"OLD MOTHER HUBBARD."

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1947, 2 January 1914, Page 5

"OLD MOTHER HUBBARD."

CURIOUS ORIGIN OF SOME NURSERY RHYMES.

Iti a quaint appeal to children, which was recently issued by tlio vicar of Yeallianlpton, Devon, for funds far rebuilding the tower of the ol&churdi, an interesting reference is made to the origin of the favourite old liurscr.v ryhrae„"old Mot-heir Hubbard,'.!; ,Tfcit f*. tiipus „ .eharnotfir, according to ' 1 the Vicar, was a housekeeper to the Sqiiiro of Yealhampton over a hundred years ago, and th« Thynto about her and licr dog was written by Sarah Catherine Martin.

Tho original hook in which it was written _is still in the Squire's house, awl iiiside it is an inscription showing it to bo the original presentation copy dedicated to John I'ollaxien Bastard, Esq., M.P., "at whoso suggestion, and at-whoso_ house these rotable sketches wore designed." Tho date was Juno 1. ISOS. i

The origin of many of ottr' nursery rhymes is very interesting. "Tho House that Jack Built," for instance, was an adaptation of a Chajdco li.viim, symbolising events in tho history of tho Hebrew nation. - "Jack Sprat" was no less exalted 3, personage tlia.n Archdeacon Sprat, whose name appeared iib tho original version, A roman* tic history attaches to "Littio Jack Horner," who was steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury, The latter wished to appcaso King Henry VIII, who wa.s indignant because the monlm had built a kitchen which' ho could not burn down. . Tho Abbot accordingly dispatched Jack Horner with a specially tempting-ldijking pie, which was filled inside with tho title deeds of twelve monasteries,' as a present to- tho King, Jack Horner slyly abstracted one deed, which was that referring to the Manor of Wells, and on his return to Glastonbury ho informed the Abbot that tho deed had been given to him. by tha King. The rhyme was founded on this incident, tho "plum" which lie abstracted being tho title-deed of Weils, "Bumpty Dumpty" is said to have been a bold, had baron in ilio time of King John, ."The Babes in the Wood" had their origin in an actual crime committed in tlio fifteenth century. and tho story may bo seen carved on tlio mantelpiece of an ancient house j in Norfolk. "Littio 80-Pcep" 1 was; not i.i maiden, but the holy friar ("boo" or "bod" being a contraction, of the word lor messenger) who, in AngloSaxon -days, went round collecting for the monasteries. Tho ( "sheep" referred to tho congregation, and their "tails" to tho contributions they would bring in with them. "Jack and Jill is supposed to refer to tho complete amalgamation between tho Saxons and Nontuitiis.

Oito of dnr best-known n-sii'Serv rhymes, "Mary Had a Little :Litmb,'' comes from Amoriea. Some of the verses were written by a schoolboy, nnuiotl'John Rollstoii, who attended tlio same Kfihool at Massachusetts to which "Mary" went with her little pet. A long timo afterwards tho poem was completed' by Mrs. Sarah Hall, a well-known author. .At a fair at Boston many years ago a stocking knitted from the woven ficcoo of tho famous lamb was ravelled out, and picoes -were sold with tho autograph.of "-Mary," then an aged lady, attached; and k» great was tho demand that over £30 was raised from the stocking for. the funds of tlvo Old South Church.