Goosey, Goosey Gander
Version 1
Goosey, Goosey Gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and Downstairs,
And in my lady’s chamber.
There I met an old man,
Who would not say his prayers;
I took him by the left hand,
And sent him down the stairs.
Source: Nursery Rhymes & Nursery Songs (1870)
Version 2
Goosey Goosey Gander where shall we wander
Up stairs and down stairs and in my Lady’s chamber.
Old father long legs will not say his Prayers,
Take him by the left leg and throw him downstairs.
Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1997)
Version 3
Goose-a, goose-a, gander,
Where shall I wander?
Up stairs, down stars,
In my lady’s chamber;
There you’ll find a cup of sack
And a race of ginger,
Source: Ritson, Gammer Gurton's garland, or, The nursery Parnassus: a choice collection of pretty songs and verses for the amusement of all little good children who can neither read nor run (1866)
Historical Background
Dating back to the sixteenth century, “Goosey Goosey Gander” presumably refers to the “Priest Holes”—very small hiding rooms in leading Catholic houses—Catholic priests hid in to escape persecution from Protestants. After Henry VIII was snubbed by Rome in his request to divorce Catherine of Aragon to marry his mistress Anne Boleyn, he appointed himself head of the Church and banned the practice of the Catholic faith. Any priests found in hiding were punished with death along with anyone helping to harbor them. The last line of the rhyme “I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs” speaks to the cruelty and persecution to which Catholics were subjected.
