reference to a
children's
nursery rhyme: / "Sing a
song of
sixpence, / Pocket full of
rye, / Four and twenty blackbirds, /
Baked in a pie; / When the pie was opened, / The
birds began to sing, / Was not that a dainty
dish, / T o
set before a
king?" / From the occasional sixteenth century practice on festive
occasions of imprisoning live
birds in a pie so that they could fly forth and add to the excitement when the pie was
cut.
—SHSBC Binder 31 Approved Glossary