Mythological & Legendary Figures Codexery

Mother Goose

Imaginary author of fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

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Mother Goose is a fictional character originating as the supposed author of French fairy tales and English nursery rhymes.[1] The pantomime tradition featuring Mother Goose can be traced to a London production first staged in 1806.[1][2]

Quick Facts

Field
  • Children's fiction
  • nursery rhymes
  • pantomime
Known for
Imaginary author of fairy tales and nursery rhymes; title character in pantomime
First appearance in english
Early 18th century (translation of Perrault's collection)
Earliest mention
1650 in Jean Loret's La Muse Historique

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

English readers already knew stock figures like Mother Hubbard by 1590 and "Mother Bunch" tales from the 1690s.[3] An early French mention of "Mère Oye" appears in Jean Loret's versified chronicle collected in 1650.[3] The first authenticated nursery rhyme compilation using the name was probably published by Thomas Carnan around 1780 or 1781.[4] The earliest surviving edition of that compilation is dated 1784.[5]

A successful pantomime titled Harlequin and Mother Goose, or The Golden Egg premiered at Covent Garden in 1806.[2] That pantomime was written by Thomas John Dibdin and featured the clown Joseph Grimaldi.[2] A new pantomime version for Dan Leno was written by J. Hickory Wood and Arthur Collins in 1902.[6] French literary works from the 1620s and 1630s contain additional references to Mother Goose (Mère l'Oye).[7]

In 1695, Charles Perrault issued a fairy tale collection whose subtitle was Contes de ma mère l'Oye; the main title was Histoires ou contes du temps passés, avec des moralités.[8]

What the cited sources add

Michael Billington's 2016 review describes a Mother Goose pantomime loosely based on Dan Leno's 1902 version.[9] The review notes that the widowed heroine faces eviction until given a goose that lays golden eggs.[9] The review mentions a classic mirror scene between Mother Goose and her son.[9] According to Billington's review, the production's main source of enjoyment was Roy Hudd performing as Mother Goose.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Mother Goose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Macmillan Dictionary for Students Macmillan, Pan Ltd. (1981), p. 663. Retrieved 2010-7-15.; See, for instance, item 364 in Peter and Iona Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, 1997.; Jeri Studebaker, Breaking the Mother Goose Code, Moon Books 2015, Chapter 6 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Mother Goose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jeri Studebaker, Breaking the Mother Goose Code, Moon Books 2015, Chapter 6; Dibdin, "Harlequin and Mother Goose; or, the golden egg! A comic pantomime", Thomas Hailes Lacy; "Mother Goose; or, Harlequin and the Golden Egg: an original shadow pantomime", August 21, 1864 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Mother Goose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Verdier, "Comment l'auteur des «Fées à la mode» devint «Mother Bunch»: Métamorphoses de Comtesse d'Aulnoy en Angleterre"", Merveilles & Contes, December 1996, p. 285–309; Ryoji Tsurumi, "The Development of Mother Goose in Britain in the Nineteenth Century" Folklore 101.1 (1990:28–35) p. 330 instances these, as well as the "Mother; Shahed, "A Common Nomenclature for Traditional Rhymes", Asian Folklore Studies, 1995, p. 307–314 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Mother Goose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mother Goose's melody: Prideaux, William Francis, 1840–1914" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Mother Goose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nigel Tattersfield in Mother Goose's melody ... (a facsimile of an edition of c. 1795, Oxford: Bodleian Library, 2003).; Driscoll, "A Child's Introduction Poetry", Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2003, p. 10 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Mother Goose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wearing, "The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel", Scarecrow Press, 2013; Caroline Radcliffe, p. 127–9 "Dan Leno, Dame of Drury Lane" in Victorian Pantomime: A Collection of Critical Essays, Palgrave Macmillan 2010; Michael Billington's Mother Goose review, The Guardian, 12 Dec. 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Mother Goose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Saint-Regnier, "Les satyres de Saint-Regnier – ... Saint-Regnier – Google Books", 1626; Labrosse, "De la nature, vertu et utilité des plantes – Guido de Labrosse – Google Boeken", 21 September 2009; "Pièces curieuses en suite de celles du Sieur de St. Germain – Google Boeken", 1644 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Mother Goose" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jansma, "Motifs: An Introduction to French", Thomson Higher Education, 2007, p. 456 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Michael Billington's Mother Goose review, The Guardian, 12 Dec. 2016. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Mother Goose (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Named in this entry

Joseph Grimaldi

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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