Mary Had a Little Lamb is a hugely popular rhyme in many parts of the world. This rhyme originated in the US during the 19th century. It is inspired by a real incident and a little girl named Mary. How cool is that!
Of course, there’s a controversy surrounding the incident and who the actual Mary was. Needless to say, all this made the rhyme even more popular. There are British and American versions of the rhyme as well. The difference is in the melody and how you sing the rhyme.
Continue reading to know more about Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Written Lyrics
Mary had a little lamb,
little lamb, little lamb.
Mary had a little lamb,
it`s fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
Mary went, Mary went,
and everywhere that Mary went
- the lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day
school one day, school one day.
It 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 in 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,
And waited patiently about,
patiently about, patiently about,
And 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 cry.
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know."
The lamb, you know, the lamb, you know,
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"
the teacher did reply.
Printable Lyrics
Click here to download the printable PDF with full lyrics of the nursery rhyme.
Photo Lyrics
Save the below image to get the lyrics of Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Video Links
Check out this animated video with lyrics:
Watch the Indianized version of the rhyme:
Origins and History
Mary Had a Little Lamb was first published in Boston by Marsh, Capen & Lyon in 1830. Sarah Josepha Hale, an American writer and activist, wrote the poem. She wrote in her biography that the poem was inspired by a real-life incident.
The author was a teacher in New Port when one of her students, Mary, arrived at school with the lamb following her. The lamb apparently waited outside for Mary until the school was over. It seems that the teacher (Sarah) explained to other students that Mary loved her lamb, and it loved her. It gave her a chance to explain moral values to kids.
In 1876, a 70-year-old lady, Mary Tyler, said that she was the Mary in the poem. She said she took her pet lamb to school according to her brother’s suggestion. She even claimed to have a slip of paper with the first three stanzas of the poem, written by John Roulstone. However, the paper was never found, nor did any other evidence merge to support her claim.
Yet, her claims got popular enough for the town of Sterling in Massachusetts to erect a statue of Mary and her lamb to signify the incident. Mary apparently went to The Redstone School built in 1798.
The original poem had three stanzas with eight lines in each. Lowell Mason, an American music director, created a tune for the poem sometime in the 1830s. He also edited the lyrics a bit to create repetitions to set the lyrics to the melody.
FAQs
Yes, it does. It follows the AABB rhyme scheme. The eight lines in each stanza are divided into two parts, with four in each to fit the rhyme scheme.
Yes. Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney of the Paul McCartney and Wings rock band created a non-album single with the same title. The song is based on the nursery rhyme.
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