COTTAGE TALES 
 
 LITTLE PEOPLE ; 
 
 OR ? THE 
 
 AMUSING REPOSITORY 
 
 FOR ALL 
 
 GOOD SOYS AND GIRLS. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 Published and Sold Wholesale^ 
 Br Lumsdkn & Son, 
 {Price Twopence,] 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Prithee, come here, 
 
 My little dear, 
 And read these stories o'er j 
 
 I dare to tell 
 
 You'll like them well. 
 And wish you had a score* 
 
 If so, my dear, 
 
 To me 'tis clear 
 You're like a child of sense ; 
 
 Then why so shy, \ 
 
 Come in and buy, 
 The price is but Twopence, 
 
3 
 
 THE LITTLE HOPPER. 
 
 Little Elizabeth had four 
 sisters, who were ail older than 
 herself. In a morning, whilst 
 
4 
 
 they were engaged with their 
 masters, she generally took a 
 walk in Hyde-park with her 
 maid Hannah, and then it was 
 curious to see how she hopped 
 along, first on one leg, then on 
 the other. .Madame Bonne, 
 their governess, one day chan- 
 ced to be out at the same time, 
 and meeting little Elizabeth 
 going along in this manner, 
 told her not to walk foolishly, 
 as it was more like a bird 
 than a human creature. Little 
 Elizabeth curtsied to Madame 
 Bonne, nodded to each of her 
 sisters, and then went on with 
 her maid for a few minutes 
 
5 
 
 very quietly ; but she soon for- 
 got what she had just been 
 told, and began to hop again as 
 fast as ever. Madame Bonne, 
 who had followed her at some 
 distance, now called Hannah, 
 and told her, that as her young 
 lady did not know how to 
 walk, it was better she should 
 go home. Madame Bonne 
 heard with pleasure, upon her 
 return home, that little Eliza- 
 beth had left on the ugly trick, 
 and had told Hannah that she 
 never meant to hop any more. 
 
THE WHITE CHICKEN. 
 
 Polly was the only daugh- 
 ter of a poor man and his wife, 
 who lived in a neat cottage 
 near the gates of ■■ " park. 
 
*7 
 i 
 
 When she was six years old, 
 her mother used to employ 
 her in feeding a few chickens 
 that she was bringing up for 
 sale the next fair-day. Among 
 these chickens there was one 
 quite white, of which Polly 
 was particularly fond. Indeed 
 she had coaxed it so much, that 
 the little thing would follow 
 her about the green, and if 
 Polly chanced to sit on the 
 ground, it would climb up to 
 her lap, and peck a grain or 
 two out of her hand. But 
 poor Polly's troubles were now 
 approaching; her mother told 
 her, that the fair was to be 
 kept in the beginning of the 
 
 / 
 
8 
 
 next week, and that then she 
 must part with little Peck ; for 
 so she had named the chicken. 
 This news almost broke her 
 heart ; she was too sood a child 
 to argue with her mother about 
 it; but when she went to bed 
 at night, she had but little sleep, 
 and when she did close her eyes, 
 she only dreamed of poor Peck. 
 
 The next day was Sunday, a 
 day of rest for her father, who 
 generally took a walk with his 
 wife and child, as soon as church 
 was over. This used to be a great 
 pleasure to the little girl; but on 
 this day she would rather have 
 stayed at home to pass the last 
 hours with her chicken. She 
 
9 
 
 came home tired, and without 
 any appetite for her dinner. As 
 soon as it was over she went 
 again to the white chicken, and 
 sitting down before the cottage 
 door took Peck in her lap, 
 and kissed its little head, burst 
 into tears : at this moment 
 Mr. Turner's daughter and her 
 governess passed by. " Pray 
 look, Ma'am," said Miss Tur- 
 ner, " how that little girl is 
 crying ; may I ask her what is 
 the matter ?"--" By all means," 
 replied Mrs. Burton ; so the 
 young lady ran up to Polly, 
 and tenderly asked her what 
 vexed her so much. 
 
 little Polly getting up made 
 
10 
 
 Miss Turner alow curtsey, and 
 began her story, not without 
 many sobs and tears. Her mo- 
 ther just then coming out, told 
 Mrs. Burton that she was very 
 sorry, for her little Polly's 
 sake, to part with the white 
 chicken, but that she was very 
 poor, and could not afford to 
 keep it at home, as it had cost 
 her money to feed it. 
 
