Talk:Monday's Child

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I found this stub while I was myself researching this poem, so I'll try to add further information, but most of it is probably irrelevant, heresay or from sources that aren't necessarily credible. It's proven somewhat hard, however, to come across any firm information regarding source, history and so on. I'm not really Wiki-savant enough to produce an article in an appropriate format. However, if someone wants to add any of the info into the main article, here it is.

This poem, in one form or another, appears to have been around for hundreds of years. Reference is made to it in the 1700s and 1800s although it seems likely that it existed prior to that time. The examples below suggest that it may have been British in origin.

I've also seen the last line, for the Sabbath day as being: "Is bonny and bright and happy and gay" Source 1 "Is fair and wise and good and gay" Source 2 "Is bonny and bright and good and gay" Source 3 "Is blithe and bonny and good and gay" Source 4

Source 4 also suggests that there is some variation with the earlier verses (it gives the example of swapping Wednesday/Thursday and Friday/Saturday). In addition, there is a suggestion that the poem could be meant as a method of learning the days of the week, as opposed to simply associating days with personality traits. Source 5

As has been noted by several sites, the poem doesn't explicitly mention Sunday, although in the UK it's generally accepted that the "Sabbath Day" refers to Sunday. However, various cultures and religions use other days for the Sabbath, and one variant of the poem lists the last couple of lines as:

"But the child that works hard on the Sabbath Day,   is blithe and bonny, good and gay" Source 6

It is generally regarded that the original author of this poem is unknown, and is usually credited as such. However, "The Columbia World of Quotations" attributes the poem to Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century).

"A Book of Quotations" by W. Gurney Benham, from 1914, contains a quotation that could be a variant of this poem (possibly a local dialect). This example is credited as being from "Brand's Popular Antiquities":

"Born of a Monday, fair in face,    Born of a Tuesday, full of God's grace,     Born of a Wednesday, merry and glad,     Born of a Thursday, sour and sad,     Born of a Friday, Godly given,     Born of a Saturday, work for your living,     Born of a Sunday, ne'er shall we want,     So there ends the week, and there's an end on't."

Secondly, there is a more familiar structured quotation, from "Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire", vol. 2, ed. Anna E.K.S. Bray (1838):

"Monday’s child is fair in face,   Tuesday’s child is full of grace,    Wednesday’s child is full of woe,    Thursday’s child has far to go,    Friday’s child is loving and giving,    Saturday’s child works hard for its living;    And a child that is born on a Christmas day,    Is fair and wise, good and gay."

The example above does not contain a line for Sunday or the Sabbath, and the similar wording suggests that this variation was modified to produce the more familiar example we tend to use today.

The words are sometimes put to music, as in Source 7. It has also been (or may have been) an influence in a number of songs in popular culture:

Tuesday's Child - Steven Curtis Chapman (see also these wiki pages - here and here)

Thursday's Child - David Bowie (see also this wiki article)

Friday's Child - Will Young (these Wiki articles also - Will Young and Friday's Child (song))

Eyes Of The World - Fleetwood Mac (here and here for wiki articles)

Althea - Grateful Dead (wiki pages here and here)

Finally, there's another stub that probably should be a redirect to here, or merged. As far as I have found, I've never seen it called Friday's Child in preferance to Monday's Child.

Hope some of that's interesting, anyway.

Andy (Wiki novice) 82.2.148.214 22:48, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Isn't Wednesday Addams from the Addam's family named for this poem? Or so that just a rumor?

Origin section
I removed the wiki links from this line because they don't make sense. Saturday is derived from Saturn, not Sabbath, and Saturn wasn't bonny or happy anywhere I've seen him.
 * But the child that is born on Sabbath-day (Saturday=Sabbath)
 * Is bonny and happy and wise and gay.

I don't know about the accuracy of the rest of the section. A source would be nice. Viracocha 17:45, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Friday isn't Freyas day but belongs to her brother Frey. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.223.2.169 (talk) 19:22, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

The Sabbath is the seventh day of the Jewish week and corresponds to Saturday. Several languages still refer to Saturday as the Sabbath eg. Spanish "sabado". The Christian week is based on the Jewish week as Jesus rose on the first day of the week. Several languages still refer to Sunday as the Lord's day, eg. Spanish "domingo". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.154.215.57 (talk) 13:42, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

its kind of silly to use this nursery rhyme as a guide.. especially considering that the calendar of today is probably not accurate anymore, and thus the day that we call friday is probably really saturday or sunday...its not like time and date keeping was very accurate until very recently in the grand scheme of things.. but yes as far as the sabbath day goes, the real 7th day/sabbath is saturday not sunday, which also renders this nursery rhyme meritless —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.209.81.9 (talk) 11:34, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

I've just gone ahead and removed the whole section, since it seems to be entirely speculative and the worst kind of new age hippie claptrap. It will, of course, be instantly restored by some Zephry Moonchyld type user. Rogerborg (talk) 14:45, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Monday's child is fair of face
"Monday's child is fair of face. and a teriible dancer, a fondness for cookis too"?? I'll just go ahead and remove that second part, shall I? Extenebris 11:58, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Saturday Rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.78.44.158 (talk) 00:41, 5 July 2008 (UTC)


 * i was born on a Monday~the first one of the year~ 2601:547:B00:6578:E267:7376:1F1A:5E42 (talk) 20:48, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

Is bonny and blithe and good and gay
"Is bonny and blithe and good and gay. "gay being happy" also a dynamite dancer." Predictable vandalism. Removed. Extenebris 12:02, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

"Is bonny and Blythe and Good and Gay." is, in fact, the line.

The fact that some, particularly Americans, seem to have formed a puerile association of this final line with homosexuality is a comment on them more than anything but, if they are to bowlderise the poem, then at least replace the first conjuction in the new final line with a comma so as to preserve the meter of the piece. Argh! Yanks! honestly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.159.243.171 (talk) 01:20, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

We Americans just love being stereotyped. Really, enlighten us further. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.51.145.103 (talk) 06:28, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

Got the quote wrong or the day?
It says in the article that for each kid born on a given day of the week there is a "positive future except one--Thursday." But the rhyme states, "Wednesday's child is full of woe, Thursday's child has far to go..." Sounds to me like Wednesday's kid is the unlucky one since "far to go" could mean just about anything, good, bad or indifferent. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.51.145.103 (talk) 06:26, 29 March 2016 (UTC)