Nursery Rhymes
Neuendorffer
<<How many times have you recited Humpty Dumpty and wondered what it was
really about? Nursery rhymes where not originally written for the
purpose or teaching or entertaining children.
They were used to satirise the famous and “noble”.
In this article you will discover the origins of some of the most
common rhymes and their original characters. A bard dare not openly and
obviously satirise his King and Queen, as this would lead to certain
imprisonment and probably death. So to avoid this, they wrote rhymes to
tale the tales and used “nicknames” for the characters they were
portraying. Due to the ambiguous nature of these rhymes there are
sometimes many ideas as to their original subject. In some cases these
rhymes could plausibly refer to many figures throughout history. Due to
the nature of these rhymes and the periods in which they were created,
their origins may never be known as some were not put to paper till long
after their creation. You may also find that the words for the rhymes
given here are not the same as the words you yourself may already know.
This is due to most rhymes being passed on by word of mouth and the many
versions that ensued. For many reasons not all of these rhymes can
conclusively be documented as being created during the period covered by
the SCA but most of them have at least on interpretation which would
fit.
Ride a Cockhorse
Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes
This Rhyme refers to the Queen of England at the time. She travelled to
Banbury to see the huge stone worked Cross. Banbury was at the top of a
steep hill. Upon reaching the base of the hill, a cockhorse decorated
with bright ribbons and bells was attached to the front of the coach to
help the horses pull it up the hill. On this occasion the cockhorse was
attached to the coach but the coach lost a wheel. Undeterred by this,
the Queen mounted the cockhorse and rode up the hill to see the cross.
The minstrels of Banbury anticipating her arrival via coach had planned
to play for her as she entered Banbury. The cross was later destroyed by
the Puritans and was replaced in 1859. Banbury was incorporated in 1554
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the Kings horses
And all the Kings men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again
Humpty Dumpty was a common “nickname” for people of large proportions in
the 1400’s. This rhyme refers to King Richard III of England. The Battle
of Bosworth took place on 22nd August 1485. It was the fight for the
throne between King Richard III and the head of the house of Lancaster,
Henry Tudor. Richard sat on his horse atop Ambion Hill ready for
battle, directing his armies when he was murdered. Other suggested
origins are that During the English Civil War (1642-49) “Humpty Dumpty”
was the name for a powerful cannon. It was mounted atop the St. Marys
Wall Church in Colchester to defend the city against siege in the summer
of 1648. (Colchester was a Parliamentarian stronghold but had been
captured by Royalists and they held it for 11 weeks.) The enemy hit the
church tower and the top was blown off. “Humpty Dumpty” fell off and
tumbled to the ground. The King’s men tried to fix him but to no avail.
Another suggests that “Humpty Dumpty” refers to the tale of Charles I
(Humpty Dumpty) of England. He was toppled by the Puritan majority in
Parliament (the great fall). The King’s army (Cavaliers) could not
restore his power. Charles I was executed by the Roundheads (“couldn’t
put back together again”).
Little Tom Tucker
Little Tom Tucker, shall sing for his supper
What shall we give him but white bread and butter
How shall he cut it without ere a knife
How shall he marry without ere a wife
Tom Tucker was a name given to orphans in Europe. They were not cared
for as they are now and had to beg for food. Those blessed with a
singing voice would sing under people’s windows at meal times hoping for
some morsel to be thrown down to them. Orphans had no social standing
and so there chances of marrying anyone other than another orphan were
bleak.
Rock-A-Bye Baby
Rock a bye baby in the treetop
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall
And down will come baby cradle and all
This rhyme originates in America at the time of the pilgrims. A young
pilgrim boy befriended some local Indians where he saw the mothers make
a cradle from birch bark and suspend it from a tree. The wind blowing
would rock the cradle and lull the child to sleep.
Another idea is that this is English in origin. The baby in question
would be the son of King James II. The ominous wind brought William of
Orange to the area.
A Riddle
Black I am and much admired
Men may seek me till they’re tired
I weary horse and comfort man
Therefore tell me what I am.
Answer – Coal
Dance to Your Daddy
Dance to your daddy
My little laddie
Dance to your daddy
Till the boats come in
You shall have a fishy
On a silver dishy
You shall have a fishy
When the boats come in
This rhyme originated in Holland. In the morning the fishermen would
leave for the day and then return at dusk. The wives of the fishermen
and their children would come to the docks to await their safe return.
