It's a Goose-y Day!

Did you know that today - May 1st - is Mother Goose Day?

Some folks think there was a real person after whom Mother Goose was modeled; others contend she has never been anything other than imaginary.

Real or not, she’s certainly familiar to thousands and thousands of children around the globe.

Although we all associate Mother Goose with nursery rhymes and poems, most of us don’t recall the rhyme titled “Old Mother Goose” as found in Volume 1 of Childcraft:

Old Mother Goose,

When she wanted to wander,

Would ride through the air

On a very fine gander.

Mother Goose had a house,

‘Twas built in a wood,

Where an owl at the door

For a sentinel stood.

Not quite as “sing-songy” as the more familiar poems, is it?

Did you realize that many of our favorite rhymes were written about historical and political events?

For instance, “Jack and Jill” is claimed by some to be about astronomy; yet others say the poem is really about King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. A previous post about the background on “Jack and Jill”is at this link: http://blondesherry.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-were-jack-jill-you-might-be.html)

All of my life, I’ve thought “Humpty Dumpty” was about an egg. Historians claim it’s actually about a cannon. Here’s the scoop on that one: http://blondesherry.blogspot.com/2009/08/humpty-dumpty-and-wall.html.  

According to yet another source, “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” is about taxation; (http://www.answers.com/) “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” is about Mary, Queen of Scots; and “Little Jack Horner” is about a bishop “who helped himself to some plum properties.”

Did you have a favorite childhood rhyme? Or is there a particular one your children liked?