Tiffi gets very upset

_Elsa_

Tiffi can’t believe how terrible these meanings are. Maybe they aren’t really true. She continues to read more.

ROCK-A-BYE BABY

Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetops,

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,

And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Meaning - One interpretation of this famous lullaby is that it is about the son of King James II of England and Mary of Modena. It is widely believed that the boy was not their son at all, but a child who was brought into the birthing room and passed off as their own in order to ensure a Roman Catholic heir to the throne. (Source)

HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE

Hey diddle diddle,

The Cat and the fiddle,

The Cow jumped over the moon,

The little Dog laughed to see such sport,

And the Dish ran away with the Spoon.

Meaning - Using England’s meaning to the rhyme, it would make a bit more sense than these other theories. Queen Elizabeth I was known for giving her favorite people nicknames. For how she treated her court, whom she saw was below her, they would be her mice and she is the cat. Lady Catherine Grey was Elizabeth I’s cousin, then she eloped with Edward Seymour and Elizabeth wasn’t very happy with it. Those two represented the dish running away with the spoon. This theory to the history and the characters would make more sense, compared to the others, since most of Mother Goose’s nursery rhymes are English. (Source)

MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB

Mary had a little lamb

Little lamb, little lamb

Mary had a little lamb

Its fleece was white as snow

And everywhere that Mary went

Mary went, Mary went

Everywhere that Mary went

The lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day

School one day, school one day

He followed her to school one day

Which was against the rule

It made the children laugh and play

Laugh and play, laugh and play

It made the children laugh and play

To see a lamb at school

And so the teacher turned him out,

But still he lingered near;

And waited patiently about

Till Mary did appear.

Meaning - Mary Had a Little Lamb was inspired by a little girl named Mary Sawyer who owned a pet lamb. Her brother, being mischievous as most brothers are, suggested that she take the lamb to school with her one day. How the poem came about (it was a poem before it became a song and a nursery rhyme) is debated. As an adult, Mary recalled that a young man was visiting the classroom that day with his uncle, the Reverend Lemuel Capen. He witnessed the entire Lamb Incident and thought it was so funny that he wrote Mary a little poem and gave it to her the next day. The first time it was published, though, it was credited to Sarah Josepha Hale. Some people think the first half of the poem was written as Mary Sawyer suggested, and Sarah Hale added the rest when she published Poems for our Children in 1830. (Source)

Let’s continue - Tiffi goes back to the library

Start at the beginning – The story of Mother Goose