To entertain the children, the mothers would sing and dance while
keeping an eye on the horizon for the boats bringing their husbands’
home.
Dr Foster
Dr Foster went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain
He stepped in a puddle
Right up to his middle
And never went there again
In this rhyme Dr Foster is King Edward I of England. He travelled to
Gloucester in the middle of a rainstorm. When he entered Gloucester his
horse fell and both he and the horse ended up in the middle of a huge
mud puddle. The town’s people had to use planks of wood to remove both
King Edward and his horse from the mud. King Edward was enraged by this
misfortune and refused to return to Gloucester.
Georgie Porgie
Georgie porgie pudding and pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys came out to play
Georgie porgie ran away
The rhyme refers to George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628 -
1687). A man of scandalous reputation, he was involved in many
intrigues. At the request of Parliament he was removed from Charles II
‘s favour. He wrote several comedies including The Rehearsal
Another source states that this is a satire of Prince Regent, also known
as “Prinny” (1762-1830). He was quite amorous and amoral. In Regency
times of England he later became George IV.
Dame Get Up
Dame get up and bake your pies
Bake your pies
Bake your pies
Dame get up and bake your pies on Christmas day in the morning.
An old widow woman found she had a great talent baking pies and turned
it into a business from out of her home. People came from all over the
county to buy her pies and put in orders for their Christmas dinners.
One Christmas, after working from dusk till dawn baking her pies, the
old woman overslept. People waited for hours for her to open up the shop
so they could pick up their orders. The local children stood under her
bedroom window chanting for her to wake up, which she eventually did.
Every year after the people would stand outside her shop and sing the
song.
Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be
Oh dear what can the matter be
Oh dear what can the matter be
Oh dear what can the matter be
Johnny’s so long at the fair
He promised to buy me a basket of posies
A basket of Lilies, A garland of roses
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons
To tie up my bonny brown hair
Johnny was a performer in a circus and like so many sailors with a lady
in every port. Johnny had a girl in every town. The young girl in
question fell in love with Johnny. Johnny who had no intentions other
than having a good time left town with out a word to her.
Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after
This was originally a Scandinavian tale. Jack and Jill, two very naughty
children decided to go up the hill to steal a bucket of dew that the
moon god Mani had left there. The moon came out from behind a cloud and
asked his friend the wind to blow them away. The wind did as the moon
had asked. While Jack and Jill were at the bottom of the hill tending to
Jacks broken head, the moon captured them. Hence the image of two
children with a bucket suspended from a rod between them on the surface
of the full moon.
Another suggestion is that Jill was originally written as Gill and the
other character in the rhyme was a corrupt King named Jack. He played
with the standard for the unit of measurement Gill to receive more gold.
He was found out and his Kingdom was lost thus the line “Jack fell down
and broke his crown”. The Gill was not used after that and thus the line
“the Gill came tumbling after”.
Yet another suggests that Jack and Jill referred to another beheading —
Louis XVI, and of course Marie Antoinette would be the Jill who came
tumbling after.
I. Louis XVI was considered weak, ignorant, and
distracted in comparison to his
predecessors. In 1770 he married Marie Antoinette who heavily
influenced his
decisions thereafter.
JACK AND JILL
II. Louis XVI’s and Marie Antoinette became the King and
Queen of France in 1774.
WENT UP THE HILL
III. In the Mid 1770’s, France was amidst a financial
crisis, and heavy taxation caused a
nationwide withdrawal from royal patriotism. In order to quell the
flames of rebellion
arising amongst the people, Louis XVI remitted some of the most
oppressive taxes
and began financial and judicial reforms (like water from a pail).
TO FETCH A PAIL OF WATER
IV. The French Bourgeoisie would not allow for large enough
reforms to be implemented.
In July of 1789, the Parisian populace razed the Bastille, and
imprisoned the king and
royal family in the palace of the Tuileries.
JACK FELL DOWN
V. In 1792, when the National Convention declared France a
republic, the king was tried
for treason, convicted, and sentenced to death. Louis XVI was
guillotined in Paris on
January 21, 1793.
