Notes
1] Nauty Pauty: The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, ed.Iona and Peter Opie (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952), no. 259 (p. 232):
Handy spandy, Jack-a-Dandy,
Loves plum cake and sugar candy;
He bought some at a grocer's shop,
And out he came, hop, hop, hop, hop.
9] a parody of Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), a minor poet not highly regarded then or now.
10] Albion: Great Britain (then Scotland and England).
Hibernia: Ireland, a separate kingdom.
11] Pilly-piss: perhaps, pissing on [his] cushion or "pill" (OED, "pillow").
12] Rhimy pim'd: presumably "rhyme-y" and a nonce word.
13] Tartaretta Tartaree: perhaps a play on "tart," or prostitute.
18] Andromache: "A reference to Phillips' play The Distrest Mother (Drury Lane 17/3/1712), the heroine of which is Andromache" (Wood, Poems: 255).
19] panging: complaining.
22] Clouts: clothes.
33] Cacking-packing: excreting.
34] Crady: cradle.
42] Sh---ing Writes and Writing Sh-ts: the usual four-letter word.
45-46] Opie, no. 75 (pp. 99-100), from 1708-09:
Boys and girls come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day.
Leave your supper and leave your sleep,
And join your playfellows in the street.
51] Bally-Cally: an allusion to ballad, "ballet"?
54] Opie, no. 306 (pp. 270-76), the first occurrence:
London Bridge is broken down,
Broken down, broken down,
London Bridge is broken down,
My fair lady.
56] Lady-Lee: the river Lea, identification courtesy of Paul Stanton, who writes, "Lady Lea is quoted in early versions of 'London Bridge Is Falling Down,' and is obviously a reference to the River Lea" in the lines "London Bridge is broken down, / Dance over the Lady Lea; / London Bridge is broken down, / With a gay lady."
57] Lick-spit Lyar: a lying toady.
60] possibly Opie, no. 255 (pp. 226-27):
Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
The candle stick.
61] Opie, no. 262 (pp. 234-36), the first occurrence:
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in a thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, What a good boy am I?
67] Stee, Staw, Stud: stee and staw are variants of "sty" (a ladder), and stud means "upright timber."
71] Opie, no. 196 (p. 195), the first occurrence:
Who comes here?
A grenadier.
What do you want?
A pot of beer.
Where's your money?
I forgot.
Get you gone,
You drunken lot.
75] possibly alluding to a lost early version of Opie, no. 29 (pp. 65-67):
Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To buy little Johnny a galloping horse
77]
Opie, no. 309 (pp. 277-78), the first occurrence:
See-saw, sacradown,
Which is the way to London town?
One foot up and one foot down,
That is the way to London town.
95] Tuneful Nine: the Muses.
Online text copyright © 2011, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: H. Carey, Poems on Several Occasions, 3rd edn. (London: E. Say, 1729): 55-61. 11632.e.70 British Library.
First publication date:
1725
Publication date note: Namby Pamby: or, a panegyrick on the new versification address'd to A----- P---- (Dublin, 1725)
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 2001.
Recent editing: 4:2002/2/7*1:2011/4/5*1:2011/4/10*1:2011/11/8
Form: couplets