"Old Mother Hubbard" is an English-language nursery rhyme, first given an extended printing in 1805, although the exact origin of the rhyme is disputed. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19334. After a notable nursery success, it was eventually adapted to a large variety of practical and entertaining uses.
Words
The first published version of The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog is attributed to Sarah Catherine Martin (1768–1826) and associated with a cottage in Yealmpton, Devon,British Pathe, 1960 close by where she was staying at Kitley House. The book was "illustrated with fifteen elegant engravings on copper plate" and had a dedication to her host "J.B. Esq MP, at whose suggestion and at whose House these Notable Sketches were design'd", signed S. C. M.Illustrations and text at Wikisource The poem begins
This is followed by a series of quatrains in similar format relating to the pair's further activities, the number of stanzas varying in later publications. However, there is evidence to suggest that only the continuation after the first three stanzas was the work of Miss Martin. A review of her work that appeared in The Guardian of Education praised "this little book, the poetry of which is of ancient date ... We can recollect, at this distance of time, that in our infant days the Story of this renowned woman, though full of inconsistencies we confess, afforded us much entertainment."Delaney 2012, p.120 Since the reviewer, Sarah Trimmer, was born in 1741, that would date back the rhyme's earlier version fifty years or more.
A musical variant of the introductory verses was set by Samuel Arnold in his Juvenile Amusements (1797), except that it is not the dog but "the poor Children" who are the object of Mother Hubbard's charity.Opie 1997, p.177 Another song in Arnold's work was "There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe", which had been given two final lines:
Then out went th' old woman to bespeak 'em a coffin, And when she came back, she found 'em all a-loffeing.Opie 1997, p.522
On the basis of the coffin/laughing rhymes (which could date from Shakespearean times), James Orchard Halliwell was led to believe that "the tale of "Old Mother Hubbard" is undoubtedly of some antiquity".James Orchard Halliwell, Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, 1849, "Nursery Antiquities" section
Another nonsense song with a similar template had been published two years before the appearance of Miss Martin's Mother Hubbard variations. During the course of Old Dame Trot and her Wonderful Cat (1803), the Dame looks in the cupboard for fish but finds none, "for puss had been there before". Two more suggestive stanzas follow:The Moving Adventure of Old Dame Trot and Her Comical Cat, Darton 1807, pp.3–5
Thereafter the cat continues to perform household chores and comic feats and the two exchange courtesies in the final stanza, much as do Mother Hubbard and her dog at the end of Miss Martin's work. But while Mother Hubbard's dog goes on to perform similar feats to Dame Trot's cat, such as smoking, playing a musical instrument and riding another animal, he also shows his superior cleverness by sometimes anticipating what his mistress has brought on her return. He greets beer by sitting ready at table; he receives wine by exuberantly standing on his head; when linen comes, he is spinning; when stockings arrive, he is dressed already.
Editions The book was immediately popular thanks to the astute marketing skills of the publisher, John Harris.Delaney 2012, ch.3 "John Harris and the rise of the picturebook", p.105 ff To feed the enthusiasm he had created, Harris commissioned a separately published continuation from Martin in which the dog finds a bride,Dorothy Sloan Books and early in the following year published "a sequel…written by another hand".Specimen title and pages at David Miles Books Such was the popular reputation of the work at that time that the satirist Peter Pindar made it a target in one of his pieces in which "The Poet condemns the present general Taste and foretells the Return of the Ages of Barbarism":Tristia (1806) in The Works of Peter Pindar, vol.5, p.318
Over the years pirated editions, new versions and imitations appeared from other presses, catering to the continuing demand.There is a partial list of the various titles under which the work was published and where they appeared at WorldCat The first American edition of 1807 was marketed under the new title of "A curious account of the comic adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her dog".University of Virginia During the early years, the book illustrations had been based on those provided by the author, but the 1819 edition came with new designs ascribed to Allen Robert Branston and was further subtitled "In which is shewn the wonderful powers that good old lady possessed in the education of her favourite animal".Internet Archive
The designs in books published outside London were often more basic, such as those in the 1840 edition from Devonport,Internet Archive which was retitled The droll adventures of Mother Hubbard and her dog and came with a rhymed summary of the story on its back cover; or the 1840 Banbury edition, to which were added several more stanzas that brought their number up to twenty-three.McGill Library About that year also there appeared New Adventures of Mother Hubbard, in which the pair proceed to additional and more up to date adventures, such as paying a visit to the zoo and journeying by train and balloon.Cotsen Children's Library Princeton UniversityLittle stories for young folks, pp.16 – 27
Another enrichment was brought to the rhyme when it began to appear as a moveable book, so that the child could animate the scenes pictured. Paper tabs toward the bottom of the illustration could be pulled back and forth so as to make Mother Hubbard's hands move, or her dog nod its head, bow, feed the cat and spin wool.An example at Roe & Moore
