Sunday, August 26, 2007

The Story of Mary Had a Little Lamb...

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


Pink has awarded me this award. I was thinking I'll never get an award for my blog. I considered me a boring person with a boring blog. Pinks blog: http://taniapink.blogspot.com/
Thank you for this award. I really really appreciate it. Now I have to find 5 girls to give this to. Right now, I can only think of two.

Mayden's Voyage - http://maydensvoyage.blogspot.com/
She a sweetie and I like her.
Carmen - http://caravanne.blogspot.com/
Same with Carmen.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


And so starts the famous poem of Mary and her little lamb, a children's poem that has touch us all at one point or another in our lives.

Well if your a Sawyer the poem is deeper and more in depth because the poem is about one of our decedents Mary Elizabeth Sawyer ( married name - Mary E. Tyler ) born March 22, 1806 and died on Dec 11, 1889, she is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston. A 4th generation American Sawyer. Her farther was Thomas, the son of Ezra Sawyer, and her mother was Elizabeth Houghton.

The story goes that one day in March of 1815 in Sterling, Mass. The lamb was born and it was forsaken by its mother, and was almost dead. (Mary was about 9) Mary asked her farther if she could take it into the house, at first he said no but Mary convinced him to allow her to take the lamb in. She nursed the lamb thru the night and by morning the lamb could stand and its health had improved rapidly. The lamb became a pet and would follow her every were. She would wash and care for the lamb as a mother would care for a child. The lamb was a ewe and lived approximately 4 years, she became the mother of 3 lambs, a single lamb and 2 twins.

One day on her way to school the lamb followed Mary, she did not know this at first, when she did notice her brother Nat suggested that they take the lamb to school. Being a child she thought it was a good idea. When they reached the school yard the teacher had not arrived yet so Mary took the lamb to her seat and put it under her seat and covered it up with a blanket, the lamb laid down and was very quite. Later on when Mary was called to the front of class to recite something the lamb followed her. The teacher (Miss Polly Kimball) laughed and so did all the children, she then took the lamb out side until lunch time when she took the lamb home.

That day a young man was visiting the school by the name of John Roulstone (John was born in 1805 and died on Feb. 20, 1822 in Boston at the age of 17), a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel Capen a minister in Sterling from 1815 - 1819. The man was so inspired by the incident that the next day he rode up on horse back to the school house and handed Mary a piece of paper with the poems for 12 lines written on it.

As written By John Roulstone,

Author of the first twelve lines and as it was given to Mary E. Sawyer

Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was as white as snow,
And every were that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day;
That was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play;
To see the lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out;
but still it lingered near;
And waited patiently about;
Till Mary did appear.

By Sara Josepha Hale, Author of the last twelve lines.

And then he ran to her, and laid
His head upon her arm,
As if he said "I'm not afraid,
You'll keep me from all harm."

'What makes the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry;
"O, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"
The teacher did reply.

"And you each gentle animal
To you, for life may bind,
And make it follow at your call,
If you are always kind."


"Mary had a little lamb" was published in 1830 in her name in a book called "Poems for Our Children". The poem was then republished to music in The Juvenile Lure of 1831 with no author given.

Little Lamb's note: I figured this blog is about lambs so I figured I post about Mary Had a Little Lamb.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

great post, LL

i had not heard
this story before

btw, my oldest daughter, Mary, does not have a lamb

and finally, i am inspired to add four more lines to this poem...

Yes, Mary had her little lamb,
but only for a while,
for her good friend Hugh
had a barbeque.


/t.

Little Lamb said...

/t.., well I think its about time you get Mary that lamb. This way she can have a little lamb for a pet.

But if you do get her a pet lamb, I think you should let her have her own place so you won't be tempted to eat her pet.

Those are NOT good lines for a child's poem.

Anonymous said...

oh yes,
CONGRATS
on your AWARD!

pinks said something about nominating you for bravery -- that was nice, LL

<3

Little Lamb said...

Thank you, /t. <3

Her exact words were: for bravery in the face of crazed code poets with barbecues

Mayden' s Voyage said...

Little Lamb~
The best works of literature, poetry, and art, are a reflection of the human experience.
A lovely post...perhaps your best one yet- I loved it <3- and thank you :)
Hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you...my "kids" start school tomorrow :)

Hugs :)
-Cora

Little Lamb said...

Hugs right back at ya! You seem to be a very sweet person.

I hope your kids enjoy school and learn lots.

<3 You're very welcome. :-)

none said...

Great story, I never knew that!

Pink said...

As an auditor...I learned that too many dates and statistics can often be a cover for fraud.

you made that story up, LL!

are you on the lam too?

oh you ARE the lamb!

Never mind.

xx
pinks

Little Lamb said...

Hammer, neither did I.

Pink, I found it online, so it must be true.

Anonymous said...

i believe it
because i read it

and, i believe it
because little lamb wrote it

so it must be true

/t.

Little Lamb said...

/t. I don't know that I'd go so far as to say I wrote it.

Anonymous said...

you
don't have to, LL...

i already said it for you :)

but it seems just a wee bit unlikely that anyone is actually going to believe you wrote this nursery rhyme...

and anyway, everyone already believes you wrote all of that other stuff by your pen name, 'larry flint'

/t.

Little Lamb said...

/t. I don't know that I'd say that's my pen name.

Anonymous said...

you
don't have to, LL...

i already said it for you :)

but it seems just a wee bit unlikely that anyone is actually going to believe you founded hustler magazine...

/t.

Little Lamb said...

/t., just where are you getting this information from?

Scary Monster said...

This little lamb/ larry flynt connection has me quite intrigued. Will we be seeing any photos of mary and her lamb.

Mary had a little lamb.
It's fleece were white as snow.
The lamb turned out to be a ram.
And one day he just....Well, you know.

Little Lamb said...

The Little Lamb/Larry Flint connection has me intrigued as well.

What kind of photos do you mean? Yes, I need it spelled out. I want to keep my G rating.

The Phosgene Kid said...

Mary loved her lamb a heap
But father loved the sheep...

Little Lamb said...

Oh dear!

Dan said...

I figured this blog is about lambs so I figured I post about Mary Had a Little Lamb.

It makes sense!

Congratulations on the award LL! You totally deserve it!

Anonymous said...

"just where are you getting this information from?"

i read it
on the internet,
so it must be true

/t.

Little Lamb said...

Dan, Thanks, hugs and kisses.

/t. I did read it online. I never said it was true, but the story makes sense.

Anonymous said...

sure,
it a good story,
whether true or not

and you're right that it makes sense

good post, LL

/t.

Pony Rider said...

Hi Little Lamb,

I loved the story of Mary and her little lamb...I thought it was great!...regardless whether truth or fiction.

BTW, congrats on your award!!

Apologies for not dropping by sooner...I have not had time to write anything at all. Hopefully things will settle down soon.

Little Lamb said...

/t. I have no reason to believe that it's false.

bace man, thanks for stopping by. Thanks for the congrats on the award. Apology accepted for not stopping by sooner. I've got find out where I've seen you before.

The Phosgene Kid said...

You really deserved the award - you do rock and I enjoy visiting with you!!

Little Lamb said...

Thank you, Kid. I really like when you stop by. I like going to your blog too.

puerileuwaite said...

Mary had a little lamb,
and tied her to a heater.
And everytime the lamb turned 'round,
she burnt her little "seater".

Thank you! I'll be here all week! Try the lamb!

Little Lamb said...

Oh dear! What have I gotten myself into with this one?