Boston's Mother Goose
 

Mary Goose, in error, has often been called the real Mother Goose. The following describes the folklore surrounding the myth of Boston's Mother Goose, with some of the original ancient nursery rhymes at the bottom.

The Goose Family were wealthy landowners in colonial Boston. Mary Goose died in 1690, and was buried at Granary Burying Ground. After Mary's death, Isaac Goose, her widower husband, married Elizabeth Foster of Charlestown, and they had five children. Elizabeth Goose was one of those children.

On June 8th 1715, Thomas Fleet married Elizabeth Goose. Fleet was a prominent printer in Boston, having fled from England during the Queen Anne Riots. They lived in a residence on Pudding Lane (Devonshire Street), which also contained the printing shop. Thomas and Elizabeth then had a son.

Elizabeth (Foster) Goose, "like all good grandmothers, was in ecstasies at the event; she spent her whole time in the nursery, and wandering the house, pouring forth, in not the most melodious strains, the songs and ditties which she had learned in her younger days, greatly to the annoyance of the entire neighborhood, to [Thomas] Fleet in particular, who was a man fond of quiet." After some time, Fleet gave up in attempting to convince his mother-in-law to subdue this behavior, and contrived to document her melodies?as well as from other sources?and publish them in a book.

In about 1720, Fleet first published Mother Goose's Melodies. In 1833, one copy of this book apparently still existed, and was re-published as The Only True Mother Goose. It is due to this book that the myth began that the real Mother Goose was from Boston. What was in reality a compilation from multiple sources got embellished because the woman's name was Goose. Local entrepreneurs have of course publicized Mary Goose for nearly a hundred years.

Thomas Fleet's book was most likely the first use of the Mother Goose pseudonym in English America.

"True" Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Hiccory Diccory Dock
Hush-A-Bye Baby
Jack And Jill
Lion and Unicorn
London Bridge
Old Woman in Shoe
Pat-A-Cake
Peter Pumpkin
Rock-A-Bye Baby
Rub-A-Dub Tub
Sing A Song Of Sixpence

Mary Goose's Marker

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