The Annotated Mother Goose

Introduction and notes by William S. Baring-Gould and Ceil Baring-Gould

1962

Here are 350 pages full of Mother Goose rhymes and everything you’d ever want to know about them.  Nobody really knows who wrote these rhymes or exactly how old they are  .  They are considered folk rhymes and have been handed down from generation to generation.  Who hasn’t used “Eeny Meeny Miney Mo to decide which friend is “it”? 

This book claims that the popularity of the term “Mother Goose” goes back to 1697!  And yet today, in my storytimes for babies and toddlers, we still recite such rhymes as “Hey Diddle Diddle”, “Little Miss Muffet”, and “Little Boy Blue”.  We do this not only to pass along a bit of our culture, but also to let children learn skills that will help them when they learn to read.  

In 1744 a little volume of rhymes was published, titled “Tommy Thumbs Pretty Song Book”.. It contained 38 rhymes including many old favorites   You might recognize “Sing a Song of Sixpence”, “Hickory Dickory Dock”, and “Baa Baa Black Sheep”.  There were also, however, a few that have lost favor with parents over the years.  I’ll close with one that I had never heard before and for obvious reasons I’ll keep out of the storytime repertoire!

Piss a Bed,
Piss a Bed,
Barley Butt,
Your Bum is so heavy
You can’t get up.