Chapter 8 of The Nursery Rhymes of England is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Nursery Rhymes of England is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DCX. Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born? Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn. EIGHTEENTH CLASS--RELICS. DCXI.
Chapter 8 of The Nursery Rhymes of England is here in full — 189 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
coming next after the seventeenth in position
From this reading “EIGHTEENTH CLASS--RELICS.”
a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
From this reading “Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.”
a historical area of northwestern England on the Irish Sea; noted for textiles
From this reading “Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.”
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading “Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.”
plural of “relic” — an antiquity that has survived from the distant past
From this reading “EIGHTEENTH CLASS--RELICS.”
go sour or spoil
From this reading “Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.”
a small amount of liquid food
From this reading “Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.”
something that causes irritation and annoyance
From this reading “Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
milk that has turned sour
In this reading “Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.”
In this reading “Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born?”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
brought into existence
From this reading Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born?
a collection of things sharing a common attribute
From this reading EIGHTEENTH CLASS--RELICS.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DCX.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DCXI.
coming next after the seventeenth in position
From this reading EIGHTEENTH CLASS--RELICS.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
a boy or man
From this reading Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born?
a historical area of northwestern England on the Irish Sea; noted for textiles
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born?
a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
plural of “relic” — an antiquity that has survived from the distant past
From this reading EIGHTEENTH CLASS--RELICS.
go sour or spoil
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
a small amount of liquid food
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
something that causes irritation and annoyance
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born?
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading Far off in Lancashire, under a thorn, Where they sup sour milk in a ram's horn.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born?
in or at the place that
From this reading Little lad, little lad, where wast thou born?
Chapter 8 of The Nursery Rhymes of England by J. O. (James Orchard) [Compiler] Halliwell-Phillipps holds 189 sentences, grouped into 38 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 8 holds 189 sentences of The Nursery Rhymes of England, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Nursery Rhymes of England by J. O. (James Orchard) [Compiler] Halliwell-Phillipps exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 189 sentences, grouped into 38 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 8 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Nursery Rhymes of England by J. O. (James Orchard) [Compiler] Halliwell-Phillipps on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2983 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32415 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32415, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 248 minutes of reading across 597 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Nursery Rhymes of England section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Nursery Rhymes of England to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Nursery Rhymes of England, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
