Old Mother Hubbard

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"Old Mother Hubbard" is a nursery rhyme. Speculative claims have been made that this had to do with Thomas Cardinal Wolsey refusing Henry VIII's divorce from Queen Catherine of Aragon, or even that it was referring to a large trebuchet, but those have been disputed.

This nursery rhyme was printed 1805 as The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and Her Dog. It was written by Sarah Catherine Martin (1768-1826), but based on earlier material of unknown origin (the name is attested from 1591). It is claimed that the housekeeper at Kitley House in Yealmpton, where Sarah Martin stayed in 1804, was also a Mrs Hubbard. ^[1] The first 2 stanzas are likely older than the others, because they use a different meter. The book was immediately popular, possibly in part because it was handy for political commentary (a practice that continues to this day).

[edit] Rhyme

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard,

To fetch her poor dog a bone.

But when she got there, her cupboard was bare,

And so the poor dog had none.

She went to the baker's to buy him some bread;

When she got back, the dog was dead.

She went to the undertaker's to buy him a coffin;

When she got back, the dog was a-laughing.

She took him a clean dish to get him some tripe;

When she came back, he was smoking a pipe.

She went to the hatter's to buy him a hat;

When she came back, he was feeding the cat.

She went to the barber's to buy him a wig;

When she came back, he was dancing a jig.

She went to the fruiterer's to buy him some fruit;

When she came back, he was playing the flute.

She went to the tailor's to buy him a coat;

When she came back, he was riding a goat.

She went to the cobbler's to buy him some shoes;

When she came back, he was reading the news.

She went to the seamstress to buy him some linen;

When she came back, the dog was a-spinning.

She went to the hosier's to buy him some hose;

When she came back, he was dressed in his clothes.

The dame made a curtsy, the dog made a bow;

The dame said, "Your servant," the dog said, "Bow-wow."

[edit] Variations

This is an old joke:

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard,

To get her poor daughter a dress.

When she got there, her cupboard was bare,

And so was her daughter, I guess.

Another version:

Old Mother Hubbard sat in her cubbard,

Eating Jack's Christmas pie;

He opened the door

Gave a furious roar,

And blackened Mother Hubbard's right eye.

An off-color variation:

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard,

To get her poor doggie a bone.

But when she bent over, Rover took over,

And gave her a bone of his own.

[edit] References

1. ^ Welcome to Kitley Heritage - Introductory Notes - web page accessed 2006-09-30