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See-Saw, Swaddled One
See–saw, swaddled one, earning three pence:
A penny for me and a penny for you
And a penny for Sion (John) for lending the saw.
See–saw, swaddled one, catching three hares:
Eighteen (pence) for me and eighteen for you
And eighteen for Twm (Tom) for lending the dog.
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SFNHM Tape 315. Collected 18.4.63 from Llew Evans (farmer, b. 1890), Rhyd–y—main, near Dolgellau, Merioneth.
Notes
A rocking–song learnt from his mother by the singer (b. 1890) when he was a little boy.
The three pence in Stanza 1 appear to be payment for sawing. Cf. the reference in ODNR, 237, to a possible link between two English 'See–saw' rhymes and the singing of sawyers at work. Sawing imagery, incidentally, is met with in several Welsh nursery rhymes.
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