 Upon this Mrs. Burton gave 
 er pupil leave to buy the chick- 
 en of Polly's mother, and allow- 
 ! her a sum weekly for its sup- 
 port. Lil t ;> olly was overjoyed 
 at this, and so was Miss Turner, 
 who was a goodnatured girl, and' 
 loved to see every body happy. 
 
II 
 
 CHARLOTTE. 
 
 Charlotte had a good 
 heart, but at the same time she 
 had a great many faults. Sho 
 
12 
 
 hated work, though her mam- 
 ma would often tell her how 
 necessary an accomplishment 
 it was for a little inrl. 
 
 When Charlotte had read 
 French and English, and learn- 
 ed her French Grammar, her 
 mamma always desired her to 
 work ; and this is the way she 
 used to obey her. 
 
 First, she would open her 
 work-bag, and hunt it over 
 three or four times ; then cry 
 out, " Oh dear ! I left my scis- 
 sars up stairs this morning." — 
 " Why did you so ?" her mam- 
 ma would answer ; " the pro- 
 per place for the scissars is in 
 
13 • 
 
 your work-bag; but as you have 
 chose to forget that, go now 
 up stairs, find them, and re- 
 turn immediately." Away goes 
 Charlotte, and in about twen- 
 ty minutes her mamma sees 
 her come down without them. 
 " What have vou been about 
 
 4 
 
 Charlotte r" — Nothing, mam- 
 ma."—" Where are your scis- 
 sars ? — " Oh dear ! 1 put them 
 down on the window seat when 
 I drew* on my doves, and I for- 
 got to bring them down with 
 me." Charlotte is sent again 
 to fetch her scissars, but hap- 
 pens to drop her thimble on 
 the stair-case; the thimble rolls 
 down, and Charlotte trips after 
 
14 
 
 it, till it comes to the landing 
 place, where it gets out of her 
 reach, under a flower-stand : 
 but, as she can't work without 
 a thimble, she must find her 
 mamma's maid to pick it up 
 for her ; and as Mrs. Mary is 
 not at present up stairs, she 
 must wait till she comes. All 
 this while her mamma is won- 
 dering what her daughter can 
 be about, and going up into the 
 nursery, finds her dressingdolls. 
 The consequence is that Miss 
 Charlotte has a double quan- 
 tity of work to do, and when 
 the hour of play comes, she 
 has to practise on the harpsi- 
 chord. • . 
 
15 
 
 THE SLY CHILD. 
 
 There was once a little 
 girl, who had a trick of pock- 
 ing down her head so low. 
 
16 
 
 that her chin would rest upon 
 her stays. Her mamma often 
 told her of it ; but she only 
 minded her when she was in 
 her sight: her mamma having 
 discovered this, ordered her a 
 steel collar, But this little girl 
 was of a sly temper, and the 
 moment her mamma left the 
 room she would slip the collar 
 on one side. The consequence 
 of doing this often was, that 
 her neck grew quite crooked, 
 and she was forced to wear 
 irons round her head, and fast- 
 ened to her stays for two long 
 
17 
 
 THE UNTIDY GIRLS. 
 
