Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-24
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Survival of Ancient Customs in
American Politics and Trade.
THE MELODIES OF MOTHER GOOSE.
Friday Has Not Been an rnlucky Day for
These United States
THE SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION

THE SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION
WRITTEN FOR THE pIsPATcH.I
Unless one deliberately thinks of it, he
will be astonished at the many survivals
we have in this prosaical country of olden
times and olden customs. No Mayor in
this country wears a chain of Office, as many
Mayors do in Geatr Bri tain; but the Mayor
of New York City has . standard and
standard bearer, and when he appears on
certain public occasions-such as reviewing
the Decoration Day parade, etc.-his stand
ard bearer stands behind him, as if he were
. feudal knight. The slaves that the
Sherif's deputies carry at executions are
survivals of the time when the Sheriff wore
armor, and when his attendants or depu-
ties were men-at-arms; the deputy with his
stave goes right back to the Sheriff of Not
tingham, perhaps
But in nothing more than in our signs do
we maintain old customs. In the old days,
when few persons could read, . tradesman
put out a representation of his wares, or
some speaking sign. The barber surgeon
hung out the pole which the patient grasped
when he drought up" the vein in his arm
preparatory to having his blood "1et" by
the practitioner; and on the pole he hung
two bandages, one white, the other red.
Our BARRIERS do the same unto this day.
Glovemakers hang out great gloves, drug
gists put up mortars and pestles, cutters
exhibit scissors or knives, watchmakers and
jewelers. show watches, and dealers in
paints hang up huge painters palette.
The tobacconist's wooden Indian" is
familiar, and is one of the few signs that
does not indicate in itself what is sold by
the person who exhibits 1t; it is purely con-
ventional as indicating dealer in tobacco.
Similarly conventional are the three golden
Italy, medicus he was called. became
wealthy, and assumed as his arms three
golden pills; his family lent money Eat the
sign of the golden balls" and now every
pawnbroker the world over exhibits the
same emblems
These explanatory signs are the Volapuk
of retail trade; they are Ineligible to
every civilized man, whatever be the letter
ing upon them.
Who wrote Mother Goose's melodies? Are
they supposed to be the production of one
pen, or are they the accumulated nonsense
Of ages? Are the AnRlo-Saxons. the only
children on such stun, or are other nations
equally culpable? b.
The story that the melodies owe their be-
ing to Mother Goose, resident of Boston,
Mass, is not now generally believed. Ac-
cording to the story Thomas Fleet married
Elizabeth Goose on June 8, 1715; they had
child, and Grandmother Goose sang to it
the songs which Thomas Fleet collected and
published in 1719 OF the marriage of
Fleet and Elizabeth Goose there seems to
be no doubt; an entry of it appears il the
records of the City Registrar in Boston; but
all the rest Of the story is doubtful. No
trace has ever been found of such q book or
pamphlet, although person who died in
1859 is said to have come across a copy of it
in the Library of the American Historical
Society in Worcester, in 1856, while hunting
for some entirely different book; but the
finders name is not known, and the book
was never afterward discovered. It is a
fact that in 1897 Charles Perrault, q French
writer, published the "Contes de ma mere
POye," or mother Goose's Tales" and
Rabelais, who died 150 years before, used as
typical of popular story the title some of
the stork's stories" Many of the melodies
guages than English. For example;
1 have a little sister, they call her Peep,
Peep,
Sine wndes the water, deep, deep, deep:
She climbs the mountains, high, high. high;
Poor little thing! She has but one eye.
The little sister here is star. And
other melodies might be cited as having
meanings which show that they were not
intended originally for children only.
some mythologists to Bertha of the Big
Foot, the mother of Charlemagne, aud
back of her to Freia, the Morse goddess of
love, one of whose names was Bertha, the
shining one. Comparative folklore shows
US that other people than the Saxons have
or had the tales and melodies; and that the
Saxon race is not the only one to bring up
their children on the "nonsense;" and that
the peoples that do bring up their children
on it are not so very culpable after all
was speaking OF Friday al an unlucky
day, when friend said that it had always
been a fortunate day for the United States;
If so, in what way? ORE1LLY.
Friday has played a prominent part in
the history of this country, even if it has
not been always a fortunate day. Colum-
bus sailed from Palos on Friday, August
October II; the Mayfower arrived off what
is now Provincetown Friday, November TO-
1920; Washington was born on Friday,
February II Gold style). 1882 The battle
of Bunker Hill was fought on Friday, June
16, 1775; the Declaration of Independence
was signed on Friday, August 2, 1776; Bur-
koyne was defeated at Saratoga on Friday,
October II, 1777; CORVALLIS surrendered at
Yorktown Friday, October 10, 1881; the bat
tie of New Orleans was ended on Friday,
January 13 1915; the first gun of the Civil
War was fired on Friday, April IL, 1861;
several of the most important battles were
fought on Fridays; Lincoln was shot on
Friday, April IA, 1865; Guiteau was hanged
for numbering Garfield on Friday, june 80,
1882; and there have been a dozen other
Fridays more or less important in our his
tory.
l. Why was Jane G. Blaine called 1.-THE
Plumed Knight" 2. Did Eli Whitney ir-
vent the cotton gin alone, or did General
Greene's widow assist him? 8. When did