AND BROKE HIS CROWN
VI. After being separated from her son, Marie Antoinette
was sent before the
revolutionary tribunal, and sentenced to death for treason. She
was guillotined in Paris
on October 16, 1793. (A tumbling head)
AND JILL CAME TUMBLING AFTER
Another says that it is a true story about a couple in Scotland by the
name of Jack and Jill. Jack went up a hill to get a pail of water he
slipped and fell and was killed, Jill so broken hearted died a not too
long after.
Yet another says that this rhyme was about to powerful religious leaders
who served under King Henry VIII of England. It says, “In 1518, the two
leaders—a cardinal and a bishop—tried to settle a feud between France
and Rome. They failed, and a war broke out. The cardinal sent British
troops to fight against France and raised taxes to pay for the war.” The
people of England hated the two leaders and it is said that this rhyme
was invented tomake fun of them.
Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on her tuffet
Eating her curds and whey
Along came a spider
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Miss Muffet was a 16th century little girl whose name was Patience. Her
father, Dr. Thomas Muffet (possibly Moffett or Moufet), an entomologist
who died in 1604, wrote The Silkwormes and their flies “lively described
in verse” Patience did not share her fathers love of bugs. One morning
while eating breakfast, one of her father’s bugs appeared. She leapt up
spilling the curds and whey and ran out of the house.
The first extant version is dated 1805 in Songs for the Nursery, whose
1812 edition read “Little Mary Ester sat upon a tester . . ..”
Halliwell’s 1842 collection read “Little Miss Mopsey sat in a shopsey .
. ..”
Little Nut Tree
I had a little nut tree
Nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg
And a golden pear
The King of Spain’s daughter
Came to visit me
And all for the sake
Of my little nut tree
This rhyme is about Prince Philippe of France and the King of Spain’s
Daughter. They were betrothed at the age of 6 or 7. In on of the gardens
at Versailles was a tree with a solid gold pear and a solid silver
nutmeg tied to it. These were gifts for the Enfanta. The Dauphine was
told that the Enfanta was coming to visit. Neither child was aware of
the arranged marriage. The Dauphine and Enfanta enjoyed each others
company and were happy. This overjoyed the King of Spain and the King of
France as it would mean a stronger alliance. The Dauphine and Enfanta
where then married at the age of 15.The Dauphine and Enfanta referred to
could possibly be Philip King of Castile and Juana (1497 – 1555)
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.
Tom
Tom he was a pipers son
He learned to play when he was young
But all the tune that he could play
Was Over the hill and far away
Over the hill and a long way off
The wind shall blow my topknot off
Tom was the son of a Scottish bagpiper. He made himself a chanter (pipe)
from reeds and taught himself to play. He was given the job of watching
the town’s peoples sheep. To while away the hours, Tom would play the
same tune over and over. It was rumoured that Dryads would come out and
dance while Tom played but as soon as the music stopped they would
disappear. The people from the town tried to sneak a peek at the dryads
while Tom was playing but they would not appear.
London Bridge
London Bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down
My Fair Lady
A bridge was first built near the current site by the Romans c. AD 80
and several wooden bridges were built on the site until replaced with a
stone bridge in 1176. Peter Colechurch designed it. London Bridge was
the only bridge from Kingston Bridge, twenty miles up river, to the sea.
It took 33 years to build and had a road 20 feet wide and 300 yards
long. The flow of the water was used to turn water wheels below the
arches, first for grinding grain and, in 1580, to pump water into the
city.
In 1209 the bridge had twenty arches, each sixty feet high and thirty
feet wide, with twenty feet between each arch. There was a tower and a
gate at the northern end of the bridge, and near the southern end of the
bridge. Beyond the southern tower and gate there was a wooden
drawbridge, there to prevent an invasion of London from Southwark.
In 1358 there were 138 shops on the bridge and houses and shops were
three to seven stories high. The road across the bridge was about 12
feet wide. In the middle of the bridge was the chapel of St. Thomas
Becket, the English Saint murdered in Westminster Abbey.