 Fouii little girls, whose 
 names I could mention, are not 
 so tidy as they ought to be. 
 Their papa has given to each 
 of them a nice Morocco huz~ 
 ziff, with scissars, silver bod- 
 kin, and thimble. Their mam- 
 ma has likewise been so kind 
 as to furnish them with prettv 
 pincushions and work-b • 
 With all these indulgences, 
 who will believe me when I sav 
 that these little girls have nev- 
 cr any thing at hand ? If you 
 
18 
 
 ask for a pin : " Oh ! the pin- 
 cushion string came undone, 
 and so it was dropped when 
 out a walking or if the pin- 
 cushion is produced, it has not 
 a single pin stuck in it. It is 
 an unpleasant thing to see the 
 manner in which the room is 
 always littered where they have 
 been at work. On one chair 
 lies a housewife spread open, 
 on another a handful of thread, 
 all entangled ; one work-bag on 
 the ground, two more tossed 
 among the music-books on the 
 harpsichord : gloves, thimbles, 
 and scissars, are to be seen in 
 cverv corner of the room. 
 
 4 
 
19 
 
 If these little girls were mine, 
 I will tell you how I would 
 serve them. Whenever I found 
 their things lying, I would pin 
 them to their shoulders, and 
 tell them who saw them dressed 
 out in this manner the reason ; 
 for if little girls will not do 
 things to oblige their friends, 
 they no longer deserve indul- 
 gence, and ought to be treated 
 with severity. 
 
20 
 
 THE GOOD CHILD. 
 
 Lucy Edmonds had been 
 a very good girl for three 
 months. In all that time no- 
 
tw/l 
 
 body had once occasion to say, 
 " Do not so, Miss Lucy." 
 She had made three shirts for 
 her brother, read the first vo- 
 lume of M. Berquin's L'Ami 
 des En fans, and . — — His- 
 tory of England. 
 
 Though little girls should 
 behave well because it is their 
 duty, yet it sometimes happens 
 that their kind parents will 
 give them a reward, and this 
 was Lucy's case. Mrs. Ed- 
 monds, knowing she was with- 
 out a doll, gave her five shil- 
 lings to buy one, and permit- 
 ted her to go with her maid 
 into the streets to the toy-shop. 
 
9 o 
 
 Little Lucy was quite over- 
 joyed with the thoughts of her 
 doll, and on her way settled 
 what clothes were to be made 
 for it. I think it was to have 
 a muslin frock, one dimity and 
 one flannel petticoat, two caps, 
 one shift, one pair of stockings 
 and shoes, a hat and cloak, 
 and a nice pair of stays, that 
 Mary, who loved her young 
 lady much, promised to cut 
 out for her. 
 
 In turning the corner of 
 Bond-Street they saw a great 
 crowd of people running very 
 fast, and just before them an 
 overdrove ox that was making 
 
23 
 
 its way towards the place 
 where the little girl and her 
 maid stood. Quite frightened, 
 they turned quick into a pub- 
 lic house, and by this means e- 
 scaped itsiury. Unluckily for 
 a poor man who was opening 
 oysters before this public house, 
 the animal ran against his 
 stand, and overturned it upon 
 him; the oyster shells cut his 
 face very much, and by the 
 fall he put his shoulder out. 
 The rabble were so intent up- 
 on following the ox, that the 
 poor man's disaster was .un- 
 noticed by all but Lucy and 
 her maid, who immediately cal- 
 
24 
 
 led the people of the house to 
 his assistance. Lucy now walk- 
 ed on, but before she had pas- 
 sed many doors, it came into 
 her head, how much better 
 she should dispose of her mon- 
 ey in giving it to the poor man 
 than in buying herself a doll, 
 and though she was then close 
 to the toy-shop door, begged 
 Mary to turn back with her. 
 How much more pleasure did 
 she receive from a sight of the 
 poor man's joy, and a consci- 
 ousness of having acted right, 
 than, she could possibly have 
 derived from dressing or un- 
 dressing a hundred dolls! 
 
on 
 
 THE DAIRY MAID. 
 
