Talk:Old Mother Hubbard

Nob Cheese
This brings a tear to my eye. --Badmuthahubbard 11:19, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Diceman
Do you guys think we should put a reference to the extremely controversial comedian Andrew Dice Clay on here? He has his own version of the Old Mother Hubbard Rhyme. It goes like THIS:

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard

To get her poor doggie a bone

When she bent over

Rover took Over

And gave her a bone of her own! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.154.80.127 (talk) 17:12, 10 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Hardly, it's not new and if this comedian Andrew Dice Clay is using it, he's hardly original either..!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.130.121.201 (talk • contribs)

Who is Mother Hubbard?
On a speculative note ... Moth-ear Hob Bard or Mother Hop-Beard / Beered might be the origin of sweet old ma Hubbard. If so, the former makes reference to both a devil and something more than your usual poetaster. Moth is also the old Canaanite deified form of Death. Moth-Ears (more usually referring to them having been chewed about - here, perhaps, by the dog) might refer to ears of grain - as used in brewing. The Typhonian beast, symbol of the Egyptian Seth (Satan) had such ears. A Hop-Beard would seem to be beer-froth on the chin - though it might refer to hops as a dubious modesty shield for a Bacchante. Did Mother Hubbard run a sly-grog shop? Was the dog a government agent being deceived on this issue with an empty store? 210.50.143.21 (talk) 03:34, 24 July 2010 (UTC) Ian Ison

I'm skeptical. I honestly believe that there was a fad for this in...either the late 18th, or early 19th century. The "Old Dame Trot" thing, unless its been invented out of whole cloth, is way too close to be unrelated -- my guess is, there had been "comical rhymes" written about the character (or a general "old woman and household pet" thing), immediately prior to the rhyme as published.... Unfortunately, the printed record is slim. Ah well, time will tell. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.235.56.24 (talk) 10:25, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raliegh
I can't remember where, but I was taught in school that this was a reference to Elizabeth trying to arrange honours for Sir Walter Raleigh, but she had none to bestow (the cupboard was bare).98.248.37.60 (talk) 19:14, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

When Was Old Mother Hubbard First Published
With reference to the suggestion that the rhyme was published before 1804: I have a very ragged and torn booklet from 1894 called Old Mother Hubbard of 1793...Old Mother Hubbard of Today Dean & Son (1893)claiming to be a centenary issue in which direct reference is made, with illustrations, to an earlier version of Old Mother Hubbard dated 1793. This would appear to predate the version in the print and text in this Old Mother Hubbard Wikipedia entry. However I have now found reference to 'Children's Books of Yesterday', Cambridge University Press, edited by Percy H Muir, a catalogue of an Exhibition in 1946 which lists my booklet at entry 285 as "A gross piece of falsification. The dates in the facsimile of the original edition have been altered to make it appear that this edition is the centenary one. No. 281 clearly shows that the rhyme was not written until 1804." 146.199.172.189 (talk) 14:42, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

"Practical use"
What is a "practical use" for a nursery rhyme? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:58, 10 October 2019 (UTC)
 * See particularly the "Educational" section.
 * My thanks for a lot of the other tweaks that you did at speed just now. If you know how to correct the hanging last line effect in the verse quotations, I'd be very grateful. Sweetpool50 (talk) 22:38, 10 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Thank. No worries. I'll try and have a look. I assume that by "practical use" you mean "adorning money boxes so as to encourage thrift to a variation of the snap card game to develop memory"? Martinevans123 (talk) 09:24, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I moved the ref out of the poem format and the "Puss sat up and mewed" line has now rejoined the last stanza. Is that what you wanted? Regards. Martinevans123 (talk) 09:28, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
 * That's great, if inconvenient. I'll sort out the format in the other two instances now.
 * The article was getting overgrown, so I didn't dwell too much on the other 'practical' instances, such as using the name in more advertizing, for brand names, and so on. I wanted to keep the focus mostly on the rhyme itself but I'll try and make a few more additions to fill gaps. Sweetpool50 (talk) 11:10, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

"Fire"
Just to note:
 * "Despite its sexual overtones, the song had an innocuous origin. Noel Redding, bass player for the Experience, invited Hendrix to his mother's house on a cold New Year's Eve in Folkestone, England, after a performance. Hendrix asked Noel's mother if he could stand next to her fireplace to warm himself. She agreed, but her Great Dane was in the way, so Hendrix let out with, "Aw, move over, Rover, and let Jimi take over". Hendrix later joked with the lyric: "Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to find her poor dog a bone, but when she bent over Rover took over, 'cause Rover had a bone of his own! Shakespeare, page 35!"

May be worth a brief link or mention? Martinevans123 (talk) 09:48, 11 October 2019 (UTC)


 * That kite was flown in 2008 (above) and got blown into the long grass. It's not essentially relevant to the nursery rhyme, it's just a trivia magnet. Sweetpool50 (talk) 11:15, 11 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Well that was 11 years ago. Perhaps the long grass needs a bit of trimming by now. And this looks like more of a solid citation. Perhaps the comedian deserves more investigation and a mention also? Martinevans123 (talk) 09:16, 21 October 2019 (UTC)