Cackle, Cackle, Mother Goose
Version 1
Cackle, cackle, Mother Goose,
Have you any feathers loose?
Truly have I, pretty fellow,
Half enough to fill a pillow.
Here are quills, take one or two,
And down to make a bed for you.
(Mother Goose Club Version)
Version 2
Cackle, cackle, Mother Goose,
Have you any feathers loose?
Truly have I, pretty fellow,
Half enough to fill a pillow.
And here are quills, take one or ten,
And make from each, pop-gun or pen.
Source: Walter, Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes (1924)
Historical Background
Though Mother Goose is a prominent figure in children’s literature, almost nothing is known about the author or authors of the rhymes that are traditionally attributed to her. The oldest known use of the name “Mother Goose” (“Mere l’Oye”) was by the French critic Jean Loret in 1650; in 1697, his fellow countryman Charles Perrault published a collection of children’s stories as “Tales of Mother Goose,” though none of the rhymes we normally associate with Mother Goose were included. First among those most commonly connected with the name was a Bostonian woman named Elizabeth Foster Goose (1665 – 1758). The wife of King Robert II of France, known variously as Berthe la Fileuse (“Bertha the Spinner”) and Berthe pied d’oie (“Goose-Foot Bertha”) is also a popular candidate, though there is no record that either of them had any connection with the authoring or collection of nursery rhymes.
Download the sheet music of this rhyme