 Dolly Primrose, a pretty 
 young girl that, lived as dairy 
 maid at a farm house, had 
 heard much talk of London, 
 and took it into her silly head 
 that go she would, and get a 
 place of service in town ; — 
 
 And who knows," says the 
 foolish girl, 45 but I may re- 
 turn a line lady." 
 
 m 
 
 So to London she went in 
 the waggon, but had soon rea- 
 son to repent her folly; for, as 
 she stood gaping about with 
 
28 
 
 her bundle under her arm* 
 wondering at every tiling she 
 saw, a very smart gentleman 
 came up to her, and asked her 
 kindly what she was looking 
 for, and if he could be of any 
 service to her? " Yes, indeed, 
 Sir," answered the simple girl, 
 " it is the very thing I want ; 
 I came to London to seek a 
 place of service, mayhap you 
 can tell me of one." " That 
 I can, my pretty maid," says 
 he, " come with me, I will 
 take care of you." 
 
 Away they went together, 
 through bye alleys and dark 
 Streets, till poor Dolly began 
 
27 
 
 to get tired, which the gentle- 
 man perceived, very kindly 
 took the bundle, and said he 
 would carry it for her, but all 
 at once, at the corner of a 
 dark passage, the good gentle- 
 man and bundle disappeared. 
 Dolly made a great noise in 
 the Street, and raised a mob 
 about her at which she was 
 more frightened. By great 
 good chance for Doll, the wag- 
 goner that brought her to Lon- 
 don happened to pass that way 
 on some business, knew her, 
 and went to her relief. Poor 
 Doll went back the next day 
 into the country, and got laugh- 
 
1 
 
 ed at for her folly, besides the 
 loss of ail her clothes and mon- 
 ey.— Had Doll been contented, 
 and staid at home, like a good 
 and sober girl, she would not 
 have been made the scoff and 
 jest of ail the country round. 
 
 Many simple people believe, 
 if they can get to London, 
 their fortunes are made, not 
 considering the many bad folks 
 that make it their business to 
 lead astray the ignorant and 
 unwary, and indeed it is a sad, 
 but a known truth, that many 
 live by such bad practices, 
 
WILL THE GROOM; 
 Or, The little Orphan Boy, 
 
 Will was of poor but hon- 
 est parents, who had they lived, 
 would probably have brought 
 him up decently, and given him 
 some education, but he, alas, 
 poor boy! was early deprived 
 of their protection when he was 
 very young, and without a 
 friend to help him 5 but being 
 
80 ;>'V' 
 
 of an active turn, tho' young, 
 he thought he might he able 
 to get a living by attending 
 the stables of a neighbouring 
 'squire, who had often noticed 
 him while playing about the 
 cottage of his father. With 
 this determination, he applied, 
 and was immediately engaged, 
 and by always attending to the 
 orders given him by his su- 
 periors, and endeavouring to 
 execute them to their satisfac- 
 tion, he soon got promoted to 
 the highest birth in the stables, 
 where he lives comfortably, and 
 in his station, is much respect- 
 ed. Notwithstanding all this, 
 he often feels the want of edu- 
 
31 
 
 cation, and with tears in his 
 eyes, laments the loss of his 
 •rents, who would, no doubt, 
 have sent him to some school, 
 by which he might have been 
 fitted lor abetter situation in life. 
 
 THE BIRD AND CAGE. 
 
 The pretty bird from day to day, 
 
 Still cheers us with a song, 
 And tho' imprison'd in a cage, 
 
 Ne'er thinks its minutes long. 
 But sure 'tis cruel to confine 
 
 In cage, a harmless bird, 
 That never did one wicked act, 
 
 Or spoke one evil word. 
 
THE GOOD BOY S RESOLUTION, 
 
 I'll never He, nor swear, nor steal, 
 Nor take God's holy name In vain, 
 But to my parent's words give ear, 
 And shun the boys that are prophane. 
 I'll early rise and pray to God, 
 To keep me from all sin, 
 And then I'll read his sacred word, 
 And thus each day begin. 
 
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