The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1877-03-29
MOTHER GOOSE AND NURSERY
80 RHYMES.

AL ayes duu oil peoples nave uSQ
their nursery rhymes and lullabies.
Nothing in the shape of popular itera-
i tufe, traditional or written, has more
persistent vitality than many of these
same vesified stories for the amuse-
ment or the quoting of the little ones.
The world always had need of it's Ho-
mers; it could never get on we'll with
out it's Mother Goose. AS specimens
of intellectual energy, between the ar
concentrations Of an international Con-
ference, or a High Joint Congressional
Committee, and the fantastic fancies
which fascinate the "High-J Joints" Of
the nursery, how wide the differencel
Yet che Importance of the one does not
]disparage that Of the other. The songs
Of the people shape the character of the
nation. The songs Of childhood are
the beginnings of popular education.
2. z. Bliss songs, as ueed in the Sum
day-Schools Of the country, are promi-
nent factors at work in determining
the church-life of the next five, ten or
fifteen years. But dear old Mother
Goose took our children in hand quite
as soon as the "gospel-singers;" on this
there is no jealousy between them.
Whatever the explanation, among the
pleasentest of our early recollectiOns
are those which made us familiar with
the droll melodies" Of Mother Goose.
But who was Mother Goose" of the
/ immortal nursery rhymes? ?" Was she
but myth, wandering voice. or
/ imperishable tradition? Does the or
| igin of her vagaries date back into pre-
historic eras? German scholars have
a hundred times over proved, to their
satisfaction, that Homer never existed,
and that the Homeric poems were sim
ply Well-edited Accommodations Of poems
without father or mother" which
merely grew" to be. Livy's history of
the founding and building of Rome
has it not been shown to be but a fine
romance, grand sort of novel? Will
liam Tell has vanished from history,
translated into the realm of beautiful
fiction. Thus pass away the idols of
the worlds credulity. Must it be SO
with Mother Goose?
So many have supposed. But no, the
undying author of those melodies" had
solid personality. King Arthur, first
among the princes at his Round Table,
was not more real than she. If her
proper personality seemed to be for u
century or SO lost, it has been rssusci-
tated
Mother Goose was an actual person
and a real Goose-for that was her huS-
bands name. When herself a child she
was called Bessie Foster. In lucky
hour she married Isaac Goose. Had
her husbands name CHANGED to be any
other than it was, she could never have
made her own name immortal. The
1.-TWO made their home in the then little
Puritan burg known as Boston. Moth
Ter Goose, moreover. was a stepmOther.
She had at once ten gOslings to care
for and entertain. She no doubt often
Ispoke from the heart, when she sang to
i them of old Mother Hubbard SO cramp-
ed for room she seemed to live in a
cupboard, and especially when she
dWelt on the experiences. and eXpedl-
ents of the "old woman who lived in
the shoe, and had 50 many children she
2 didn't know what to do But one Of
the daughters grew to be woman, and
married a printer. His name was
Thomas Fleet. They also lived in
Boston, in Pudding Lane. But unlike
some naughty men in these times, Mr.
Fleet appreciated his step mother.
How could he otherwise? Her ''melo-
dies" had charmed him; he knew they
must be fitted to fascinate others. And
SO it came to pass, just 1853 years ago,
that "T. Fleet, printer" gathered his
step mothers rhymes into book,
printed them, put a cover on it with
the picture of a real goose, ment to rep
resent the motherly bird in the act of
luttering her golden fancies." The
price Of the book was not unreasonable.
He wrote it to be popular, and sold it
for "tWo coppers." And now, says pas
tor Manning, Of the Old South Church.
| (fOr be it understood, Mother Goose
was a good Christian and church mem
ber) not Homer nor Shakespeare is SO
sure of Immortality as Mother Goose.
And he hopes the day is not distant
when the venerable lady will have an
appropriate monument erected to her
in one of the parks of that ancient and
famous city. This is the inscription he
would have craven on it:
Elizabeth Foster,
| Known in the Literature Of the Nursery as
''MOther Goose"
Was born in Charestown, Mass, 1865
Married Isaac Goose, Of Boston, 1892
Became member of the Old South Church, 1893
Was left widow in 1910
The first edition of her melodies" was
Published in 1719.
She died in 1857,
At ~ years.
Aged 90 years! But no wonder that
one who knew the child heart so well !
should have known how to keep her
own heart young so long! If Chicago
wants a monument for Brother Bliss,
by all means let Boston build one for
Mother Goose.-Chicago Journal.
A. II. Swan, one Of the jurymen who
acquitted Sullivan, has been indicated