Boston's Mother Goose
Mary Goose, in error, has often been called the real Mother Goose.
The following describes the folklore surrounding the myth of Boston's Mother
Goose, with some of the original ancient nursery rhymes at the bottom.
The Goose Family were wealthy landowners in colonial Boston. Mary Goose died
in 1690, and was buried at Granary Burying
Ground. After Mary's death, Isaac Goose, her widower husband, married
Elizabeth Foster of Charlestown, and they had five children. Elizabeth Goose
was one of those children.
On June 8th 1715, Thomas Fleet married Elizabeth Goose. Fleet was a
prominent printer in Boston, having fled from England during the Queen Anne
Riots. They lived in a residence on Pudding Lane (Devonshire Street), which
also contained the printing shop. Thomas and Elizabeth then had a son.
Elizabeth (Foster) Goose, "like all good grandmothers, was in ecstasies
at the event; she spent her whole time in the nursery, and wandering the
house, pouring forth, in not the most melodious strains, the songs and
ditties which she had learned in her younger days, greatly to the annoyance
of the entire neighborhood—to [Thomas] Fleet in particular, who was a man
fond of quiet." After some time, Fleet gave up in attempting to convince his
mother-in-law to subdue this behavior, and contrived to document her
melodies—as well as from other sources—and publish them in a book.
In about 1720, Fleet first published Mother Goose's Melodies. In
1833, one copy of this book apparently still existed, and was re-published
as The Only True Mother Goose. It is due to this book that the myth began
that the real Mother Goose was from Boston. What was in reality a
compilation from multiple sources got embellished because the
woman's name was Goose. Local entrepreneurs have of course publicized Mary
Goose for nearly a hundred years.
Thomas Fleet's book was most likely the first use of the Mother Goose
pseudonym in English America.
"True" Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Hiccory Diccory Dock
Hush-A-Bye Baby
Jack And Jill
Lion and Unicorn
London Bridge
Old Woman in Shoe
Pat-A-Cake
Peter Pumpkin
Rock-A-Bye Baby
Rub-A-Dub Tub
Sing A Song Of Sixpence
Mary Goose's Marker
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