steel? Out in the darkness the pine-trees reel!

Over the desert we swing and fly, Towns and prairies are flashing by; When, lo! to your castle you plunge in the night,-- The great walls tower in ghostly light.

Does a princess live in that tall black tower? Are all of the people here under your power? I never was certain that dragons were true Till I got on your tail and rode with you!

SPORTS

SNAP-the-whip and tug-of-war-- What is all this tussle for? Hare-and-hounds and prisoners-base, Just to make you puff and race!

Balls to bat and balls to kick Make you nimble, make you quick; And anyhow I like to play, So come on boys,--hurray, hurray!

THE SWIMMING POOL

WE boys love to swim on a hot summer day In the pool where the pond-lilies float; There’s Willie and Frankie and Bennie and Jay Adrift in a leaky old boat.

As Ben splashes under, a kingfisher cries: “You’ll frighten my fish with your noise,” While the frog on the lily-pad croaks in surprise: “What awkward great creatures are boys!”

The poor little catfish way down in the mud Can’t imagine what’s coming its way As Frank dives head-first with a splash and a thud, Close followed by Willie and Jay.

Then to lie in the sand when the swimming is done, While the skater-bugs dance on the stream! Just a tickle of wind and a shower of sun And a sigh of content as we dream!

A SONG OF LEONARDE

SUNSHINE boy of the world of play, Laughing out in the wind away, Singing free as a song-bird wild,-- O that is the way of my elfin child!

Love in the heart thro’ the day-bright hours, Joy on the lips like the smiling flowers, Peace on the face when the night is starred And sleep steals over my Leonarde.

SONGS OF THE WILDWOOD

A CHILD’S BOOK

THERE are many good books, my child, But the best of them all for you Is the book that is hid in the greenwood wild, All bound in a cover of blue.

’Tis the book of the birds and the bees, Of the flowers and the fish in the brook; You may learn how to read if you go to the trees And open your eyes and look.

[Illustration: A child holds a book]

A LESSON

TELL me little spider, Who taught you how to spin? Tell me little minnow, How you learned to use your fin?

Tell me little swallow, Who taught you how to fly? And they each said, “It is easy If you only try and try.”

[Illustration: How? It is easy if you try]

A WINTER WALK

IN the Berkeley Hills for miles away I went a-roaming one winter’s day, And what do you think I saw, my dear? A place where the sky came down to the hill, And a big white cloud on the fresh green grass, And bright red berries my basket to fill, And mustard that grew in a golden mass,-- All on a winter’s day, my dear!

WINTER RAIN IN CALIFORNIA

SEE the little drops of rain, Falling, falling, Softly calling Flowers back to life again.

First the blades of grass appear, Upward creeping, Shyly peeping O’er the meadow far and near.

Then the mustard spreads its gold,-- Opes its flowers To the showers, Little heeding winter’s cold.

Poppies’ velvet petals glow; Each new-comer Thinks ’tis summer, Though the winter breezes blow.

And the little drops of rain, Softly falling Still are calling Flowers forth on hill and plain.

MR. WIND

O APRIL fields are fair to see-- Tum tiddle tum, tiddle tum tum tee! The grass and the snow play at hide and seek, And the sun ’round the rim of a cloud will peek; O fie and fiddle and ha ha he!

Up came an old man as I sang my song, With a “Hi, Johnnie, hi; skip along, skip along!” “And who are you, sir?” said I; and quoth he: “Mr. Wind is my name, hop along with me”; So we skipped and we hopped along long long.

O his beard was towsled, his hair blew free-- Tum tiddle tum; little matter to me! For he whistled and piped as we danced away, And the best of companions I found him in play-- O fie and fiddle and ha ha he!

WILD WOOD BOGIES

HIST little toddlekins, whisk and away! Now is the time for the bogies to play; Patter of foot-pads and eyes brightly glowing, Noses that sniffle the night breezes blowing, Bogies are romping the wildwood in glee, Frisking and scampering, nimble and free.

Who are the velvet-foot, fire-eyed bogies? Coons and coyotes and wild woodland roguies! Playing at night-time when baby’s asleep; Whisk! did you see that ghost jack-rabbit leap? “Boo!” and “Boo-hoo!” cries the fluffy horned-owl, And the wolf in the pine-woods calls back with a howl.

