The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-05-01

Anu ever " uSlS IldI may "SAe
The lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule;
1t made the children laugh and play
To see the lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned it out.
But it fingered near.
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear.
What makes the lamb love Mary
so?"
The eager children cried.
why Mary loves the lamb, you
know"
The teacher then replied.
The Mary" of the poem was Mary
Sawyer, and later Mary Sawyer Tay-
lor. She lived at Sterling, Mass, and
when she was years old, 9S years
ago, she owned a lamb.
Mary's lamb was pet. She kept
it's fleece nice and clean, and some
times tied a ribbon about its neck.
One day she took the lamb to school.
When she went to the platform to
recite the lamb clattered after her.
That made laugh.
Mary then took the lamb outside
and fastened it to shed. She TOOK
the lamb home at the noon recess.
John Roulstone, who was studying
for the ministry with Rev. Samuel
Chapen, of Sterling, was On visit to
the school that day. The next day
he rode up to the school and handed
Mary the poem.
Mrs. Owens, who is president of the
Loyal Boys Club of the West, made
the trip from her distant home for
the sole purpose of delving into the
past and getting the truth about the
lamb episode. Mrs. Owens will write
a book on the life and death of Mary
and her lamb. In talk about her
investigations Mrs. Owens said:
II came from Colorado purposely
to learn if it were true that there ex-
listed a Mary and little lamb, who
followed her to school. am satisfied
beyond question.
Years and years ago in the town
of Sterling, near Worcester, lived
Mary Sawyer, who later became Mrs.
Taylor, and, like her lamb, which was
celebrated in verse by clever young
Harvard man of the times, John
Roulstone, she also became noted.
Mary Sawyer, at the time she
came into possession of the lamb, was
s years old. That was in 1914. The
lamb, l find, after interviewing old
residents of Sterling, was born about
March l of that year, and, therefore,
was a spring lamb. The little thing
lived until the next November, when
it met an untimely and tragic death.
81 find that on Thanksgiving morn
ing Mary was playing in the barnyard
at her home. The lamb, which had
before this become very fond of her
and had created the incident of the
school, was following her about, frol-
licking. Unfortunately for the lamb
and also much to the sorrow Of Mary,
the little thing got within range of a
vicious COW, which seized the oppor-
tunity to dispose of it.
Il have been led to believe that the
COW became jealous of the affection
which Mary showed for the lamb and
seized the opportunity to dispose of it.
The incident which John Roul-
stone made famous by verse as re-
lated to me by Mary's old school
teacher, Rebekah Kimball, deviates
in some ways from the verse.
1T is true that the lamb on the
morning in question followed Mary
and brother Nat to school. They dis
covered it as they were crossing a
stone wall, and at the suggestion OF
Nat the lamb was brought into the
schoolhouse and hid in one of the
desks. but it was discovered by the
teacher and the woolly little animal
was removed by Mary. New York
American.