Evening star., 1937-06-27
Some Fairy Tales
of Long Ago
BY FREDERIC J, HASKJN

exhibition at the Bodleian Library at
the university city OF oxford. "Old
Mother Hubbard was written in 1904
by Sarah Catherine Martin. She was q
guest at the house of John Pollexfen
Bastard at Kitley in Devonshire. Mr..
Bastard was Member OF Parliament
from that district To him the work Is
dedicated.
On Investigation, even after 20 many
years. 1t was learned that Miss Martin
was amused by Mr. Bastard's house.
keeper and her dog, and that the story
is description OF those two. How much
the description Of the dog is to be taken
seriously is matter for individual judg-
ment
The manuscript now Is in the pos
session of the Rev. George c. May. who
Is the great-great-nephew Of Miss Mar
tin. The original manuscript is entitled
THE Comic Adventures of Old Mother
Hubbard and Her Dog" Miss Martin
had, apparently, nice turn of pen, for
not only did she write the lines Wnicn
have become fairly immortal, but she
illustrated them. When. in 1906 j. Har-
ris-whose address is gXen as the corner
of st. Pauls Church yard-published the
work, he had an artist copy almost ex-
actly the drawing which Miss Martin
originally had made
The poem is dedicated in the most
dignified manner imaginable to Miss
Martins host. On each page there is a
stanza Of the poem and then an Illus
tration.
There is for example the highly imag-
NATIVE verse which says:
She went to the BARRIERS TO buy him A
wig
And when she came back he was dancing
jig"
Here is the drawing of the dog. sort
Of whippet, on his hind legs and very
obviously dancing a jig But that is not
all. There is Old Mother Hubbard and,
incidentally. wearing the same sort Of
gown which since has taken It's name
from her. dancing. too.
Then the lines 60 on:
She went to the hosiers TO buy him
some hose
And when she came back he was dressed
in his cloaths.'
And there you find him, cleverly drawn
and wearing the dress of the period and
cooked hat such as was worn by the
"a ANC ACsolIO dilC " iNN!oOil Also, LIE
dog carries cane. Old Mother Hubbard
stands in the picture, looking on with
pride.
Every child knows most OF the stanzas,
but lest some be forgotten some of the
more memorable ones might we'll be re-
peated. There is, OF course, the most
famous of all:
old Mother Hubbard went to the cup.
To get her poor dog bone.
When she came there the cupboard vas
And 50 the poor dos had none"
This seems an unfortunate commen.
tary on the state of the household Of
Mr.. John Pollexfen Bastard, NJ P, but
even if they were as hard up as all that
the humor Of Old Mother Hubbard or,
at least. of Miss Martin was not stultifed.
She proceeds:
She went to the tavern for white wine
or red
And when she came back the dog stood
on his head
Perhaps the most highly ina aginatiye
Of all the lines are contained in the
stanza which reads:
she went to the hatters to buy him
hat
When she came back he was feeding
the cat"
This page shows Old Mother Hubbard
standing in some Understandable aston
tshment gazing upon the dog feeding the
cat out Of porridge bowl with a spoon.
The tale is not without its touch Of
tragedy. made much more tragic by Miss
Martins extraordinary drawings. 1t was
after the cupboard scene that:
"She went TO the baker to buy him soma
bread
And when she came back the poor dog
was dead"
Here one lnds drawing Of az dead
dog as any one could dread to see.
Stretched out on the floor he lies. while
Old Mother Hubbard stands over him
weeping with such intensity that the
artist was spared the task Of drawing
her face, for it is completely covered BY
her kerchief. But Miss Martin must
have had some inner inkling of the i'm
mortality of her dog. for when one turns
the page from the tragic scene the lines
appear:
She went to the undertakers TO buy
him a coffin
AIu "IicIi she CdlHc DACk tIle QOS SAL up
laughing
That page is. perhaps, the most
graphic of all in that not only does 1t
show the dog very obviously laughing
and Old Mother Hubbard astounded. but
IN at the second door comes a porter
with coffin borne on his back
The lore OF nursery rhymes and fairy
tales Is complicated. The first is as old
as Adam, for it concerns Lilith. and the
tale of Lilith remains one of those told
to children. Our English version is
spelled and pronounced lullaby In ths
ancient Hebrew it is spelled Lilthtby
The compilations of Mother Goose
rhymes differ and especially they differ
as to authorities. No one will deny that
Miss Martins contribution of old Moth
er Hubbard was among the most inn
portant, but more than century before
she visited at Kitley in Devon a Boston
woman wrote a series Of nursery rhymes
In the same general manner.
But even before Grimm and Anderson
wrote their immortal works one must
look to Charles Perrault. He was q con.
temporary Of the Boston Pilgrim woman
who passed at least some OF her time by
rhyming for children. Perraut was born
In 1923. He was the son of q lawyer
and. himself, became lawyer. Indeed,
the entire family was distinguished in
one way or another. His brother, Claude,
was the architect Of the Louvre which.