The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1896-07-21
WOOL FROM MARY,s LITTLE LAMB.
Made Into Yarn That seventy-five Years
Later Sold For $500 an Ounce.


Later Sold For $500 an ounce.
have got some yarn that was
made from the fleece of the original
'Mary's little lamb, ".said the wife
of we'll known Orange county law
yer. There are only four strands Of
1t, and each one is only few inches
in length, and it cost 30 cents u
strand. There is no doubt about its
being the genuine wool of that i'm
mortal creature. / was in Boston a
few years ago at the time the ladies
of that city were raising funds to
purchase the Old South church,
which was threatened with destruo-
ton by the march of modern i'm
provement Among other devices
was a fair called Aunt Tabitha s
knitting bee, the attraction of which
was q number of venerable danes
who spun yarn on ancient spinning
wheels, just as they and their moth
ers had spun it from the wool in the
early days. Some Boston lady beard
that Mary, the heroine of the little
lamb rhyme, was living at Sterling,
Mass, in the person of octogenarian
Mrs. Tyler, widow. This lady went
to Sterling and not only found that
Mrs. Tyler was really the original of
the poem, but induced her to come
to Boston and spend a day at the
knitting bee. She was a delightful
old lady and told the story of her
little lamb.
when she was but few years
old. her name being Mary Sawyer,
among the lambs born on her ia
TIERS farm one night WAS one which
was such wealsling that Farmer
Sawyer said that it could not posi-
bly, live. The child Mary felt such
pity for the helpless lambkin that
she begged her father TO let her take
it and try to nurse it into strength.
He told her to take 1t. She carried it
to the house, and all the rest of the
day and all the following night treat
ed it with such gentle care that next
morning it was much improved, and
Farmer Sawyer rejoiced Mary by
telling her that it would live and
grow strong. Such proved to be the
case, and as 10 grew the lambs af-
lection for Mary was so great that it
was miserable when separated from
her."
':.The stanza which says
''It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule.
1t made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school,
records fact, Mrs. Tyler said. The
occurrence led a youth who attended
the school to put the story of Mary
and her little lamb into verse. The
poets name is lost. The lamb grew
up and had lambs of it's own, but the
fondness of the lamb for Mary and
of Mary for the lamb never grew
less. Ono day as it was following
Mary, who had gone to the pasture
after the COWS, the lamb was attack
ed by vicious COW, which gored it
with her horns and threw it into the
air. 1t fell at Mary's feet and died.
Mary's grief was deep and long last
ing.
1.-THE fleece was removed from her
i'll fated pets body, and she spun it
with her own hands into yarn.
quantity of which she kept ever aft
en- among her treasures. She was
willing to part with some of it to aid
in raising the fund for preserving
the Old South church and brought
with her to Boston perhaps a quar-
ter of an ounce After she told the
story of Mary and her little lamb
her yarn was in suoh demand that it
was cut up into lengths sufficient tc
net $75 by the sale bought four
little pieces of it at so cents piece,
and that Is hQY ! happen to haYe
some of the wool Of Mary's little
In NH - Nav Work. Sr1p