There has been a sentimental desire on the part of many students to
trace the origin of Mother Goose to this country; but despite all
effort to the contrary, and a false identification of Thomas Fleet’s
mother-in-law, Mrs. Goose, or Vergoose, with the famous old woman,
the origin is indubitably French. William H. Whitmore[23] sums up his
evidence in the matter as follows:
“According to my present knowledge, I feel sure that the original name
is merely a translation from the French; that the collection was first
made for and by John Newbery of London, about A.D. 1760; and that the
great popularity of the book is due to the Boston editions of Munroe
and Francis, A.D. 1824–1860.”
It appears that, in 1870, William A. Wheeler edited an edition of
“Mother Goose,” wherein he averred that Elizabeth, widow of one Isaac
Vergoose, was the sole originator of the jingles. This statement was
based upon the assurances of a descendant, John Fleet Eliot. But there
is much stronger evidence in Perrault’s favour than mere hearsay; even
the statement that a 1719 volume of the melodies was printed by Fleet
himself has so far failed of verification.
The name, Mother Goose, is first heard of in the seventeenth century.
During 1697, Perrault published his “Histoires ou Contes du Tems Passé
avec des Moralitez,” with a frontispiece of an old woman telling
stories to an interested group. Upon a placard by her side was lettered
the significant title already quoted:
CONTES
DE MA
MERE
LOYE
There is no doubt, therefore, that the name was not of Boston origin;
some would even go further back and mingle French legend with history;
they would claim that the mother of Charlemagne, with the title of
Queen Goose-foot (Reine Pédance), was the only true source.[24]
Mr. Austin Dobson has called Mr. Lang’s attention to the fact that
in the _Monthly Chronicle_ for March, 1729, an English version of
Perrault’s “Tales” was mentioned, done by Mr. Robert Samber, and
printed by J. Pote; another English edition appeared at The Hague
in 1745. This seems to be the first introduction into England of the
“Mother Goose Fairy Tales.” It was probably their popularity, due not
only to their intrinsic interest, but partly to the speculation as
to Mother Goose’s identification, that made John Newbery, the famous
London publisher, conceive the brilliant plan of gathering together
those little songs familiar to the nursery, and of laying them to
the credit of Mother Goose herself. In so doing, he solicited the
assistance of Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774). Mr. Whitmore writes:
“If, as seems most probable, the first edition of ‘Mother Goose’s
Melody’ was issued prior to John Newbery’s death in 1767, there is an
interesting question as to who prepared the collection for the press.
The rhymes are avowedly the favourites of the nursery, but the preface
and the foot-notes are an evident burlesque upon more pretentious
works.”
There are two small pieces of evidence indicating clearly Goldsmith’s
editorship. On January 29, 1768, he produced his “Good Natur’d Man,”
and with his friends dined beforehand in gala fashion at an inn.
Subject to extremes of humour, on this occasion he was most noisy,
and he sang his favourite song, we are told, which was nothing more
than “An old woman tossed in a blanket, seventeen times as high as
the moon.” As it happens, this ditty is mentioned in the preface to
Newbery’s collection of rhymes, without any more apparent reason than
that it was a favourite with the editor, who wished to introduce it in
some way, however irrelevant. Again, we are assured that Miss Hawkins
once exclaimed, “I little thought what I should have to boast, when
Goldsmith taught me to play Jack and Jill, by two bits of paper on his
fingers.”
Thus, though the tasks performed by Goldsmith for Newbery are generally
accounted specimens of hack work, which he had to do in order to
eke out a livelihood, there is satisfaction in claiming for him two
immortal strokes, his tale of “Goody Two Shoes,” and his share in the
establishment of the Mother Goose Melodies.[25] Many a time he was
dependent upon the beneficence of his publisher, many a time rescued by
him from the hands of the bailiff. The Newbery accounts are dotted with
entries of various loans; even the proceeds of the first performances
of the “Good Natur’d Man” were handed over to Newbery to satisfy one of
his claims.
The notes accompanying the melodies, and which have no bearing upon
the child-interest in the collection, show a wit that might very well
belong to Goldsmith. He was perhaps amusing himself at the expense of
his lexicographer friend, Johnson. For instance, to the jingle, “See
saw, Margery Daw,” is appended this, taken seemingly from “Grotius”:
“It is a mean and scandalous Practice in Authors to put Notes to
Things that deserve no Notice.” And to the edifying and logical
song, “I wou’d, if I cou’d, If I cou’dn’t, how cou’d I? I cou’dn’t,
without I cou’d, cou’d I?” is attached the evident explanation from
“Sanderson”: “This is a new Way of handling an old Argument, said to be
invented by a famous Senator; but it has something in it of _Gothick_
Construction.” Assuredly the names of those learned authors, “Mope,”
credited with the “Geography of the Mind,” and “Huggleford,” writing on
“Hunger,” were intended for ridicule.
By 1777, “Mother Goose” had passed into its seventh edition, but,
though its success was largely assured, there are still to be noted
rival publications. For instance, John Marshall,[26] who later became
the publisher of Mrs. Trimmer’s works, issued some rhymes, conflicting
with the book of Melodies which Carnan, Newbery’s stepson, had
copyrighted in 1780, and had graced with a subtitle, “Sonnets for the
Cradle.” During 1842, J. O. Halliwell edited for the Percy Society,
“The Nursery Rhymes of England, collected principally from Oral
Tradition,” and he mentioned an octavo volume printed in London, 1797,
and containing some of our well-known verses. These it seems had been
first collected by the scholar, Joseph Ritson,[27] and called “Gammer
Gurton’s Garland.” The 1797 book was called “Infant Institutes,”
semi-satirical in its general plan, and was ascribed to the Reverend
Baptist Noel Turner, M.A.,[28] rector of Denton. If this was intended
to supplant Newbery’s collection, it failed in its object. However, it
is to be noted and emphasised that so varied did the editions become,
that the fate of “Mother Goose” would not have been at all fortunate
in the end, had not Monroe and Francis in Boston insisted upon the
original collection as the authentic version, _circa_ 1824. Its rights
were thus established in America.
The melodies have a circuitous literary history. In roundabout fashion,
the ditties have come out of the obscure past and have been fixed at
various times by editors of zealous nature. For the folk-lore student,
such investigation has its fascination; but the original rhymes are
not all pure food for the nursery. In the course of time, the juvenile
volumes have lost the jingles with a tang of common wit. They come to
us now, gay with coloured print, rippling with merriment, with a rhythm
that must be kept time to by a tap of the foot upon the floor or by
some bodily motion. Claim for them, as you will, an educational value;
they are the child’s first entrance into storyland; they train his ear,
they awaken his mind, they develop his sense of play. It is a joyous
garden of incongruity we are bequeathed in “Mother Goose.”