The Schools’ Collection

This is a collection of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in Ireland in the 1930s. More information

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  1. Riddles

    CBÉS 0137B

    Page 23_012

    dumpty sat on the wall humpty dumpty got a great fall all the kings horses and all the kings men couldent put humpty dumpty together again. an egg.
    Kiddy haddy in the puddle with a green dress and a white petti coat. A Rush
    A jumper of ditches a lepper of thorns a little brown cow with a pair of leather horns. a hair Eight arms no hand one foot but cannot
  2. Tomhaiseanna

    CBÉS 0583

    Page 124

    11. It is red and it is blue and valuable green and the King cannot come at it no more than the Queen?
    Ans: A rainbow
    Humpty dumpty sat on a wall.
    Humpty dumpty got a great fall. All the King's horses, all the King's men
  3. Tales about Animals

    CBÉS 0904

    Page 109

    Once upon a time there was a goat who had 7 kids, they lived in a little hut. The kids names were Humpty, Stumpty, lumpty, Bumpty, Crumpty, Fumpty Rumpty. The Mother goat used to go out every day for food for the kids. One day she went out and left the 7 young ones inside. When she was locking the door she locked it from the outside and she put the key in under it. She told them not to attempt to open the door for anyone except herself. They said they would'nt that they'd know her voice. She went off and about half an hour after she leaving a bear came to the door of the hut and knocked at it. They asked who was there and the bear said to open the door that it was their "mother". Humpty went to open the door and the bear came in. The kids went here and there but everyone of them was caught except lumpty who hid in the clock. When the goat came home she was surprized to see the door opened. She went in and she called her children and when she called "lumpty" he answered her and told her that he was in the clock. She let him out of his hiding place and asked him where his brothers and sisters were and he said a bear killed them and that he did not know where he was gone to. The old goat got a scissors and a needle &
  4. Riddles

    CBÉS 1013

    Page 334

    (1) Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
    Humpty Dumbty had a great fall,
    All the king's horses and all the king's men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again?
    Ans. Humpty Dumpty is an egg.
    (2) I have a wee house and it would not hold a mouse and it has as many windows as the king's big house?
    Ans. A Timble.
    (3) Patch upon patch, without any stitches. Riddles me that, and I will buy you a pair of breeches?
    Ans. A Cabbage.
    (4) Whats full and holds more?
    Ans. A pot of potatoes holds water
    (5) What get bigger the more you take of it?
    Ans. A man making a well.
    (6) What is it always walks with its head down?
    Ans. A nail in a man's boot
    (7) Headed like a thimble, tailed like a rat. You can guess for ever but you can't guess that?
    Ans. A pipe
    (8) What goes round the house and round the house and stands in the corner at night?
    Ans. The brush.
  5. (no title)

    A head like a thimble, a tail like a rat.

    CBÉS 0054

    Page 0030

    A head like a thimble, a tail like a rat. You may guess for ever, but you would not guess that? Answer: A pipe.
    I have a little house and a mouse would not fit in it, and all the men in town would not count all the windows in it? A thimble.
    Riddle me, riddle me, the farmer's fiddle; alive in both ends and dead in the middle? A man ploughing.
    Around the wood and around the wood but never gets into the wood? The bark of a tree.
    I went up the hill and down the hill and carried the hill on my shoulder? A ladder.
    I went to the wood and got it. I sat down to poke for it and I brought it home because I could not find it? A thorn in my foot.
    As round as an apple as deep as a cup and all the men in Derry would not pull it up? A spring well.
    Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty got a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men would not put Humpty Dumpty together again? an egg
  6. Riddles

    CBÉS 0078

    Page 015

    her daughter sat an I'd be blamed to tell her name and that three times I've told the same.
    Answer Ann
    23. How many wells would make a river
    Answer One, if it were long enough
    24. How many poles would reach the sky
    Answer One, if it were long enough
    25. As black as soot but soot it isn't as white as snow but snow it isn't, it hops on the road like a marble stone but a marble stone it isn't
    Answer A magpie
    26.Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall. All the kings horses and all the kings men wouldn't put Humpty together again.
    Answer An egg
  7. Riddles

