A small, wistful verse about a toy horse made of pea-straw and hay, sold on for a copper groat. Simple rhymes and clear images make it easy to picture and easy to repeat.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
I had a little hobby-horse,
And it was dapple gray;
Its head was made of pea-straw,
Its tail was made of hay.
I sold it to an old woman
For a copper groat;
And I'll not sing my song again
Without another coat.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition