Who Wrote “Old Mother Hubbard”?

Sometimes, it feels like old nursery rhymes are emblazoned on our DNA when we’re born. Do you remember learning the name Old Mother Hubbard? Similarly, do you ever remember not knowing the name Old Mother Hubbard?

Again: emblazoned on our DNA.

[RELATED: Meaning Behind the Nursery Rhyme: “Skinnamarink”]

But what is the story behind the beloved story starring Old Mother Hubbard? Let’s dive in.

Who Wrote “Old Mother Hubbard”?

Today, the rhyme is attributed to the writer Sarah Catherine Martin in 1805. Her name is on the first-ever published version of The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog. Martin, who lived from 1768 to 1826, wrote:

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the Cupboard,
To give the poor Dog a bone;
When she came there,
The Cupboard was bare,
And so the poor Dog had none.

She went to the Baker’s
To buy him some Bread;
When she came back
The Dog was dead!

She went to the Undertaker’s
To buy him a coffin;
When she came back
The Dog was laughing.

But Did She Write It?

Naturally, with a traditional work this old, there is some dispute over who the author of the original work is.

The rhyme, which begins with the three stanzas above, is then followed by more “actions” between Old Mother Hubbard and her dog. X happens then Y follows.

But there is the thought that in Martin’s published work, only the extra stanzas she wrote were her own. And that the original more traditional three come from further back in history.

For example, the rhyme between “coffin” and “laughing,” some scholars say, points to styles and off-rhymes from many years prior to the early 1800s.

The writer James Orchard Halliwell, an English Shakespearean scholar, believes that, because of that particular rhyme, “the tale of ‘Old Mother Hubbard’ is undoubtedly of some antiquity [i.e. the ancient past].”

Martin’s Book

The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog, which was published with intricate illustrations made from copper plates, was very popular at the time. There was also “a sequel…written by another hand.”

The popularity of the book also indicated that there was a new market for nonsense work and imaginative work and that these clever rhymes didn’t always have to offer advice or moralistic points of view.

1591

While not associated with the nursery rhyme content-wise, there was a work titled Mother Hubbard’s Tale by Edmund Spenser published in 1591. But that involved an ape and a fox. In 1906, Thomas Middleton published Father Hubbard’s Tales.

Final Thoughts

While “Old Mother Hubbard” may seem like nonsense and fantastical, with a dog coming back to life and laughing, it also provides the human mind with a way of dealing with finality. To push away death is to just dream.

Photo by Gettyimages.com