1917 School Nursery Rhyme refers to Sister Susie sewing shirts for soldiers

Military

From an old school magazine, The Mortonia.

Tommy had a little shirt
With buttons all askew,
The stitches playing wibbly-wob,
It came from Sister Sue!

He took it to the Front one day,
To show his soldier brothers -
They said 'twould frighten all the Huns,
So please do send some others.

Wibbly-Wob was the name given to a game of table football

Sister Sue is a reference to the First World War Tonguetwister Song in which each chorus is sung faster and faster .... The first version was written in 1914 and the following verion popularized by Al Johnson in 1916.

"Sister Susie's sewing shirts for soldiers

Such skill at sewing shirts

Our shy young sister Susie shows!

Some soldiers send epistles,

Say they'd sooner sleep in thistles

Than the saucy, soft, short shirts for soldiers sister Susie sews."

Two more First World War Nursery Rhymes

Military

From an old school magazine, The Mortonia.

Old Kaiser Billy he went to the cupboard,

To get little Willie a bun,

But when he got there the cupboard was bare,

And so little Willie had none.

Ride on a tank to Berlin on the Spree,

To see a fine Kaiser ride on a black gee,

With sword in his fingers, and spikes on his toes ­

He shall have troubles where ever he goes!

Another First World War Nursery Rhyme

Military

From an old school magazine, The Mortonia.

Little Silly Willy wanted some loot.

What shall we give him? Try the boot.

Let him fight Tommy again and again,

How can he conquer without any brain.

Write, write, what shall I write?

A letter for France to go to-night.

Make, make, what shall I make?

Tommy is fond of a nice plum cake.

Sing, sing, what shall we sing?

Rule Britannia and God Save the King!

Do, do, what shall we do?

Fight and jolly well see it through!

Ten Little Zeppelins - First World War Poem by Winifred Cook

Ten Little Zeppelins
Ten little Zeppelins     Flying in a line, One got far out to sea,     Then there were nine.			Five little Zeppelin     Making such a roar, One exploded with a bang,     Then there were four.
Nine little Zeppelins     Flying rather late, One had a dreadful end,     Then there were eight.			Four little Zeppelins     Buzzing like a bee, The R.F.C. caused one to squirm,     Then there were three.
Eight little Zeppelins     Flying up to Heaven, One pilot had a smash,     Then there were seven			Three little Zeppelin     Bombing Sister Sue. She stuck a pin in one,    Then there were two.
Seven little Zeppelins     Admiring English ricks, One got hay-fever bad,     Then there were six.			Two little Zeppelins     Frightened by the gun, One made off for Germany,     Then there was one.
Six little Zeppelins      Made a swanky dive, One took it much too low,     Then there ware five.			One little Zeppelin     Feeling very lonesome, English gun shot high and sure     Gave it back its ownsome.

Schools

Military

Click here for background notes.

Following the interest in my earlier post Sing a Song of Zeppelins I have decided to publish further First World War School Poetry.

WW1 Nursery Rhymes - Sing a song of Zeppelins

Military

Schools

There is currently a lot of work being done in schools to make the pupils aware of what happened in the First World War, and many will be writing about it. But of course children were writing about the War a hundred years ago and there are references in the school magazines of the time.  The following comes from the December 1916 issue of The Mortonia which is based on "Sing a song of sixpence." 

Sing a song of Zeppelins --

How the monsters fly -­

More than twenty Germans

Rushing through the sky.

When our airmen bombed one,

How the people cheer!

Wasn't that a thrilling feat

For our gracious King to hear?

The King was in his Council room

Talking to V.C.'s.

The Queen was in the dining room

Serving soldiers' teas.

The Kaiser rushes East and West,

And curses as he goes.

Let's hope one of our "dicky birds"

Will soon peck off his nose.

[If you know of any examples of contemporary school work mentioning the war let me know as it could be of interest to people who are preparing teaching material for schools 100 years later.]

See later post Ten Little Zeppelins