I was reading a review of John Ashbury's /Where Shall I Wander,
/(published in 2005) the title of which comes from the nursery rhyme
"Goosey Goosey Gander:
Goosey goosey gander
Where shall I wander
Upstairs and downstairs
In my lady's chamber
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers
So I took him by the left leg
And threw him down the stairs
I had a Lit-Ideas moment and couldn't go on with the review for thinking
about this nursery rhyme. The wandering that leads up to my lady's
chamber, one might think in these modern adulterous times was to find
the fellow that is cuckolding you, but "an old man"? Speaking as one,
that doesn't sound right. And what do his prayers have to do with
anything? This morning I checked Wikipedia and found,
*"Most historians believe that this rhyme refers to priest holes
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_hole>—hiding places for itinerant
Catholic <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism> priests during the
persecutions under King Henry VIII
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England> and later under
Oliver Cromwell <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell>. Once
discovered the priest would be forcibly taken from the house ('thrown
down the stairs') and treated badly. Amateur historian Chris Roberts
suggests further that the rhyme is linked to the propaganda campaign
against the Catholic Church during the reign of Henry VIII.*
**
*"Other interpretations exist. Mark Cocker and Richard Mabey
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Mabey> note in /Birds Britannica
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_Britannica>/ that the greylag goose
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greylag_goose> has for millennia been
associated with fertility, that "goose" still has a sexual meaning in
British culture, and that the nursery rhyme preserves these sexual
overtones ("In my lady's chamber").^" *
Despite my attraction to interpretation number two, it doesn't answer my
questions; whereas interpretation number one does. I found this further
explanation which is provided without references:
*"Back in 16th century Europe, most people were busy either fighting off
plagues or killing off Catholics. Priests especially were in high demand
as there was a reward for the Protestant who was able to find and
execute one. *
**
*"The method of execution was often tying him by the legs and throwing
him down a flight of stairs (thus the last line in the rhyme). Unless he
would begin to say his prayers in English rather than Latin, he would
bounce down the steps faster than your childhood Slinky. If he did give
in, he was spared by--oh wait, no. They threw him down the stairs
regardless.*
**
*"So that's all well and good, but what the hell does the phrase "Goosey
Goosey Gander" have to do with anything?*
**
*"Well, it's thought that "Goosey" is referencing an old slang term
"goose" which was a nice but roundabout way of saying "voluptuous lady
of the night" which in turn is a euphemism for "goddamn dirty hooker."
In fact, the term "goose bumps" was originally slang for the red bumps
caused by venereal diseases."*
Hmm. If the rhyme is about catching Catholic priests, the last bit
doesn't really explain why "goosey goosey gander' is in the rhyme
though, does it? If "goose" refers to a female goose (which doesn't
have a special term like the male goose which is called a gander) then
why "gander" after "goosey goosey"? And if the goose is a "voluptuoous
lady of the night" would her chamber be called "my lady's"? "My lady"
seems a more respectful term than one (here in the 21st century) one
would apply to a lady of the night, but perhaps not in the 16th century.
Maybe a philologist can answer these questions.
Lawrence
*^
*