Looking for origins of poem

[Erin@MHCC]

Hi everyone. I happened upon your forum while searching for the origins of a poem I found in some artifacts at the small museum where I work. I was hoping I could get some input from you.

A little background: I have been involved in cataloging our huge backlog of artifacts, and in the process found an original handwritten script for a play. We think the play was written sometime around 1900, and was most likely an amateur work. The donor of the script has no idea who wrote it, or when. It was simply given by him to us in a box of family artifacts that he though might generate some interest... boy was he right! The only clue we have about the author are the initials G.A. The play is titled "A Little Study in Scheming". We are hoping to have the play performed on our museum grounds as a bit of outdoor theatre as a fundraiser, but we would like to find out a little more history on the play if possible.

That leads me to the question of the poem. The poem is contained within the play. The play provides no context as to time period, but we might be able to use the poem to give us some clues. For all we know the poem may be written by the playwrite him/herself. I thought if you folks could read it and give any input that crosses your mind I would be very grateful.

As far as the context of the poem within the play: The poem is being recited by the servant of a fairly well of household. The man of the house was injured when his barn collapsed after being tricked by his daughter who was smitten over a young man. She has since married the young man without her father's blessing, and the father is now lamenting this fact, and that he has since found out the young man is heir to a small fortune (in which case the father would have indeed approved of the match). The servant recites this poem trying to show the father can be redeemed.

Untitiled Poem found in play by G.A.

There was once a rabbit with silver fur
Her little grey neighbors looked up at her
‘Till she thought with pride in the moonlit wood
The reason I’m white is because I’m good

Oh what shal (sic) I do! cried a tiny mole
A fairy has stumbled into a hole
It is full of water and crawly things
And she can’t get out for she’s hurt her wings
I did my best to catch hold of her hair
But my arms are short and she’s still in there
Oh darling white rabbit your arms are long
You say your good and I know you’re strong

Don’t tell me about it! The rabbit said
She shut up her eyes and her ears grew red
There’s lots of mud and it’s sure to stick
Because my fur is so long and thick

There’s plenty of water the wee mole cried
There are shining rivers from moorlands wide
Dews from the sky and the dear grey rain
And the fairy to kiss you clean again

Oh dear! Oh dear! sobbed the poor little mole
Who will help the fairy out of the hole
A common grey rabbit popped from the [--orse] (illegible)
I’m not very strong but I’ll try of course

His little tail bobbed as he waded in
The muddy water came up to his chin
But he caught the fairy tight by the hand
And sent her off safe into fairy land

But she kissed him first on his muddy nose
She kissed his face and his little wet toes
And when the day dawned with the early light
The dirty grey rabbit was shining white

Again, any input is most welcome. Have any of you heard the poem before? Does it strike you as familiar in anyway?

I look forward to reading any responses!

[Logos]

I did a few searches for you but nothing is coming up, but I wish you good luck in your search :)

[Erin@MHCC]

Thanks for looking! I have a feeling that the origins of this play are lost to history. Though I suspect that the author was local to us and was most likely writing under a pseudonym (if you can consider initials a pseudonym). Even though our little town was a rough and tumble place, it was home to a great many wordsmiths, any of whom could have penned this play. Amazing the literary gems that never see the light of day!

[Whifflingpin]

I was going to write that it sounds like amateur doggerel, but the more I read it, the better it got. If Browning had wrtten verse for children (Doh, he did, of course - it was Pied Piper I was thinking of) he might have penned this.


The missing word must surely be "gorse." I don't know if that's a common word in US English, but it is widely used in England (South, I think more than North, where they use "furze" or "whin") to refer to the spiky variety of broom that is very common in all wild and waste places.

[Erin@MHCC]

Thanks for that clue, Whifflingpin! I have never heard the word "gorse" before... but it is very likely that the author had. The artifacts surrounding this play/poem belonged to an Irish family... would this word have been used in Ireland as well? I am starting to suspect that either the head of this family (who was also the editor of the local paper 1885-19XX) or one of his relatives wrote this. Unfortunately there is nothing conclusive, but in this case I believe the mystery and these tantalizing little clues are all the fun!

[seahornet]

What a strange coincidence! My Mum used to recite this poem to us when we were young, and just on a whim, I thought I'd try to find it on Google - this forum was the only hit that was returned! (I've registered, just to post this reply!)

I'm sure Mum learned this poem as a child in Sheffield UK, perhaps around the 1930s? I shall ask her if she knows the origins, or even anything about the play.

Good luck!

Terry

[seahornet]

I found a reference to it here:-

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:iIKG4eBHznwJ:www.samfordschool.com/Term1-2004/Term3-2003/Week%25209%25203Dec.pdf+%22sobbed+the+poor+little+ mole%22&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=2.

I believe this school is in Australia? Well travelled little poem, isn't it!