It was a scene of lavish celebrations and once a tourney was held
there. Traitor’s heads were displayed on spikes on the bridge. A famous
example was the head of William Wallace, after he was captured by the
English, hung, his genitals were cut off, disembowelled, has his
intestines burned before his eyes (still alive at this point!), then he
was beheaded
Living on London Bridge was hazardous. In 1212, a disaster occurred when
a crowd of people were trapped on the bridge between two fires. Many
were burned to death. Every so often, barges would break loose and crash
into the bridge putting prows through walls of houses. Fire again struck
the Bridge in 1623. This fire started when a maidservant left a pail of
ashes under wooden stairs. Forty-three houses were destroyed and many of
the shops were also burned and damaged. Soon the merchants began moving,
as the bridge was getting dilapidated. In 1666 a fire broke out in the
King Bakery in Pudding Lane. It swept through the city and onto the
bridge. The foundations of the bridge were loosened and the fire had
caused the stonework arches to weaken. The bridge was declared a public
nuisance and on July 4th 1823. It was demolished and the New London
Bridge, which we see today, was built by John Rennie 1824–34. The bridge
was built 100 feet west of the Old Bridge.
Pussy Cat
Pussycat, Pussycat where have you been
I’ve been to London to visit the Queen
Pussycat, pussycat what did you there
I frightened a little mouse under her chair
This song involves the Tudor Queen Elizabeth. One of the nurses in the
castle had an old tomcat that liked to roam. She constantly had to
collect it from the throne room. The old tom’s favourite spot was to sit
underneath the Queens throne. Once when the nurse went to collect her
cat, the Queen had just sat down in her chair. The cats tail innocently
brushed the Queen’s foot. The Queen leapt up in surprise. The Queen then
declared that the catshould live under the throne but only if he kept
the throne room free of mice.
Polly Put the Kettle On
Polly put the kettle on
Polly put the kettle on
Polly put the kettle on
We’ll all have tea
Sukey take it off again
Sukey take it off again
Sukey take it off again
They’ve all gone away
In 1794, there was a man who had two daughters and three sons. The
children used to play in the nursery; the girls wanted to play house and
the boys wanted to play soldiers. The girls would pull out their tea set
and say “Polly put the kettle on” the boys hearing this would flee to
another part of the house to avoid becoming involved in playing girls
games. As soon as the boys had left Polly would tell Sukey (Susan) to
take the kettle off and the girls would settle down to play dolls. Their
father having heard this wrote it down and set it to music. It was
published in 1797
Baa baa, Black Sheep
Baa baa,
Black Sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, marry, have I,
Three bags full:
One for my master,
One for my dame,
And one for the little boy
That lives in the lane!
Despite its bouncy tone, this rhyme is a lament about the burden of
paying taxes. In the Middle Ages, a hard-working peasant was required to
give one third of his income to th King, “my master,” and one third to
the fat nobility, “my dame,” leaving only a final third forhimself, “the
little boy.”
Jack Sprat
Jack Sprat
Could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean;
And so, betwixt them both,
They licked the platter clean
This rhyme poked fun at Charles I of England and his greedy wife,
Henrietta Maria. When Parliament refused to finance Charles’ war with
Spain and left him “lean,” he turned the tables and dissolved
Parliament. He and his wife imposed an illegal war tax and forced the
common people to house their troops. They “licked” England clean to feed
their own bloodthirsty appetites.
Little Jack Horner
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said,
What a good boy am I!
The Bishop of Glastonbury sent his steward, Jack Horner, to King Henry
VIII with a Christmas gift - a pie in which were hidden the title deeds
to twelve manorial estates. On his way to the king, Jack popped open the
pie and stole the deed to the Manor of Mells, a real plum of an estate.
To this day the Horner family resides there.
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle-shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
One-interpretation claims this rhyme describes the Church of the Virgin
Mary — the pretty maids are nuns lined up in pews.
Another interpretation says that “Mary” is Mary, Queen of Scots, the
Catholic monarch whose loose lifestyle angered her Protestant ministers.
The silver-bells are real flowers but in this case might allude to her
wealth as in money or fancy trinkets. Cockleshells are a type of
shellfish found in England. This may show her like for fancy foods, but
might be in reference to cuckolds. The garden might be a metaphor for
Scotland and the “pretty maids all in a row” would be her
ladies-in-waiting.
