Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1881-08-16
THE ORIGIN OF SOME NURSERY
RHYMES. =

"Cinderella; or, the Glass Slipper" is \
very old story. Thousands of years ago il
was told to boys and girls. The original
read that az eagle stole the slipper of very
pretty Egyptian lady and bore it of. The
eagle dropped it, aud some one carried it to
the king, who made it known all over his
kingdom that he would marry the lady
whose tiny foot it should fit. And so Cin-
derella, the ciuder>girl, became queen. In
France. Germany and this country the story
has taken several shapes, aud has always
been a favorite.
"Little Jack Horner" has the following
history: In England, in the reign of Hens
ry VIII, there lived q Mr.. Hornef. Henry
wished to tear down all the line monasteries
aud abbeys of England, sell their lands aud
pocket the money. This Mr.. Horner was
butler, or something, to an old abbot, who
thought he would gain favor with Henry by
giving him twelve of his very best and rich>
est monasteries. Sc the abbot sent deeds of
them to the king by this John Horner.
But Horner' thought as he "sat in The COR
ner' of the carriage on his way to the king.
that he would see what all those great pa.
pers whieh he was carrying should mean.
'He put in his thumb aud pulled out plum
i. c he opened and read the deeds, put
the one for the largest piece of land In his
London, and came home and told his master
that Henry VIII for his fidelity, had made
him present of one Of the large tracts of
land
blue Beard" too, is very old. He is
supposed to be Giles Delaval, Lord of Rails.
and was Marshal Of France in 1429.
"Babes in the Wood" is a very, very
touching story. l think the origin Of this
may be considered a very. very old ballad.
which tells of Richard III, numbering his
own dear little nephews.
The story Of Little Red Riding Hood"
is found in the German, bus mot exactly az
we toll it in English.
The Germans have q great varsity of
young>fok>lore, or stories for tho little ones.
"Mother Goose" was real person. She
lived in Boston. Her daughter Elizabeth
married tho printer, Tom Fleet, who gath
cred up the nursery melodies Of his mother
in>law aud published them.
must now tell you of the meaning OF an
old nursery rhyme: -Four aud twenty black
birds made into pie !" these are the four
and twenty hours of the day +, the ..pie" Is
the space between the earth and tho sky.
the fat>looking ground being the bottom
crust, the birds between, and the sky bcing
the concave top crust.
"When the pie was opened" / C., when
day began to break. 1.-The birds brsan to
sing" i. e. the hours too begin merrily.-
''The king in the parlor counting out mons
ey"; the liking" is the sun, the monarch of
the day. There he is enthroned In the sky.
He is said to be counting out money, be-
cause the sunshine is goId-color. See how
he "eouuts it out" fings it about him, tho
beautiful golden sunshine. "The queen MP
stairs eating bread aud honey" OF course
if the king is the sun, the queen Is tho
moon. The maid in the garden, hanging
out Clothes" This 'tmaid" is Aurora, tho
goddess, not of the day, but of the dawn.
Now, cup jumped little bird and pipped
of her nose" The little bird who did this
ungallant thing is, of course, the first bonr
OF the day. for Aurora, or dawn, disappears
as soon as the king, or sun, arises.-Ex. IS
LABOR sGvING.-The demand Of the people
Tor Tor an ] easier method of preparing Kidney Wort
has induced the proprietors. the welltknotSn
Wholesale druggists. Wells, Richardson & Co /,
Of B9r.ington, ", to prepare It for sale in
the labor Of preparing; and as it is equally Of