Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-04-23
TRUE STORY OF MARY's LAMB.
Made Plain BY a Bit Of Its Wool Being
For Sale.

/
A very considerable part Of th'
American public has for some time beer
more or less familiar with the appar'
entity immortal verse concerning
''Mary's Little Lamb" and what hap
pened to the innocent creature wher
1t made a somewhat informal visit t.
an institution Of learning whose pre-
siding pedagogue received it in a man
ner to be characterized as inhospitable
TO say the least. But 1t is probably
within the bounds Of strictest accu'
racy to say comparatively few persons
have any wide acquaintance with the
details Of Mary's early history and up
bringing or with the life, works ane
character Of her justly celebrated pet
It is therefore with peculiar pleas
ure that the Sun is able to contribute
information Of an authentic character
which throws much light not only up
on the obscurity which has surrounded
the youth Of Mary, but also upon the
origin, department and ultimate dis
position Of the lamb so well known
to literature. 1t is only fair to say tina,
the information Is the result Of extern
sive researches made upon the COL
lection Of curios belonging to Charles
e. Chadeayne of Ossining, N. Y, and
about to be sold at auction by the Mer-
win Clayton Sales company Of 20 East
Twentieth street.
The collection contains exhibits
which demonstrate to a certainty that
the lamb was born sometime In the
year 1917 in the village Of Sterling
Mass, where Mary (surname Sawyer)
was then residing with her parents
It appears that the little creature des-
tined to be so famous was in its ear
liest hours in frail health. According
to the account, for which Mr.. Chad
eayne vouches, several lambs were born
at about the same time and Mary
made a visit to the fold with her papa.
Mary" said her father, that lamb
is dead"
mo, papa" replied the intelligent
little girl, 'for when I move Its head
it will move it back again"
"But it can not live" said her father
"Oh, yes, maybe it can," replied
Mary. Let me take it home and
nurse 1t and tend It."
To this Mary's kind hearted papa
consented. So Mary took her little
lamb and carried it home and warmed
1t and fed it. And from that moment
the poem that everybody knows was
practically assured, though, as we shall
see. extraordinary circumstances were
necessary to produce the now famous
result.
It appears that Mary was in the hab-
II of saying good-by to the lamb ev-
ery morning before starting of fol
school. One morning she forgot to dc
so and, knowing that the lamb would
feel hurt by this omission, she decid-
ed to repair her error Now Mary had
a little sound that she made that was
half way between a scream and song
and no matter where the lamb was
when 1t heard that sound 1t would run
to Mary. All unwilling the signifi-
canoe of her act, Mary now made that
half way between sound. Sure enough
the lamb came running, and not know
ing what else to do with the little thing
Mary wrapped 1t up in her shawl and
took it to school.
To be sure, the poem says distinct
ly that at followed her to school one
day." Well, that can't be helped. Facts
are facts, despite the poets.
MARY said" to resume the account
that she never studied SO hard In her
life as she did that morning. CThe
lamb, by the way, was under her
bench, still wrapped up in the shawl
She did not want the teacher to look
that way for fear she would see the
lamb. But when the time came to say
lessons the scholars in Mary's class
had to go out and stand along a GER
tain crack in the floor. And what
should happen but the moment Mary
started the lamb started and went
right forward and stood on the crack
with Mary"
Here, Of course, Is to be traced the
inspiration for those poignant lines:
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
"This," runs on the tale, seemed very
funny and the scholars laughed; and
not only the scholars but the teacher
Observe how faithful the poet has
been to these facts. For have we no,
been informed that:
It made the children laugh and play
To see lamb at school.
And further:
And so the teacher turned him out.
Just how long after these historic
events it was that the original poe
embodied his inspiration in its immor'
| tai form we cannot be sure, but the
proofs show that Mary expressed the
opinion that 1t was not more than
few days. John Rollestone was the
peot This man of letters appears to
have been sort Of New England
Keats, for he was at that time moi
more than II years old. He was en-
gagged in completing his studies under
the guidance of the village parson, anc
as soon as he heard about the lambs
unavailing attempt to improve its mint
he saw at once that here was his op.
portunity. In kind Of divine frenzy
he dashed off the first stanzas, which
according to Mary ran exactly thus:
Mary had a little lamb,
| His fleece was white as snow,
| And everywhere that Mary went
| The lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and pla!
| To see lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned him out,
And still he fingered near,
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear.
These lines and no more, Mar!
stated to a credible witness along II
the late sos just before her death