Another says it is a Protestant condemnation of Mary Queen of Scots, but
not of her lifestyle. Protestants could not speak openly against the
Queen without retribution so they spoke in more or less a code to wit:
I. Mary Mary quite contrary
(Mary is a disagreeable Catholic tyrant)
II. How does your garden grow?
(The garden referred to is filled with the graves of Protestant
martyrs/opponents of
the Queen and the growing number of such victims under her
oppressive rule)
III. With silver bells and cockleshells
(instruments of torture such as thumbscrews and iron masks)
IV. and pretty maids all in a row
(instruments like the guillotine known as maids to behead enemies)
Although if this interpretation is correct, the Mary in this rhyme might
be Mary Tudor, alias “Bloody Mary”. During her short reign, before
Elizabeth the 1st, she ruthlessly burned and tortured Protestants in
order to serve God and to endear herself to the Roman Catholic Pope.
While Mary Stuart killed off husbands and personally fighting in wars,
Mary Tudor was involved with the murder of Protestants.
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
There was an old woman
who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children
She didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth
Without any bread;
She whipped them all soundly
And put them to bed.
The biggest (land mass) shoe you think of might be Italy’s boot, but in
this rhyme it’s the British Isles. The “old woman” was Parliament, who
looked after her many colonial children in the far-flung British Empire.
Parliament whipped her misbehaving children by appointing the much-hated
James I to the throne. Even though James is bad-mouthed in this rhyme,
he wasn’t all bad. During his reign, a new version of the Bible was
translated (yes, that one) and a group of colonial children named their
New World settlement after him - Jamestown,
Virginia.
Another theory is that “The old Woman” referred to either King George II
or King George III; one of them began the fashion of wearing white,
powdered wigs, and was secretly referred to as the “Old Woman” with some
derision. The children were the members of parliament, the shoe of
course referring to the British Isles. The names “Broth” and “Bread” may
have referred to a Prime Minister or two, and Bed referred to parliament
house itself, which he forced to hold session.
Another says that this rhyme refers to Queen Caroline (wife of George
II). She is the “old woman” and all the children refers to the fact that
she had 8 children
Three blind mice,
Three blind mice, three blind mice
See how they run! See how they run!
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice?
In this case, the “farmer’s wife” was Queen Mary I of England, so called
because her estates included a lot of farmland. She was displeased with
three noblemen, but she didn’t dismember them as the rhyme suggests. She
simply had them burned at the stake.
lyra
> Origins of Nursery Rhymes by Lady Valeria de Borgia
> <<How many times have you recited Humpty Dumpty and wondered what it was
> really about? Nursery rhymes where not originally written for the
> purpose or teaching or entertaining children.
>
> They were used to satirise the famous and "noble".
<a lot of snipping here and there......>
> Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
> Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
> How does your garden grow?
> With silver bells and cockle-shells,
> And pretty maids all in a row.
>
A *very* interesting piece on secret meanings, thanks for finding
it for us Art!
here are two more meanings of *cockleshell*......
"[xiv] There are two versions of Aphrodite's relationship with the
cockleshell. The first simply states
that she was born out of a cockleshell. The second, tells of Nereus'
son, Nerites, the fairest of all men who lived beneath the sea. He was
Aphrodite's first lover and when she was called to leave the sea and
take her place on Olympus she begged Nerites to go with her. He
refused, so she changed him into a cockleshell so that she could have
him with her forever."
http://www.mythandculture.com/Academic%20Papers/Aphrodite.htm#_ednref14
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Santiago! This sanctus in stone, surrounded by softly rolling hills,
has been a magnet for centuries. Pilgrims wearing the cockleshell
emblem of St James (after whom Santiago is named) have been braving
these same hills (and the brigands who once roamed them) since
medieval times. Kings and princes and paupers have made their way over
mist-wreathed roads to get here and stand before the silver casket
containing the saint's remains. His bones were discovered in a field
here, with a guiding star shining brightly in the sky. Thus, "campo de
estrellas" or field of stars, shortened over the years to Compostela.
Santiago de Compostela is a place of pilgrimage, as venerable as Rome
or Jerusalem"
http://www.pnc.com.au/~voyager/voyagerfiles/galicia.htm
seasonal greetings,
lyra
Neuendorffer
> here are two more meanings of *cockleshell*......