The panther slinks on in the trail of the deer, The wood-rats have run to their tunnels in fear, And down the steep mountain with snuffling and shuffling A clumsy she-bear with her cubbies is scuffling; For night is the time for the bogies to roam,-- Hist, little toddlekins, fly to your home!

THE COYOTE

CROUCHING in his monkish gray, Crunching at his dying prey, Furtive eyes and pricking ears, Haunted by a hundred fears!-- Yet the cotton-tail trembles to see him pass With his pat pat patter on the parching grass!

Lolling tongue and panting sides,-- ’Mid the tawny grass he hides. Lowered is his bushy tail, Keen of snout he sniffs the trail; But he yelps and howls like a mad thing at night, With his kai yi yi in the moon’s dim light.

Friendless prowler, sage-brush thief, Hunted rover, desert chief! Even you who friendless roam Have a loving mate at home,-- And her little ones yelp in their lair with delight As she pat pat patters anear through the night.

[Illustration: A coyote]

THE HUMMINGBIRD

BUZ-Z! whir-r!--a flash and away! A midget bejeweled ’mid flowers at play! A snip of a birdling, the blossom-bells’ king, A waif of the sun-beams on quivering wing!

O prince of the fairies, O pigmy of fire, Will nothing those brave little wings of yours tire? You follow the flowers from southern lands sunny, You pry amid petals all summer for honey.

Now rest on a twig, tiny flowerland sprite, Your dear little lady sits near in delight; In a wee felted basket she lovingly huddles,-- Two dots of white eggs to her warm breast she cuddles!

Whiz-z! whiff! off to your flowers! Buzz ’mid the perfume of jasmine bowers! Chatter and chirrup, my king of the fays, And laugh at the song that I sing in your praise.

[Illustration: A hummingbird]

THE ROAD-RUNNER

A GRAY-STREAKED road-runner scurrying by In a sage-brush valley, I happened to spy,-- Long-legged and thin-billed, with a stretched-out tail, And a comical body as thin as a rail!

Oh surely, I thought, what a sad slim fowl Compared with his neighbor the well-fed owl! Till he pounced on a snake with a rapturous squeak, And rapped the poor reptile a clip with his beak.

Then why is he nothing but feathers and skin? Is it running so fast that has worn him so thin? Just think what would happen, my lad, to you, If you ran all day like a ground cuckoo.

[Illustration: A road-runner]

THE BURROWING OWL

MY blinkety owlet atop of your mound, Is your mate tucked away in a hole in the ground? You bare-footed gnome in your striped suit of dun, With your fluffy white babies that bask in the sun!

See her bobbing and blinking As if she were thinking Of the poor lady cricket That chirps in the thicket!

With a snap and a chatter Mrs. Owlet is at her, And whisk! she is beaten And crunched up and eaten!-- That poor lady cricket That chirped in the thicket!

My blinkety owlet, go down in your hole, And sleep in your nest like a squirrel or mole! Who’d think that a bird could have toes for a trowel To grub in the ground like a burrowing owl!

THE CRESTED JAY

THE jay is a jovial bird,--heigh-ho! He chatters all day In a frolicsome way With the murmuring breezes that blow,--heigh-ho!

Hear him noisily call From a red-wood tree tall To his mate in the opposite tree, heigh-ho! Saying: “How do you do?” As his top-knot of blue Is raised as polite as can be,--heigh-ho!

Oh impudent jay With your plumage so gay And your manners so jaunty and free,--heigh-ho! How little you guessed When you robbed the wren’s nest, That any stray fellow would see,--heigh-ho!

[Illustration: Any stray fellow would see]

TROUBLE IN THE TREES

THE birds had a meeting,-- The owl was judge; But a jay came along And said ’twas all fudge.

With a quill in his ear The shore-lark was clerk; The wren was a witness, And how she did perk!

The king-bird was sheriff And brought in the shrike, When a goldfinch could scarcely Conceal her dislike.

What talking and squawking, What whetting of bills! What ruffling of feathers, What bristling of quills!

Till a fox heard the chatter And pounced on the jay, When swallows and sparrows And all flew away!

[Illustration: An owl]

THE SQUIRREL

IT must be risky To frolic so frisky Up in a swaying tree; To scamper and skip On a pine tree’s tip As you chatter away at me!

