Mother Goose |
| The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes often published as (Old) Mother Goose's Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one nursery rhyme. A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom. The so-called "Mother Goose" rhymes and stories have formed the basis for many classic British pantomimes. Mother Goose is generally depicted in literature and book illustration as an elderly country woman in a tall hat and shawl, a costume identical to the peasant costume worn in Wales in the early 20th century, but is sometimes depicted as a goose (usually wearing a bonnet). |
Perrault's Tales of My Mother Goose |
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Charles Perrault, the initiator of the literary fairy tale genre, published a collection of fairy tales in 1695 called Histoires ou contes du temps passés, avec des moralités under the name of his son, which became better known under its subtitle of Contes de ma mère l'Oye or Tales of My Mother Goose. Perrault's publication marks the first authenticated starting-point for Mother Goose stories.
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Mother Goose as nursery rhymes
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Mother Goose as nursery rhymesIn music, Maurice Ravel wrote Ma mère l'oye, a suite for the piano, which he then orchestrated for a ballet. There is also a song called "Mother Goose" by progressive rock band Jethro Tull from their 1971 Aqualung album. The song seems to be unrelated to the figure of Mother Goose, since she is only the first of many surreal images that the narrator encounters and describes through the lyrics. |
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"Mother Goose as Political Satire"
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Mother Goose rhymes were originally published as biting political satire on social and political events of Tudor England.The fall of Richard III, last of the York kings, and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty at the Battle of Bosworth Field are satirized in Humpty Dumpty. Henry VII's miserliness is satirized in I Love Sixpence. Henry VIII is satirized in Robin the Bobbin, Sing a Song of Sixpence, For the Want of a Nail, and Jack and Jill. All of these rhymes criticize the transformation of European politics that led to the English Reformation. Edward VI's government and taxation policy are criticized in Baa Baa Black Sheep. Mary I’s Counter-Reformation and her unpopular marriage are satirized in Pat A Cake, and My Little Old Man and I Fell Out. Elizabeth I, has her political reign criticized in Hey Diddle Diddle and her rejected marriage proposals in A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go.
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"Old Mother Goose" |
| Old Mother Goose, When she wanted to wander, Would ride through the air On a very fine gander. Jack's mother came in, And caught the goose soon, And mounting its back, Flew up to the moon. |
Nursery rhyme |
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A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term only dates from the late 18th/early 19th century. In North America the term Mother Goose Rhymes, introduced in the mid-18th century, is still often used. From the mid-16th century they begin to be recorded in English plays, and most popular nursery rhymes date from the 17th and 18th centuries.The first English collections, Tommy Thumb's Song Book and a sequel, Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, were published before 1744. John Newbery's compilation of English rhymes, Mother Goose's Melody, or, Sonnets for the Cradle (London, c. 1765), is the first record we have of many classic rhymes, still in use today. |
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