Story Behind the Old and Well Known Nursery Rhyme, Mary Had A Little Lamb

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
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I thought this was interesting, I remember Mary Had a Little Lamb as a young child. More here. http://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/05/mary-and-her-little-lamb.html
The childhood nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is familiar to all, but did you know it’s based on a real Mary and a real lamb and a real incident that took place at school?

The real Mary, Mary Sawyer, was born in 1806 in the town of Sterling, Massachusetts, the United States. One day, when Mary was about ten, she discovered two recently born lambs on their family farm.

One was abandoned by the mother and was nearly dead from cold and neglect. Mary asked her father if she could adopt it as a pet, and although her father was reluctant at first because he feared the lamb would die and Mary would be sad, she was able to coax her father into submission.

"I got the lamb warm by wrapping it in an old garment and holding it in my arms beside the fireplace. All day long I nursed the lamb, and at night it could swallow just a little. Oh, how pleased I was,” remembers Mary. “In the morning, much to my girlish delight, it could stand; and from that time it improved rapidly. It soon learned to drink milk; and from the time it would walk about, it would follow me anywhere if I only called it.”

Both Mary and her lamb became very attached to each other.


“I used to take as much care of my lamb as a mother would of a child. I washed it regularly, kept the burdocks picked out of its fleece, and combed and trimmed with bright-colored ribbons the wool on its forehead.”


“We roamed the fields together and were, in fact, companions and fast friends. I did not have many playmates outside the dumb creatures on the place. There were not many little girls to play with, and I had few dolls; but I used to dress up my lamb in pantalets, and had no end of pleasure in her company. Then I had a little blanket or shawl for her; and usually when that was on, she would lie down at my feet, remaining perfectly quiet and seemingly quite contented.”


One day, her brother suggested that they take the lamb to school. Once they got to the schoolhouse, Mary hid the lamb under her desk and covered it with a blanket. Everything was going fine until Mary was called to the front of the class to recite. The lamb followed her and the entire class including the teacher burst into laughter.
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Wow, I'm from Massachusetts and never heard that story. How very interesting. I shall pass it on to my family. Thanks you for posting this :)
 
Here are two pictures of Mary Sawyer, later in her life.
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Thanks for the update Meanderer, none of that was mentioned on the source site.
 
All I remember is the joke that came from that nursary rhyme: Mary had a little lamb, that's what she gets for sleeping in a barn....
 

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