Now what’s your hurry, You wood-imp furry, In your snug little suit of gray? You romp and rolic With fun and frolic Like wind with the leaves at play.

O nervous nixie With ways so trixie, Fidgety sprite so frail! Sit up and munch At your pine-nut lunch In the shade of your bushy tail!

[Illustration: A squirrel munching a pine-nut]

THE POLLIWOG THAT LOST ITS TAIL

A WIGGLY little polliwog lived in a pool On the edge of a stream where the water was cool, Till one day he turned very green and pale For he found that he surely was losing his tail, And legs were sprouting and he caught the croup As he crawled up the bank with a hoarse, “Ge-loup! Ca-thump, ca-lump, ca-chug, ca-chook!

Oh what can have happened?” he asked with a croak; “This seems like a regular bull-frog joke.” Then he stretched his legs for a mighty jump, And right in the water he landed ka-plump; Which made him smile from ear to ear, For he felt so very delightfully queer As he called to his mate, “I’m a frog, my dear!”

[Illustration: Frog stretches his legs for a mighty jump]

THE HORNED TOAD

HORNYKINS, Hornykins, open your eye, For close to your nose is a blue-bottle fly! Toadykins ruffle your spines and your frills And scurry away on the rocks to the hills!

Little squat goblin, all bristling with spikes, Flattened-out lizard that nobody likes, Stone-colored hermit of sage-brush and sand, You’re the drollest hobgoblin of no-baby’s land!

[Illustration: Horned toad]

A FAIRY IN A FLOWER

A TINY gold fairy flew into a flower One morning at cock-crow, to hide from a shower; The drops fell a patter upon his tent roof, But what did it matter while leaves were rain proof?

He found in the flower fine honey to eat; “So-so,” sang the fairy, “the food here is sweet! No prince in his palace fares better than I, Alone in my chalice with storms blowing by!”

Now what do you think is the name of this fairy Who hid from the shower in lily-bell airy? His coat is bright yellow, black banded with fuzz;-- This bumble-bee gay with his musical buzz!

BUTTERCUP

BUTTERCUP, buttercup, Why don’t you hurry up Out of the ground so cold! With your little coat yellow, You dear little fellow, Why doesn’t your blossom unfold?

[Illustration: Waiting for the buttercup blossom to unfold]

THE COLUMBINE

FIVE doves the fairies took away To the deep dark wood one summer day, And they hung them up on a slender spray,-- Heigh-ho for the columbine!

Red and gold were the doves they took; With heads outstretched the birdlings shook, Till the fairies sang them to sleep by the brook,-- Heigh-ho for the columbine!

THE LEOPARD LILY

IN the forest stilly The leopard lily Sways on her stem so stately; Tall as a child In the mountains wild, She stands and nods sedately.

Orange and red Is her dappled head And her anthers brown are a-quiver; O fie on you, lily, So vain and silly To look at yourself in the river!

JOHNNY JUMP-UP

AS I walked under a black-oak tree A little Johnny Jump-up laughed at me. Here you yellow elf, Go and laugh to yourself, Or wink at the cricket that chirps on your knee. Ha ha ha! he he he! Merry Johnny Jump-up, wild and free!

SONG OF THE BROWN LILY

FAIRY bells of green and brown Hanging high in a fairy town, With cloth of gold beneath them spread And mossy nooks for the fairies’ bed!

Who is it rings the fairy bells, Ding dong! ding dong! down in the dells! Who is it flits to the fairies’ ball? The bee and the beetle have heard their call, Ding dong! ding dong! down in the dells!

SHOOTING STAR FLOWERS

STARS of childhood, Stars of the wildwood, Shooting stars of purple and pink, Stars that hang in trembling showers, Stars of spring that are more than flowers, Swinging blithe at the cañon’s brink!

Birds are playing Above you, swaying, Beloved stars of the woodland spring! Children shout and sing when they see you, And where is the fairy who dares to free you, Joyous spirits that sway and swing!

THE SCARLET LARKSPUR

MERRY wee red-coats were frisking and dancing Down in the rocky glen, And the jolly old sun o’er the mountains was glancing At the merry wee red-coated men.

Each little man had a horn on his head, And the old sun laughed as he got out of bed! The wind played a tune And they danced until noon, And, “A jolly good time we’ve had,” they said.

THE TRILLIUM