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The nursery rhyme was first published by the Boston publishing firm Marsh, Capen & Lyon, as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale on May 24, 1830, and was possibly inspired by an actual incident. [1] As described in one of Hale's biographies: "Sarah began teaching young boys and girls in a small school not far from her home [in Newport, New Hampshire ...
It is a single quatrain with external rhymes [5] that follow the pattern of AABB and with a trochaic metre, which is common in nursery rhymes. [6] The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott in his National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs (London, 1870), as outlined below: [7]
The original rhyme dates back to the 18th century and different numbers of verses were later added, each with variations in the wording. Throughout the 19th century new versions of the story were written featuring different incidents. A number of theories continue to be advanced to explain the rhyme's historical origin.
The rhyme is constructed of quatrains in trochaic tetrameter catalectic [3] (each line made up of four metrical feet of two syllables, with the stress falling on the first syllable in a pair; the last foot in the line missing the unstressed syllable), which is common in nursery rhymes. [4]
The cover of L. Leslie Brooke's Ring O' Roses (1922) shows nursery rhyme characters performing the game. The origins and earliest wording of the rhyme remain unknown. In many versions of the game, a group of children forms a ring, dances in a circle around one person, and then stoops or curtsies on the final line.
Another theory sees the rhyme as connected to Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), with "how does your garden grow" referring to her reign over her realm, "silver bells" referring to cathedral bells, "cockle shells" insinuating that her husband was not faithful to her, and "pretty maids all in a row" referring to her ladies-in-waiting – "The ...
Iona and Peter Opie observed that, although the rhyme had remained fairly consistent, the game associated with it has changed at least three times including: as a forfeit game, a guessing game, and a dancing ring. [1] London Cries: A Muffin Man by Paul Sandby (c. 1759) In The Young Lady's Book (1888), Matilda Anne Mackarness described the game as:
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. [1] From the mid-16th century nursery rhymes began to be recorded in English plays, and most popular ...