Mother Goose in Prose

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Mother Goose in Prose

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mother Goose in Prose, by L. Frank Baum #21 in our series by L. Frank Baum
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Title: Mother Goose in Prose
Author: L. Frank Baum
Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5312] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on June 29, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER GOOSE IN PROSE ***

Prepared by Bebra Knutson

Mother Goose in Prose
by L. Frank Baum
Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
New York MCMI

Contents Introduction Sing a Song o' Sixpence The Story of Little Boy Blue Cat and the Fiddle The Black Sheep Old King Cole Mistress Mary The Wond'rous Wise Man What Jack Horner Did The Man in the Moon The Jolly Miller The Little Man and His Little Gun Hickory Dickory Dock Little Bo-Peep The Story of Tommy Tucker Pussy-cat Mew How the Beggars Came to Town Tom, the Piper's Son Humpty Dumpty The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe Little Miss Muffet Three Wise Men of Gotham Little Bun Rabbit
Illustrations "There was a little man and he had a little gun"--Frontispiece Little Boy Blue The Black Sheet Old King Cole The Wond'rous Wise Man Jack Horner The Man in the Moon Little Bo-Peep Tommy Tucker Tom, the Piper's Son Humpty Dumpty Three Wise Men of Gotham

Introduction.
None of us, whether children or adults, needs an introduction to Mother Goose. Those things which are earliest impressed upon our minds cling to them most tenaciously The snatches sung in the nursery are never forgotten, nor are they ever recalled without bringing back with them myriads of slumbering feelings and half-forgotten images.
We hear the sweet, low voice of the mother, singing soft lullabies to her darling, and see the kindly, wrinkled face of the grandmother as she croons the old ditties to quiet our restless spirits. One generation is linked to another by the everlasting spirit of song; the ballads of the nursery follow us from childhood to old age, and they are readily brought from memory's recesses at any time to amuse our children or our grandchildren.
The collection of jingles we know and love as the "Melodies of Mother Goose" are evidently drawn from a variety of sources. While they are, taken altogether, a happy union of rhyme, wit, pathos, satire and sentiment, the research after the author of each individual verse would indeed be hopeless. It would be folly to suppose them all the composition of uneducated old nurses, for many of them contain much reflection, wit and melody. It is said that Shelley wrote "Pussy-Cat Mew," and Dean Swift "Little Bo-Peep," and these assertions are as difficult to disprove as to prove. Some of the older verses, however, are doubtless offshoots from ancient Folk Lore Songs, and have descended to us through many centuries.
The connection of Mother Goose with the rhymes which bear her name is difficult to determine, and, in fact, three countries claim her for their own: France, England and America.
About the year 1650 there appeared in circulation in London a small book, named "Rhymes of the Nursery; or Lulla-Byes for Children," which contained many of the identical pieces that have been handed down to us; but the name of Mother Goose was evidently not then known. In this edition were the rhymes of "Little Jack Homer," "Old King Cole," "Mistress Mary," "Sing a Song o' Sixpence," and "Little Boy Blue."
In 1697 Charles Perrault published in France a book of children's tales entitled "Contes de ma Mere Oye," and this is really the first time we find authentic record of the use of the name of Mother Goose, although Perrault's tales differ materially from those we now know under this title. They comprised "The Sleeping Beauty," "The Fairy," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Blue Beard," "Puss in Boots" "Riquet with the Tuft," "Cinderella," and "Little Thumb"; eight stories in all. On the cover of the book was depicted an old lady holding in her hand a distaff and surrounded