MEMORY RHYMES

The Months
Thirty days hath September, April, June and November; All the rest have thirty-one, But February, which has twenty-eight alone. Except in leap-year; then’s the time When February’s days are twenty-nine.
Birthdays
Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday best day of all, Thursday for crosses, Friday for losses, Saturday no luck at all. He who’s born on the day of rest In health and fortunes has the best.
Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace; Wednesday’s child is merry and glad, Thursday’s child is sorry and sad; Friday’s child is loving and giving, Saturday’s child must work for its living; While the child that is born on the Sabbath Day Is blithe and bonny, and good and gay.
Short Grammar
Three little words you often see Are Articles, a, an and the. A Noun’s the name of anything, As school or garden, hoop or swing. Adjectives tell the kind of noun, As great, small, pretty, white or brown. Instead of nouns, the Pronouns stand— His head, her face, your arm, my hand. Verbs tell something to be done— To read, count, laugh, sing, jump or run. How things are done, the adverbs tell— As slowly, quickly, ill or well. Conjunctions join the words together— As men or women, wind or weather. The Preposition stands before The noun, as in or through the door.
The Interjection shows surprise— As, Oh! how pretty; Ah! how wise. The whole are called nine parts of speech, Which reading, writing, speaking teach.
To Tell the Age of Horses
To tell the age of any horse, Inspect the lower jaw, of course; The six front teeth the tale will tell, And every doubt and fear dispel.
Two middle “nippers” you behold Before the colt is two weeks old, Before eight weeks will two more come; Eight months the “corners” cut the gum. The outside grooves will disappear From middle two in just one year. In two years, from the second pair; In three, the corners, too, are bare.
At two the middle “nippers” drop; At three, the second pair can’t stop. When four years old the third pair goes, At five a full new set he shows. The deep black spots will pass from view At six years from the middle two. The second pair at seven years; At eight the spot each “corner” clears. From middle “nippers” upper jaw, At nine the black spots will withdraw. The second pair at ten are white; Eleven finds the “corners” light.
As time goes on, the horsemen know, The oval teeth three-sided grow; They longer get, project before, Till twenty, when we know no more.
Bees
A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay; A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon; A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a fly.
The Cuckoo
May—sings all the day; June—changes his tune; July—prepares to fly; August—go he must.
Rules for Riding
Keep up your head and your heart, Your hands and your heels keep down, Press your knees close to your horse’s side, And your elbows close to your own.

Transcriber's Notes:

The cover image was created by the transcriber, and is in the public domain.

Uncertain or antiquated spellings or ancient words were not corrected.

The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate.

Errors in punctuation and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected unless otherwise noted.

Typographical errors have been silently corrected but other variations in spelling and punctuation remain unaltered.