Goosey Goosey Gander

"Goosey Goosey Gander" is an English Nursery Rhyme. The lyrics to the song are:

Goosey Goosey Gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my Lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs.

The rhyme is sometimes concluded with the following three lines:

The stairs went "crack"
He broke his back
And all the little ducks went "quack, quack, quack"

Historical references

"Goosey Goosey Gander", whilst a nonsense phrase, plays on the name for a male goose "gander", and makes it appear that the speaker is possibly addressing a goose. Speaking to an animal is a common device in Nursery Rhymes such as "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat".

The rhyme possibly refers to Oliver Cromwell and his Roundheads. The first line is a reference to "goose-stepping" Roundheads who would search houses for Royalists. Anyone who refused to accept Puritan ways was arrested and thrown in jail. The rhyme and ghosts of Roundhead soldiers appeared in several episodes of the first "Sapphire & Steel" serial.

"Goosey" was also the nickname of the mistress of King George I, Madame Schulenberg (later the Duchess of Kendal). The "Gander" referred to would therefore be the King himself. Schulenberg is referred to as such in "Came Ye O'er Frae France".

As with all nursery rhymes, parts of it are used in different rhymes across the world, as it is spoken from person to person. For example, the last two lines are apparently occasionally added to "Ring a Ring o' Roses".

There are certain historians that believe that there were more sexual connotations to this seemingly innocuous children's rhyme. According to amateur historian Chris Roberts, the rhyme is heavily linked to the propaganda campaign against the Catholic Church during the reign of King Henry VIII. A 'goose' was a Tudor euphemism for prostitute [1] and the origin of the term 'goose bumps' can also be traced back to this time, originally meaning the bumps and pustules associated with venereal disease. Other historical sources corroborate this as a moral tale about not being caught with your trousers down.

A 'left leg' or 'left footer' has been handed down historically as a snide term for Catholic, presumably from this rhyme, although according to certain sources, the 'left-legger' part of the rhyme comes from the manner in which the priest was tortured and executed. The priest had a rope tied around his ankle and he was hurled down a set of stone steps repeatedly until the confession was extracted or he was dead or, most likely, both. [2] [3] [4] If the 'old man' (meaning the priest) wouldn't say his prayers in English (as opposed to Latin), he was executed. [5]

References

[http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide12/part10.html] [http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide12/part10.html Information from Channel 4 on the 'Winchester Geese' in a section called 'Prostitution'.] See also the Wiki on Winchester Palace.

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3526979.stm] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3526979.stm BBC news article on Chris Roberts' book]

[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4933345] [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4933345 Link to NPR interview about the rhyme with Chris Roberts]

[http://users.senet.com.au/~nparish/stories/goosey%20goosey.htm] [http://users.senet.com.au/~nparish/stories/goosey%20goosey.htm Article in St Ignatius Parish, Adelaide, Australia, Newsletter]

[http://www.rhymes.org.uk/goosey_goosey_gander.htm] [http://www.rhymes.org.uk/goosey_goosey_gander.htm Information on the rhyme from Rhymes.org.uk]