While I have taken some pains to record the various claims to the
origin of Mother Goose, it does not matter in the least whether she
was in reality a myth, or a living Eliza Goose, Martha Gooch or the
"Mere Oye" of Perrault. The songs that cluster around her name are
what we love, and each individual verse appeals more to the childish
mind than does Mother Goose herself.
Many of these nursery rhymes are complete tales in themselves, telling
their story tersely but completely; there are others which are but
bare suggestions, leaving the imagination to weave in the details of
the story. Perhaps therein may lie part of their charm, but however
that may be I have thought the children might like the stories told at
greater length, that they may dwell the longer upon their favorite
heroes and heroines.
For that reason I have written this book.
In making the stories I have followed mainly the suggestions of the
rhymes, and my hope is that the little ones will like them, and not
find that they interfere with the fanciful creations of their own
imaginations.
L Frank Baum
Chicago, Illinois, September, 1897.
Sing a Song o' Sixpence
Sing a Song o' Sixpence
Sing a song o' sixpence, a handful of rye,
Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie;
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Was not that a dainty dish to set before the King?
If you have never heard the legend of Gilligren and the King's pie,
you will scarcely understand the above verse; so I will tell you the
whole story, and then you will be able to better appreciate the rhyme.
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