>
> "[xiv] There are two versions of Aphrodite's relationship with the
> cockleshell. The first simply states
> that she was born out of a cockleshell. The second, tells of Nereus'
> son, Nerites, the fairest of all men who lived beneath the sea. He was
> Aphrodite's first lover and when she was called to leave the sea and
> take her place on Olympus she begged Nerites to go with her. He
> refused, so she changed him into a cockleshell so that she could have
> him with her forever."
>
> http://www.mythandculture.com/Academic%20Papers/Aphrodite.htm#_ednref14
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> "Santiago! This sanctus in stone, surrounded by softly rolling hills,
> has been a magnet for centuries. Pilgrims wearing the cockleshell
> emblem of St James (after whom Santiago is named) have been braving
> these same hills (and the brigands who once roamed them) since
> medieval times. Kings and princes and paupers have made their way over
> mist-wreathed roads to get here and stand before the silver casket
> containing the saint's remains. His bones were discovered in a field
> here, with a guiding star shining brightly in the sky. Thus, "campo de
> estrellas" or field of stars, shortened over the years to Compostela.
> Santiago de Compostela is a place of pilgrimage, as venerable as Rome
> or Jerusalem"
>
> http://www.pnc.com.au/~voyager/voyagerfiles/galicia.htm
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Saint James of Compostella
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<<July 25 new style, and August 5 old style, is the day dedicated
to St. James the Greater; and the correct thing to do in days of
yore was to stick a shell in your hat or coat, and pay a visit
on that day to the shrine of St. James of Compostella. Shell grottoes
with an image of the saint were erected for the behoof of those who
could not afford such pilgrimage, and the keeper of it reminded the
passer-by to remember it was St. James’s Day, and not to forget
their offering to the saint.>>
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http://panther.bsc.edu/~jtatter/popegrot.html
<<Alexander Pope lived on the Thames River in Twickenham,
a village west of London. Although his villa was demolished
in the 19th century, his grotto still exists
beneath the Saint James Independent School for Boys>>
------------------------------------------------------------
"Who dared to love their country, and be poor."
-- On his Grotto at Twickenham.
------------------------------------------------------------
Alexander Pope
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/apope.htm
<<In middle age Alexander Pope was 4ft 6in tall and weared a
stiffened canvas bodice to support his spine. Pope associating with
anti-Catholic Whig friends, but by 1713 he moved towards the Tories,
becaming one of the members of Scriblerus Club. His friends among Tory
intellectuals included Swift, Gay, Congreve and Robert HARLEY, 1st
Earl of Oxford. During his last years Pope designed a romantic
'grot' in a tunnel which linked the waterfront with his back garden.
It was walled with shells and pieces of mirror.
Pope died on May 30, 1744.>>
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Shell grottoes
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<<Trees and shrubs were planted to form groves, arcades, and
"wildernesses," and unusual vegetables, herbs, and quincunxes of vines
and fruit-trees filled the kitchen gardens. Pope oversaw the building of
hothouses, a large "mount" covered with trees, bushes, and heaps of
rugged and mossy stones (with a spiral path to the top, where one came
upon a large Forest seat, shaded by a tree); niches containing urns and
stone busts of Homer, Virgil, Marcus Aurelius, and Cicero; stone
pavilions at the water's edge; an orangery; a bowling-green; an open
temple made of shells; an amphitheatre; a memorial obelisk to his mother
(erected in 1735); and, most importantly, his famous grotto, the
construction of which commenced in 1722. The walls and ceiling of the
grotto were lined with flints, pebbles, and shells, and contained
concealed mirrors and alabastor lamps which served to illuminate its
rills, fountains, and pools, as well as the enormous collection of
exotic minerals--crystals, metallic ores, lava, coral, gold ore, Italian
marble--and plants, statues, fossils, and shells--which friends of the
poet, over a period of many years, gathered from all over the world and
presented to him. The grotto began in the basement of the villa and ran
under the road to the garden, where a path led through a "wilderness"
or carefully overhanging trees to the temple.>>
http://www.thecore.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/previctorian/pope/twickenham.html
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/apope.htm
http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/pope.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------
Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens ** ( CHAPTER 39)
<<But the greatest miracle of the night was little Jacob,
who ate oysters as if he had been born and bred
to the business--sprinkled the pepper and the vinegar
with a discretion beyond his years--and afterwards
built a grotto on the table with the shells.>>
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens ** Book I - Chapter 3
<<'A bull's-eye,' said the Night-Inspector, taking up his keys.