    CBÉS 0137B

    Page 31_029

    Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
    Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
    All the kings horses and all the king's men,
    Couldn't put Humpty together again.
    An egg broken.
    As round as an apple, as deep as a cup, all the king's horses couldn't pull it up.
    A well.
    In came two legs hung up one leg sat on three legs,
    In came four legs took down one leg up rose two legs took up three legs and knocked the four legs down.
    A leg of meat.
  8. Tomhaiseanna

    CBÉS 0141

    Page 446

    And eating nothing at all? A lamp.
    8 What goes round the wood, and round the wood, and never gets into the wood? The bark of the tree.
    9. "Humpty Dumpty" sat on the wall,
    "Humpty Dumpty" got a great fall,
    And all the King's horses and all the King's men,
    Could not put "Humpty Dumpty" together again? An Egg.
    10 A wee wee pony, grey and slim,
    A long white flowing tail on him,
    I know a man with grassy thumbs
    Driving him all through the wood.
    A needle and thread
  9. Riddles

    CBÉS 0143

    Page 297

    Riddles
    (1) Red and white and emerald and green, and the King can not touch it no more than the Queen?
    Ans. a Rainbow
    (2) What has a neck and a body but nothing else?
    Ans. a Bottle
    (3) What is more than holes in a riddle?
    Ans. Learners
    (4) Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty got a great fall, and all the King's horses and all the King's men could not pull Humpty Dumpty together again?
    Ans. an egg
    (6) What eye never sheds a tear?
    Ans. The eye of a needle
  10. Riddles

    CBÉS 0185

    Page 0011

    bigger it gets. A hole
    As round as an apple as flat as a pan one side a woman and the other side a man. A penny.
    As round as an apple as deep as a cup and all the men in Derry would not lift it up. A well.
    As I went out the guttery gap I met my uncle Today I snapped off his cap and drank his blood and left him lying easy. A bottle of whiskey.
    Little Jenny Huddle sitting in a puddle with a green gown and a white petticoat of rush.
    What goes round the wood and round the wood and never going into the wood.
    The Bark of a tree.
    Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall Humpty Dumpty got a great fall all the king's horses and all the king's men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again An egg
    As round as an apple as plump as a
  11. Riddles

    CBÉS 0233

    Page 439

    wheelabout
    Answer: A cow.
    (77) Up chip chop cherry, down chip chop cherry and all the men in Londonderry would not climb chip chop cherry.
    Answer: Smoke.
    (78) Humpty dumty sat on the wall, humpty dumty got a great fall, and all the king's horses and all the king's men wouldn't put humpty dumty together again.
    Answer: An egg.
    (79) What is it that walks with its head down.
    Answer: A tack.
    (80) Londonderry, Cork, and Kerry spell me that without a key.
  12. Composition - Riddles

    CBÉS 0271B

    Page 04_018

    all over. A newspaper.
    As green as grass, and grass it isn't. As red as a rose and a rose it isn't. As black as ink and ink it isn't what is that. A blackberry.
    Humpty dumpty sat on the wall.
    Humpty dumpty had a great fall.
    All the kings horses and all the kings men could not put humpty dumpty together again. An egg.
    Spell a broken down ditch in three letters. A gap.
    How many sticks goes to a crow's nest. None goes, all are carried.
    London, Derry, Cork and Kerry, spell me that without a k. That. Little jack dandy has a red little nose, the longer he lives the shorter he grows. A candle.
  13. Riddles

    CBÉS 0417

    Page 401

    a garden full of snow, when the snow began to melt like a ship without a belt, when the ship began to sail like a bird without a tail, when the bird began to fly like an eagle in the sky when the sky began to fall the Lord have mercy of us all.
    A. A garden full of cabbage.
    Q. What can a white hen do that a black hen can not do.
    A. A white hen can lay a white egg and a black hen can not lay a black egg.
    Q. What night is like two weeks.
    A. A fortnight.
    Q. Humpty Dumty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumty got a great fall all the King's horses and all the King's men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.
    A. An egg fell off a wall and was broken.
  14. Riddles

