Mary Had a Little Lamb

The nursery rhyme was first published by the Boston publishing firm Marsh, Capen & Lyon, as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale on May 24, 1830, and was possibly inspired by an actual incident.[1] As described in one of Hale's biographies:

"Sarah began teaching young boys and girls in a small school not far from her home [in Newport, New Hampshire]...It was at this small school that the incident involving 'Mary's Lamb' is reputed to have taken place. Sarah was surprised one morning to see one of her students, a girl named Mary, enter the classroom followed by her pet lamb. The visitor was far too distracting to be permitted to remain in the building and so Sarah 'turned him out.' The lamb stayed nearby till school was dismissed and then ran up to Mary looking for attention and protection. The other youngsters wanted to know why the lamb loved Mary so much and their teacher explained it was because Mary loved her pet. Then Sarah used the incident to get a moral across to the class:

And you each gentle animal,

In confidence may bind,

And make them answer to your call,

If you are always kind."[2]

The Redstone School (1798), now in Sudbury, Massachusetts, is the schoolhouse Mary Tyler attended.

In 1876, at the age of 70 years old, a woman named Mary Tyler (previously Mary Sawyer) emerged to claim that she was the "Mary" from the poem.[3] As a young girl, Mary Sawyer (later Mary Tyler) kept a pet lamb that she took to school one day at the suggestion of her brother. A commotion naturally ensued. Mary recalled: "Visiting school that morning was a young man by the name of John Roulstone, a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel Capen, who was then settled in Sterling. It was the custom then for students to prepare for college with ministers, and for this purpose Roulstone was studying with his uncle. The young man was very much pleased with the incident of the lamb; and the next day he rode across the fields on horseback to the little old schoolhouse and handed me a slip of paper which had written upon it the three original stanzas of the poem ..."[4] This account, however, is not supported by evidence beyond Mary's memory—the "slip of paper" has never been produced as evidence. The earliest existing evidence of the poem's publication is Sarah Josepha Hale's 1830 collection of poems, supporting her complete authorship of the poem.

Even though this claim lives on unsupported by evidence, multiple sites in the town of Sterling, Massachusetts, perpetuate the claim. A 2-foot-tall statue and historical marker representing Mary's Little Lamb stands in the town center.[5] The Redstone School, where Mary Sawyer attended school and purports the incident takes place, was built in 1798, was purchased[6] by Henry Ford and relocated to a churchyard on the property of Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Mary Sawyer's house, located in Sterling, Massachusetts, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, but was destroyed by arson on August 12, 2007.[7]

The text as originally published[8] consisted of three stanzas, each of eight lines, although the ABAB rhyming scheme allows each stanza to be divided into two four-line parts.

         MARY’S LAMB.

Mary had a little lamb,
   Its fleece was white as snow,
And every where that Mary went
   The lamb was sure to go ;
He followed her to school one day—
   That was against the rule,
It made the children laugh and play,
   To see a lamb at school.

And so the Teacher turned him out,
   But still he lingered near,
And waited patiently about,
   Till Mary did appear ;
And then he ran to her, and laid
   His head upon her arm,
As if he said—‘ I’m not afraid—
   You’ll keep me from all harm.’

‘ What makes the lamb love Mary so ?’
   The eager children cry—
‘ O, Mary loves the lamb, you know,’
   The Teacher did reply ;—
‘ And you each gentle animal
   In confidence may bind,
And make them follow at your call,
   If you are always kind.’

In the 1830s, Lowell Mason set the nursery rhyme to a melody adding repetition in the verses:

Mary had a little lamb,
Little lamb, little lamb,
Mary had a little lamb
Whose fleece was white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went,
Mary went, Mary went,
Everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day,
School one day, school one day,
He followed her to school one day
Which was against the rules.

It made the children laugh and play,
Laugh and play, laugh and play,
It made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out,
Turned it out, turned it out,
And so the teacher turned it out,
But still it lingered near,

He waited patiently about,
Patiently about, patiently about,
He waited patiently about,
Till Mary did appear.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?
Love Mary so? Love Mary so?
Why does the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cried.

"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,
Lamb, you know, lamb, you know,
Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"
The teacher did reply.[9]

The rhyme was the first audio recorded by Thomas Edison on his newly invented phonograph in 1877.[10] It was the first instance of recorded English verse[10], following the recording of the French folk song "Au clair de la lune" by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville in 1860. In 1927, Edison reenacted the recording, which still survives.[11] The earliest recording (1878) was retrieved by 3D imaging equipment in 2012.[12]

Note: This melody is the British version, which is slightly different from the American version.

• List of nursery rhymes