Milford chronicle., 1927-01-14
A SUSSEX COUNTY FARMER BOY O. YEARS AGO

With kind and gentle words he came
From that pulpit down.
Saying: "Lamby, lamby. lamb
Best sleepy in the town"
Inc lamb quite dropped his humble
air,
And rose from off his feet
And when the parson landed. he
Was past the hindmost seat"
This poem of "The Little Lamb"
has maintained its popularity for
perhaps a century yet not one in
hundred now living ever saw or
heard the original Parodies almost
wltnout number, and no matter how
Durlesque, have all struck a popular
sentiment and it never grows old.
My wife delights in quoting these
parodles as found in public print.
One of the latest was:
MARY had a little lamb
Its tail went with jerk,
She cut it off behind the ears
To see the old thing work"
Immediately on hearing this a cell
in my brain long dormant saw and
heard again Mary Eliza, pretty and
prlm, in the Williams school house
s1xty-ive years ago. At once 1 ex-
claimed "It was not Mary but Lucy
that had the lamb" To prove my
point I found a difficult task. I
searched for a copy of Towns Sec
ond Reader" in both Philadelphia
and New York, but not a CODY could
be found. I was sure if could find
the old school reader my claim
would be proven. There was no end
to Little Lamb poems.
There were ninety and nine that
safely lay
In the shelter of the fold
But one was away from memory lost
Far beyond the greed of gold"
There were lambs both black and
white, lambs that butted and baa'd.
One poet claimed it was a goat, and
another declared it was a woolly
dog. But the original poem seemed
to have vanished completely.
Finally I wrote to the Congress
sional Library at Washington and
the Librarian found Towns Second
Reader" and on page S8 was the
poem which he kindly had typewrit-
ten and sent me, as follows:
Lucy'S Lamb
Lucy had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow.
And, everywhere that Lucy went
The lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day;
That was against the rule
1t made the children laugh and play,
/ To see the lamb in school,
And so the teacher turned him out,
But still he fingered near;
And in the grass he fed about,
Till Lucy did appear.
To her he ran, and then he laid
His head upon her arm,
AS if to say, I'm not afraid,
You'll shield me from all harm"
What makes the lamb love Lucy
so?"
The little children cried;
20, Lucy loves the lamb you know"
The teacher quick replied.
eff you like Lucy are but kind
And feed the lambs with grass,
Their love and friendship, you will
find,
Are constant to the last"
This lapsus linguae or slip of the
pen, occurring since my childhood
days, interested me, and I told the
story at a banquet where many in
telligent people were gathered. The
next day I received three cOmmun-
ications, all from women, protesting
against 'Lucy" and all claiming that
it was MARY" who had the Little
Lamb.
Several carefully preserved news
paper clippings were inclOsed claim
ing that about one hundred years
ago. Mary Sawyer, of Sterling, Mas
sachusetts, had a little lamb and
took it to school one day and when
she went up to recite the lamb be-
came restless. It was Mary's pet
and she often tied its neck with blue
ribbon. The lamb, says this writer,
only lived a few months and met a
tragic death, being killed by an in
furiated COW made jealous by Mary's
love for the famous little sheep. An
other story claims that a pair of
stockings were made from the wool
from the Little Lamb" and later un-
raveled and cut in two inch pieces
which sold at church fair near
Boston for rs cents each.
A year later told the story before
an education meeting, my subject be-
ing Accuracy in Quoting History"
AS I was leaving the building a fine
looking lady laid her hand on my
shoulder and said: Doctor, enjoy
ed your address this evening, but I
, am very sorry over what you said
: about the Little Lamb for my name
is Mary"
: When I thought it over I realized
that in the good old days there were
, many Lucy's among them. Lucy Lar
com, Lucy Stone and Lucy Webb
! Hayes, who for four years was the
! honored mistress of the White House
at Washington. But "Town's Second
. Reader" disappeared from public
schools. The name of MARY" be-
came associated with the Little
q Lamb" and now Lucys are few but
9 Marys are found everywhere and no
c name is more popular.
. The history of this long cherished
= poem has many parallels. Currents
g and counter currents ebb and flow
influencing every branch Of Ameri-
. can life. Politics, religion and every
e vital nuestion that has been propoS-