    CBÉS 0417D

    Page 06_013

    Continued.
    What is full and holds more.
    A pot when full of potatoes and pour water into it.
    What can a white hen do that a black hen can not do.
    A white hen can lay a white egg and the black hen can not lay a black egg.
    Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
    Humpty Dumpty got a great fall
    all the king's horses and all the king's men could not put Humpty Dumty together again.
    An egg fell off the wall and was broken.
    Riddle me riddle me sandy O,
  15. Riddles

    CBÉS 0460

    Page 524

    lump of coal.
    54. What is the difference between a hungry man and a glutton? - one longs to eat and the other eats too long.
    55. Humpty dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty dumpty got a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put humpty dumpty together again - an egg.
    56. How do you know was Adam a good runner - because he came first in the human race.
    57. Under fire, over fire and never touches fire - a cake in an oven.
    58. What is always at the back of the hand? - the wrist.
    59. The more you take from it the bigger 'tis getting. - a grave.
    60. What is always a foot? - twelve inches.
    61. Headed like a thimble, tailed like a rat, you may guess for ever but you couldn't guess that - a pipe.
    62. The man that made it never wore it and the man that wore it never saw
  16. Riddles

    CBÉS 0531

    Page 050

    piece of orange peel. Answer. Because it is easy to slip on.
    (7) What is it that occurs once in every minute twice in every moment but never in a year. Answer. The letter M.
    (8) As long as my arm as deep as a pail and it never bawls out until it is caught by the tail? Answer. A bell.
    (9) Londonderry, Cork, and Kerry, spell me that without a K. Answer. That.
    (10) What is the best key for unlocking the tongue? Ans. Whiskey.
    (11) Humpty, dumpty sat on a wall humpty dumpty had a great fall, all the king's horses and all the king's men could not put humpty dumpty together again? Ans. An egg.
    (12) What is the biggest room in the world? Ans. Room for improvement.
    (13) Why did all the trains in Cork [?]
  17. Riddles

    CBÉS 0550

    Page 067

    1 What is the smallest room in the world?
    A mush-room.
    2 What is the shyest thing in the world?
    A clock because he always keeps his hands to his face.
    3 Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty got a great fall and all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again?
    An egg.
    4 What would you do before you get out of bed?
    Get into it.
    5 Cork and Kerry Londonderry spell me that without a K?
    that.
  18. Riddles

    CBÉS 0653

    Page 100D

    Two semi circles and a circle complete
    A. TOBACCO
    The more you take out of it the bigger it gets
    A hole.
    What kind of a wig cant a man make
    An earwig.
    Humpty dumpty sat on the wall
    Humpty dumpty got a great fall
    All the kings horses and all the kings men
    Couldn't get humpty dumpty together again
    An egg
  19. Riddles

    CBÉS 0762

    Page 115

    Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall: Humpty Dumpty got a great fall:
    All the King's horses and all the King's men
    Could not bring Humpty Dumpty together again.
    Answer = An egg.
    Where did the first potato grow?
    Answer - In the ground.
    What goes round the house and round the house and sleeps in the corner at night?
    Answer = A twig.

    What is the first thing you do when you get into bed?
    answer - Bruise the mattress.
  20. A Collection of Riddles

    CBÉS 0814

    Page 020

    "Humpty, Dumpty sat on the wall
    Humpty, Dumpty got a right fall
    All the king's horses,
    And all the king's men,
    Could not put Humpty together again."
    An egg.
    As I went out in the garden I met my Uncle Davy a stick in his hand a stone in his belly, riddle me that and I will give you a penny? A plum.
    What God never sees, what the king seldom sees, what we see every day. An equal.
    As round as an apple, as deep as a cup, all the king's horses could not draw it up? A draw - well.
    Two rows of white cows and