"OLD MOTHER HUBBARD."

Mataura Ensign, 14 January 1914, Page 7

"OLD MOTHER HUBBARD."

| OatiOl'S ORIGIN OF RHYMES. | in a quaint appeal to children which ; was recently issued by the vicar of 1 Wwi'.niis;.;#;!, Devon, for funds for rebuilding the t-ower of the old church, an j interesting reference is made to the origin of the favorite old nursery rhyme : "Old Mother Hubbard." That famous character, according to the vicar, was. a { housekeeper to ihe Squiro of Yeaihamp- : ton over 100 years ago, and the rhyme , about her and her dog was written by ' Sank Catherine Martin. ] The origii..,; .'»■ in which it was ( written is slill in the Squire's house, ; and inside it is an inscription showing it ; to bo tho original presentation copy ,dedicated to John Pollaxien Bastard,! : Rsq., M.P., " :t whose suggestion and ! at whose house these notable sketches were designed." Tho date was June 1, 'IBOS.

Tho origin oi many of our nursery rhymes is very interesting. "The House that Jack Buill," for instance, was an adaptation of a Chaldee hymn symbolising events in the history of the Hebrew nation. "Jack Sprat" was no less exalted ai personage than Archdeacon Sprat, whose name appeared in the original version. A romantic history attaches to "Little Jack Horner," who was steward to the Abbot of Glastonburv. Tli-o latter wished to appease King lienry VIII., who was indignant because the monks had built a kitchen which ho could not burn down. The Abbot despatched Jack Horner with a specially tempting-looking pie, which was filled inside with the title-deeds of 12 monasteries, as a. present to the King. Jack Horner slily abstracted one deed, which was that referring to the Manor of Wells, and oil his return to Glastonbury he informed 1 the Abbot that the deed had been given to him by the King. The rhyme was: founded on this incident, the "plum" which he abstracted being the title-deed of WelVs.

"Humphy-Dumpt-y" is said tc have been a bad, bold baron in the time of King John. "The Babes in the Wood" had rlv.'ir org 11 in ail actual crime committed in the 15th century, and tho story may be seen carved on the mantelpiece of an ancient house in Norfolk. "Little 80-Peep" was not a maiden, but the holy friar ("boo" <;r "bodi" being a contraction of the word for messenger) who, in Anglo-Saxon days, went round collecting for the monasteries. The "sheep" referred to the congregation, and their "tails" to the contributions they would bring in .rith them. "Jack and Jill" is supposed to refer to the complete amalgamation between the Saxons and Normans.

One of our bestr-known nursery rhymes, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," comes from America. Some of the verses were written by a schoolboy named John Kollston, who attended the same school at Massachusetts to which Mary went with her little pet. A'long time afterwards the poem was completed l by •l.rs Hall, a well-known author. At a fair at Boston many years ago a stocking knitted from' the woven fleece of the famous lamb was ravelled out, and pieces were sold with the autograph of "Mary," then an aged lady, attached, a*d so great was the demand that over £3O was: raised from the stocking for the funds of the Old South Church.