"The Cowslip" III

III.

Filial Love.

Miss Jane's mamma was very ill,

And felt such pain she could not sleep,

And Jane would quietly sit still,

Or sometimes through the curtains peep.

And often as she left the bed,

The tear of sweet affection fell,

And going from the room she said,

"I wish my dear mamma was well."

"The Cowslip" II

II.

The Truant.

Children, who delight to ramble,

When it is not holiday,

And o'er hedge and ditch to scramble,

All for love of truant play:

Must have tasks and lessons double

To make up for time misspent,

And, besides this double trouble,

Must have proper punishment.

"The Cowslip" I

While perusing the local charity shops with a couple of friends and my boyfriend, we went into Oxfam, which regrettably has a rather large shelf unit full of antiquarian books. I don't go in there often, because I have a feeling if I did, I'd be considerably thinner and have a much lighter wallet than I already do (it's featherweight, believe me).

Anyway, I was on my knees in front of that shelf before the tinkly bell above the door had fallen silent, and I picked out a slim volume of cautionary tales for children dating from 1900. Before I had a chance to thank him, my wonderful other half had whisked it away to the counter with a flash of plastic and a 'happy birthday' (it's not for two weeks!). And so, here is the first cutely similar to mine tale:

I.

The New Book

A neat little book, full of pictures, was bought

For a good little girl who was glad to be taught.

She read all the tales, and then said to her mother,

I'll lend this new book to my dear little brother.

He shall look at the pictures, and find O and I,

I'm sure he won't tear it, he's such a good boy.

Oh, no! brother Henry knows better indeed;

Although he's too young, yet, to spell or to read.

The first two lines reminded me of me; however I'd never lend this book to my little brother in a million years...

Property of Margaret Ysobel Williams

A selection of 'vintage' fabrics, probably not that old but look the part, and French linguistic tapes that definitely are vintage...	See? Unfortunately I don't have the machine to play them, but that might come...
And an extra surprise...	'Gibson's Modern Method Spelling Book Part 6', 1934 (Sorry about the blur...)
How to Spell	This was between the pages of 'Cambridge Intermediate Mathematics', 1931
Magaret Ysobel Williams owned a few of the books in the pile... which one is she in the photo, if any?	Frontispiece of 'the Albion Readers', no date, but contemporary to the others
Scribbled in a book of arithmetic from 1915, and the name found practised in the margins is Neville Williams... brother of Margaret?	More art from Neville
Found between the pages of the arithmetic book, a test paper from 1942	A beautiful volume to introduce young children to literature, 1922
Frontispiece	An excerpt from Alice in Wonderland in the book
'The Universal Home Doctor', with dustjacket, no date but contemporary	Illustrations from the Home Doctor

Later on I'll do a post on each book; each one deserves individual attention especially for the illustrations, hand drawn or not... also if anyone actually knows of Margaret Ysobel Williams or her possible brother, please get in touch - I'm about to Google them myself :)