Which a deferential satellite produced. 'Now, gentlemen.' With
one of his keys, he opened a cool GROT at the end of the yard,>>
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens ** Book 2 - CHAPTER 20
<<However, the door jarred open on a dead sort of spring; and he
closed it behind him as he entered a dull yard, soon brought to
a close by another dead wall, where an attempt had been made to
train some creeping shrubs, which were dead; and to make a little
fountain in a grotto, which was dry; and to decorate that with a
little statue, which was gone.>>
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Grotto, n.; pl. {Grottoes}. [Formerly grotta, fr. It. grotta, LL.
grupta, fr. L. crypta a con cealed subterranran passage vault,
cavern, Gr. ?, fr. ? concealed, fr. ? to conceal. Cf. {Grot}.]
A natural covered opening in the earth; a cave; also,
an artificial recess, cave, or cavernlike apartment.
Grot, n. [F. grotte, It. grotta.] A grotto. [Poetic] --Milton.
------------------------------------------------------------
Sejanus - Ben Jonson
V: Tiberius sitting at his meat,
In a Farme house, they call Spelunca, sited
By the Sea-side, among the Fundane Hills,
Within a naturall Caue, part of the GROT
(About the entry) fell, and ouer-whelm'd
Some of the Wayters; Others ran away:
------------------------------------------------------------
Metamorphosis - Ovid - tr. Sir Samuel Garth
Theseus perswaded, in compliance bow'd:
So kind an offer, and advice so good,
O Achelous, cannot be refus'd;
I'll use them both, said he; and both he us'd.
The GROT he enter'd, pumice built the hall,
And tophi made the rustick of the wall;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
{G R O T S}, n. groats. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
as in _GROTSWORTH of WIT_
-------------------------------------------------------------------
T O T H E O N L I E B 'raw' probabilities:
E G E T T E R O F T H
E S E I N S V I N G S TIBIAL: 1 in 11,600
O N N E T S M r W{H}A EMEPH: 1 in 300
L H A P I N{E}S STORG: 1 in 199
N D T A{T}E PHEON: 1 in 127
|L] T I [P] {P}R [S|
[E|A] Y [H] V [T|E]
[N|I] [E] [O|M]
R [D|B] [O] [R|E] I
S E [V|I][N][G|P] V E
R L I [E||T||H] O E T
W I S H T H E W
E L L W I [S] H I N G A
D V E N T [U] R E R I N
S E T T I [N] G F O R T H
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<<'A bull's-eye,' said the Night-Inspector, taking up his keys.
Which a deferential satellite produced. 'Now, gentlemen.' With
one of his keys, he opened a cool GROT at the end of the yard,>>
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens ** Book I - Chapter 3
------------------------------------------------------------
William Wordsworth ** THE PRELUDE
Sees many beauteous sights--weeds, fishes, flowers,
GROTs, pebbles, roots of trees, and fancies more,
Yet often is perplexed, and cannot part
The shadow from the substance,
------------------------------------------------------------
Divine Comedy - Dante (translation by Henry W. Longfellow)
( Purgatorio: Canto XXII )
And he to him: "Thou first directedst me
Towards Parnassus, in its GROTs to drink,
------------------------------------------------------------
Aeneid - Virgil ** BOOK I
In double streams the briny waters glide.
Betwixt two rows of rocks a sylvan scene
Appears above, and groves for ever green:
A GROT is form'd beneath, with mossy seats,
To rest the Nereids, and exclude the heats.
Down thro' the crannies of the living walls
The crystal streams descend in murm'ring falls:
Sev'n orbs within a spacious round they close:
One stirs the fire, and one the bellows blows.
The hissing steel is in the smithy drown'd;
The GROT with beaten anvils groans around.
By turns their arms advance, in equal time;
By turns their hands descend, and hammers chime.
