Mother Carey

Mother Carey
Mother Carey
Jessie Wilcox Smith - The Water Babies - 05900v.jpg

Illustration by Jessie Wilcox Smith for The Water Babies
Created by Traditional
Portrayed by John Masefield, Charles Kingsley, Jessie Wilcox Smith, ...


Mother Carey was a supernatural figure personifying the cruel and threatening sea in the imagination of 19th-century English-speaking sailors. She was a similar character to Davy Jones (who may be her husband[1]).

The name seems to be derived from the Latin expression Mater cara ("Precious Mother"), which sometimes refers to the Virgin Mary.[2]

John Masefield described her in the poem "Mother Carey (as told me by the bo'sun)" in his collection "Salt Water Ballads" (1902).[1] Here she and Davy Jones are a fearsome couple responsible for storms and ship-wrecks.

In a Cicely Fox Smith poem entitled "Mother Carey", she calls old sailors to return to the sea.[3]

The character appears as a fairy in Charles Kingsley's "The Water Babies". She lives near the North Pole and helps Tom find the Other-end-of-Nowhere. She is shown in one of Jessie Wilcox Smith's illustrations for this book. [4]

Storm-petrels (thought by sailors to be the souls of dead seamen) are called Mother Carey's Chickens. Giant petrels are called Mother Carey's Geese. [2]

References

  1. ^ a b Masefield, John (1902), Salt Water Ballads, London: Grant Richards, 1902, ISBN 1110895364  The poem in question can also be found on-line, for instance in the Lied and Art Song Texts Page.
  2. ^ a b See entry "Mother Carey's Chickens" on p. 597 of the 1890 edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable published by Cassell (London). This is available online from the Internet Archive.
  3. ^ "Mother Carey" by Cicely Fox Smith in "SONGS & CHANTIES: 1914-1916", edited by Cicely Fox Smith, published by Elkin Mathews (London) in 1919. Available on-line at [1].
  4. ^ Kingsley, Charles (1863), The Water-Babies, Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-282238-1  Available on-line, for instance with Jessie Wilcox Smith's illustrations at The University of Adelaide Library.

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  • Mother Carey's Chickens (film) — Mother Carey s Chickens Directed by Rowland V. Lee Produced by Pandro S. Berman Written by S.K. Lauren Gertrude Purcell Starring …   Wikipedia

  • Mother Carey's chicken — Mother Moth er (m[u^][th] [ e]r), n. [OE. moder, AS. m[=o]dor; akin to D. moeder, OS. m[=o]dar, G. mutter, OHG. muotar, Icel. m[=o][eth]ir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ. mate, Ir. & Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr. mh thr, Skr. m[=a]t[.r]; cf …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mother Carey's goose — Mother Moth er (m[u^][th] [ e]r), n. [OE. moder, AS. m[=o]dor; akin to D. moeder, OS. m[=o]dar, G. mutter, OHG. muotar, Icel. m[=o][eth]ir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ. mate, Ir. & Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr. mh thr, Skr. m[=a]t[.r]; cf …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mother Carey's Chickens (novel) — Mother Carey s Chickens is a novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin published in 1911 by Houghton Mifflin. It tells the story of a poor but happy family of four children who, in spite of being fatherless, make the lives of others better. Their home life… …   Wikipedia

  • Mother Carey's chicken — [ker′ēz] n. [< ?] STORM PETREL …   English World dictionary

  • mother carey's goose — noun Usage: usually capitalized M&C : giant petrel * * * Mother Carey s chicken or Mother Carey s goose noun The storm petrel, or similar bird • • • Main Entry: ↑mother …   Useful english dictionary

  • Mother Carey's chickens —    This is a nickname among late 18th century sailors for storm petrels, or for snowflakes. Mother Carey is never mentioned in any other connection; she was probably imagined as a crone who controlled bad weather. There is no evidence for the… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • Mother Carey's goose — Glutton Glut ton, n. [OE. glotoun, glotun, F. glouton, fr. L. gluto, glutto. See {Glut}.] [1913 Webster] 1. One who eats voraciously, or to excess; a gormandizer. [1913 Webster] 2. Fig.: One who gluts himself. [1913 Webster] Gluttons in murder,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mother Carey's chicken — noun medium sized storm petrel • Syn: ↑Mother Carey s hen, ↑Oceanites oceanicus • Hypernyms: ↑storm petrel • Member Holonyms: ↑Oceanites, ↑genus Oceanites …   Useful english dictionary

  • Mother Carey's hen — noun medium sized storm petrel • Syn: ↑Mother Carey s chicken, ↑Oceanites oceanicus • Hypernyms: ↑storm petrel • Member Holonyms: ↑Oceanites, ↑genus Oceanites * * * …   Useful english dictionary

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