The Rose Tree

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A WOMAN was sitting at her reel one night; And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company.

In came a pair of broad broad soles, and sat down at the fireside;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a pair of small small legs, and sat down on the broad broad soles;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a pair of thick thick knees, and sat down on the small small legs;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a pair of thin thin thighs, and sat down on the thick thick
knees;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a pair of huge huge hips, and sat down on the thin thin
thighs;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a wee wee waist, and sat down on the huge huge hips;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a pair of broad broad shoulders, and sat down on the wee wee waist;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a pair of small small arms, and sat down on the broad broad shoulders;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a pair of huge huge hands, and sat down on the small small arms;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a small small neck, and sat down on the broad broad shoulders;

And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for
company.

In came a huge huge head, and sat down on the small small neck.

"How did you get such broad broad feet?" quoth the woman.

"Much tramping, much tramping" (_gruffly_).

"How did you get such small small legs?"

"Aih-h-h!-late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_).

"How did you get such thick thick knees?"

"Much praying, much praying" (_piously_).

"How did you get such thin thin thighs?"

"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_).

"How did you get such big big hips?"

"Much sitting, much sitting" (_gruffly_).

"How did you get such a wee wee waist?"

"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e-moul" (_whiningly_).

"How did you get such broad broad shoulders?"

"With carrying broom, with carrying broom" (_gruffly_).

"How did you get such small small arms?"

"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_.)

"How did you get such huge huge hands?"

"Threshing with an iron flail, threshing with an iron flail"
(_gruffly_).

"How did you get such a small small neck?"

"Aih-h-h!--late--wee-e-e--moul" (_pitifully_).

"How did you get such a huge huge head?"

"Much knowledge, much knowledge" (_keenly_).

"What do you come for?"

"FOR YOU!" (_At the top of the voice, with a wave of the arm and a stamp of the feet._)

Jacobs' Notes and References

SOURCE From Chambers, I.c., 64, much Anglicised. I have retained 'Aihlate wee moul', though I candidly confess I have not the slightest idea what it means; judging other children by myself, I do not think that makes the response less effective. The prosaic-minded may substitute 'Up-late-and-little-food'.

PARALLELS The man made by instalments occurs in the Grimms, No. 4, and something like it in an English folk-tale, The Golden Ball, ap. Henderson, l.c., p. 333; cf. 'The Sprightly Tailor' in my Celtic Fairy Tales.

Jacobs, Joseph. English Fairy Tales. London: David Nutt, 1890.
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