Educational John Harris' publications marked a shift from moralising works for children to catering for their imaginative entertainment, in which his Mother Hubbard series of books played a decisive part.Delaney 2012, pp.105–7 Nevertheless, other publishers developed strategies whereby amusement and instruction might be combined. One American publisher included a complete set of serif type opposite the title page, featuring capitals, small letters, italics, ligatures and numbers, as an aid to further reading.H. & E. Phinney, Cooperstown, 1839 An English printer served the same purpose by running capital and small letters and numerals along the top and bottom margins of his picture book.C. Paul, London 1841 Later on, alphabet plates were introduced into the nursery with a scene from the rhyme to one sideBrownhills Pottery Co. 1880 or at the centre (see opposite). Indeed, illustrations of Mother Hubbard and her dog were adapted to many other ends, from adorning money boxes so as to encourage thriftPicture and description on Etsy to a variation of the snap card game to develop memory.Milton Bradley Co. 1910
Translations From the 1830s there were a number of translations and adaptations of the rhyme in Europe. In France appeared Aventures plaisantes de Madame Gaudichon et de son chien (1832), imitées de l'anglais (imitated from the English), in which the dog had been given the name Zozo.Bibliographie de la France In about 1830 there was a German translation, Komische Abentheuer der Frau Hubbard und ihrein Hunde (The comic adventures of Dame Hubbard and her dog), which adapted the Robert Branston illustrations and was published in Mainz.Scroll down for a page from this on the Princeton University site It was followed some years later by another German translation that also used the Branston illustrations, Geschichte der Madam Rips und ihres Hundes Bello (The tale of Madam Rep and her dog Woof).Scroll down for all the pictures at Andy's Early Comics Archive
Later came two Dutch translations: In the 1850s, Kluchtige tafereelen van Grootje Goedsloof met haar aardig hondje Blaf (Comical scenes of Granny Goodleaf with her pretty doggy Woof). In that, the Branston illustrations are provided with rhyming captions and the story is told in a more leisurely manner.Click back (volgende) for the whole edition at Digitale bibliotheek de nederlandse letteren It was followed in 1860 by Moeder Hubbard en haar hond.Digitale bibliotheek de nederlandse letteren Though that keeps more or less to the original story-line, it too is at wordier length. The opening lines, which have no English counterpart, give a fair idea of its discursive style.
In 1976 there was a Chinese translation by H.Y. Xiao,A preview of the e-book's cover and first two stanzas on Google Books which was accompanied by the detailed Walter Crane illustrations of 1873.Walter Crane's toy-book at the online archive Gabriella Rouf returned to Robert Branston's designs to accompany her more recent Italian translation Le divertenti avventure di Nonna Renza e il suo cane (2014).Il Covile, 17 September, 2014 In this, Granny Rep (Nonna Renza) is named for the rep material once used to make what were known as Mother Hubbard dresses after the nursery rhyme that was their inspiration.
There have also been two Russian translations of the rhyme.Illustrated details on the Cotsen Library site Babushka Zabavushka i sobachka Bum (The Jolly Grandma and her Little Dog Boom, 1906),Cover and some pages at OLX in the version by Raisa Kudasheva (1878–1964), contained the additional detail of the dog's taking a sled ride.See the page illustration at the Cotsen Library But while it is the dog's ingenuity which has usually been emphasised, the Pudel of Samuil Marshak's 1927 adaptation is almost purely mischievous.Illustrations from a 1934 edition at Kline Books This in turn was adapted by Nina Shorina (born 1943) into her short animated film of 1985.пудель (Poodle) is available on YouTube
Byproducts Pantomime A comic sketch published in 1818 has a character expostulate: "Is it not ridiculous for us grown people to be going to see Mother Goose, Tom Thumb, Old Mother Hubbard, and suchlike infantile fooleries; or to misspend our time at pantomimes and at rope dancings?""The Hermit of London or Sketches of English Manners XVII", in The Literary Gazette 93, 31 October 1818, p.700 What kind of show contained those characters is not explained. It was not until a decade later that there was mention of a Christmas pantomime, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, that was "founded on the familiar nursery-tale of Old Mother Hubbard and her dog".The Sphynx #24, 15 December 1827, p.37 Thereafter, as many familiar characters as possible were packed into the same production, which was given a composite title. Mother Hubbard and Her Dog or Harlequin & Tales of the Nursery, by Thomas John Dibdin and Charles Farley, was put on in 1833 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.Playbill at Theatregoing And for the 1861–2 season at Drury Lane there was Harlequin and the House that Jack Built or Old Mother Hubbard and her Wonderful Dog by E.L.Blanchard. In this the scene opened in Mother Hubbard's cottage, where she and her dog were joined by her former rivals, Dame Trot with her cat and Dame Wiggins of Lee.Jeffrey Richards, The Golden Age of Pantomime, I.B.Tauris 2014, p.247
The custom of cross referencing has persisted: as in David Wood's 1975 script, where Mother Hubbard is reunited, as she was two centuries before, with the old woman who lived in a shoe.Old Mother Hubbard at the author's website More recently still, Paul Reakes has provided a twist to the genre with his Old Mother Hubbard – A Wild West Pantomime Adventure (1993).An online synopsis
Comic parodies