------------------------------------------------------------
** POEMS COMPOSED OR SUGGESTED DURING A TOUR IN THE SUMMER OF 1833
XXX. CAVE OF STAFFA - William Wordsworth
YE shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims
In every cell of Fingal's mystic GROT,
Where are ye? Driven or venturing to the spot,
Our fathers glimpses caught of your thin Frames,
And, by your mien and bearing knew your names;
------------------------------------------------------------
SONNETS COMPOSED AT RYDAL ON MAY MORNING, 1838
- William Wordsworth
Nor art thou wronged, sweet May! when I compare
Thy present birth-morn with thy last, so fair,
So rich to me in favours. For my lot
Then was, within the famed Egerian GROT
To sit and muse, fanned by its dewy air
Mingling with thy soft breath!
------------------------------------------------------------
Horatio Alger ** SUMMER HOURS.
In truth I wonder not,
That in the ancient days
The temples of God's praise
Were grove and leafy GROT.
The noblest ever planned,
With quaint device and rare,
By man, can ill compare
With these from God's own hand.
------------------------------------------------------------
Johnson, Samuel - Essays, Vol. 4
When a poetical grove invites us to its covert,
we know that we shall find what we have already
seen, a limpid brook murmuring over pebbles, a bank
diversified with flowers, a green arch that excludes
the sun, and a natural GROT shaded with myrtles;
yet who can forbear to enter the pleasing gloom to
enjoy coolness and privacy, and gratify himself once
more by scenes with which nature has formed him
to be delighted?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
February 24, 1541, Santiago, Chile, was founded by Pedro de Valvidia
February 24, 1809 <<the Drury Lane Theater burned. The Irish playwright
Richard Brinsley Sheridan had invested deeply in the playhouse. As the
theater was in flames, Sheridan was found having an insouciant drink
in a neighboring alehouse, saying that no man could be blamed
for having a glass in front of his fire.>>
_Count of Monte Cristo_ - Dumas [Pere]
Chapter 1 Marseilles -- The Arrival.
On the 24th of February, 1810, the look-out at
Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master,
the Pharaon [Pharaoh] from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
February 24 - St. Matthias' Day
http://www.ntin.net/McDaniel/0224.htm
St. Matthias' Day. According to the Acts of the Apostles, he was the
replacement chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot. Nothing is known
of him other than this account of his election.
St. Milburga's Day. Invoked for protection of crops against birds.
February 24, 303, The persecution of Christians [e.g., St. George]
under Emperor Maximianus began.
February 24, 1208, St. Francis of Assisi, 26, received his calling in
the Italian village of Portiuncula, although he never took Holy Orders.
He founded the Franciscans the following year.
<<On the feast of Saint Matthias in 1209, Francis really heard the way
for his life: "Do not possess gold . . . nor two coats nor shoes nor
a staff. . . ." Francis understood and undertook to live the rule of
poverty in Saint Matthew's Gospel literally. He gave away his shoes, the
walking staff he had used in his travels, and his girdle. He kept his
undyed, woolen cloak--the dress of shepherds and peasants--which he tied
with a cord.>>
February 24, 1463, medieval Italian philosopher Pico della Mirandola was
born. His pronouncements often drifted close to heresy for the medieval
Italian ecclesiastical authorities. He was a leader in the Neoplatonism
of the age.
February 24, 1500, Charles V, greatest of the Holy Roman Emperors, born.
February 24, 1530, Pope Clement V crowned Charles V.
February 24, 1536, Clement VIII [Ippolito Aldofireini], the last
Counter-Reformation pope (1592-1605), born.
February 24, 1541, Santiago, Chile, was founded by Pedro de Valvidia
February 24, 1545, Military leader Don John of Austria, born.
February 24, 1582, the Gregorian calendar, was introduced when Pope
Gregory XIII signed the papal bull correcting the old Julian calendar.
The correction eliminated 10 days in October.
February 24, 1616, the Vatican denounced the ideas of Copernicus about
the heliocentric universe as being contrary to the Scriptures.
Galileo was forbidden to publicize such beliefs.
February 24, 1786, Wilhelm Karl Grimm born in Hanau, Germany. In
additon to gathering folk tales with his brother Jakob, they also were
important philologists who traced changes in the Germanic languages.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer
julia.r...@gmail.com
Arthur Neuendorffer
>
> Thank you for crediting me in this post.
> On Sunday, 23 December 2001 14:48:03 UTC+10, Neuendorffer wrote:
>
>> Origins of Nursery Rhymes by Lady Valeria de Borgia
Art N.