Today in History: Mary Had a Little Lamb was published for the first time
Mary Had a Little Lamb was originally written by Sarah Josepha Hale and published in 1830.
Unlike some other nursery rhymes, Mary Had A Little Lamb does not have a mature, dark, underlying meaning, but is rather a harmless nursery rhyme based on actual events.
Although it is widely believed to be an English rhyme, Mary Had A Little Lamb was actually written by an American schoolteacher turned novelist and magazine editor, Sarah Josepha Hale (1788–1879).
It was inspired by a young girl named Mary Sawyer who took her pet lamb to school one day at the suggestion of her brother.
It is possible, though not confirmed, that part of the poem was written by John Roulstone, who visited the school at that time.
Roulstone was studying for the ministry, and the purpose of his contribution – if any – may have been to add a spiritual or a moral dimension.
The music was added later by Lowell Mason, sometime in the 1830s.
When asked about the incident at a later stage, Mary Swayer recalled it as follows:
“Visiting school that morning was a young man by the name of John Roulstone, a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel Capen, who was then settled in Sterling. It was the custom then for students to prepare for college with ministers, and for this purpose Roulstone was studying with his uncle. The young man was very much pleased with the incident of the lamb; and the next day he rode across the fields on horseback to the little old schoolhouse and handed me a slip of paper which had written upon it the three original stanzas of the poem …”
Mary Sawyer’s house, located in Sterling, Massachusetts, USA, was sadly destroyed by arson on 12 August, 2007.
A statue representing Mary’s little lamb stands in the town centre. The Redstone School, built in 1798 and believed to be the school where the incident occurred, was purchased by Henry Ford and relocated to a churchyard on the property of Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts.
The rhyme has been turned into songs by a number of artists, including famous blues artists Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan, as well as legendary musician Paul McCartney, over the years.
The first Korean musical road, which was constructed near Anyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea, was created using grooves cut into the ground and intended to help motorists stay alert and awake. It plays Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rendition:
Paul McCartney’s rendition:
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