[Erin@MHCC]

Wow! Thank-you Terry! If you find out anything about the poem's origins please let me know... that's awesome. Thank you for the link as well. It's great to have a source separate from the one I have to show that this poem was out there at some time!

I just emailed my curator with that info. I'm seriously giddy over this!

[seahornet]

Hi Erin, I spoke to my mum about this, but not a lot more to add, I'm afraid. She learned it at Manor Junior School in Sheffield, in about 1934-5, aged about 9 or 10. It would have been copied off the blackboard, so she doesn't know whether it came from a textbook, or whether the teacher wrote it down from memory. There was no mention of a play associated with the poem, it was just a stand alone piece of verse.

You know, my Mum was seriously giddy about it too. It's the first time she's ever heard of this poem since the day she learned it. She said it was like meeting an old friend that she hadn't seen for seventy years. Many thanks for that!

Terry

[seahornet]

I have found this poem, 'Who'll help a Fairy', here - http://faeriefae.50megs.com/who_will_help_a_fairy.htm - credited to Charlotte Druit Cole. (References to this lady elsewhere show her middle name as 'Druitt'.)

Charlotte Druitt Cole's work appears in a number of children's anthologies in the early part of the 20th century, though I can't find another reference to this particular poem. Does anyone have any more information on her life and work?

Best Wishes,

Terry

[Erin@MHCC]

Awesome find, Terry! Sorry it's taken me awhile to respond... I've been slightly off the grid lately.

I'll poke around some more about Charlotte Druitt Cole and see what I can come up with. I'll let you know if I find anything!

That's really cool about your mother and the poem.... put a big smile on my face!

Thanks!

[Xamonas Chegwe]

I've been following this thread since it started. I'm really glad to see you've tracked it down at last Erin (or have you?). It's been like a real life Agatha Christie.

I wonder if anyone might come up with the identity of G. A. next.

[Logos]

Unfortunately there is no mention of "Charlotte Druitt Cole" or "Who'll help a Fairy" in either the American or Oxford Dictionaries of National biography databases for people or articles, but I have a few other ideas :)

[Erin@MHCC]

Ah yes, the mysterious G.A. If he's lurking somewhere in our collection here, I haven't found him/her yet. If somone out there knows G.A.... well, That would be awesome. Though as it stands right now, I'm having a load of fun just picking at this mystery :). I have to be careful though and not let my actual collections work slide... but it's so easy when there's a minor mystery to solve!

I might have found our Charlotte Druitt Cole.

It appears that Charlotte Druitt is the daughter of solicitor James Druitt from his second marriage. She was born on January 13, 1878, the youngest of 15 children (from two marriages). Charlotte's older brother, Herbert, was an active citizen in the town of Christchurch and was particularily interested in their archives. It was his wish that the town have a library, art gallery, and museum. Herbert accumulated a large estate, which was left to his sister, Charlotte, who passed away a short number of years later. The estate was left to the town, according to Herbert's wishes, and now makes up the Druitt Gardens, as well as the local library. As well, Herbert opened a local museum which still runs today under the name Red House Museum. (This somewhat echoes the history of the Cultural Centre I work at here in Minden, Ontario... and I would imagine many other like establishments).

Charlotte seems to have been a fairly prolific poet, but largely unknown. She lived until shortly after 1943 and in that time contributed to a number of poetry compilations including "The Bairn's Budget", "A Song of the Green Lady", and "The Red Clover Story Book"... it seems intended for educational purposes. The University of Leeds has a Libretto for Robin Goodfellow written by her in 1939 as part of their James Clifford Brown collection. Her poems seem to be primarily occupied with fairies. She may have been married to a Joseph Schroeder Cole around 1907.

Surprisingly my search also took me to a Jack the Ripper message board. Turns out Charlotte Druitt was a cousin of Montague Druitt, the prime suspect in the Ripper murders who committed suicide in 1888.

Anyway, I'm not sure exactly how accurate the above is because it is pieced together from a large number of sources in which she is only mentioned sporadically at best... but it does make for an intriguing start. I'm going to see if I can track down some of those books, and contact the Red House Museum for more information.

Here are the websites I visited:

http://casebook.org/forum/messages/4922/7809.html - The Jack the Ripper Connection, includes Druitt genealogy
http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/articles/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=170 - The Incredible Druitts
http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/articles/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=428 - James Druitt on Wimborne Grammar School and his life
http://www.hants.gov.uk/museum/redhouse/ - The Red House Museum
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/library/spcoll/handlists/163MS1707Brown.pdf - The James Brown Collection at Leeds
http://www.prattens.co.uk/families/COLE/text.txt - The Cole connection

UPDATE: -- turns out this is just a neat little piece of fiction... Charlotte Druitt and Charlotte Druit Cole are two entirely different people. See post farther down. Ah well.

[Jarreth]

Hey there - I too have "googled" the tiny mole poem and this is the only link it came up with thats any good.

I remember my grandmother telling me the tiny mole poem when i was much much younger. And funnily enough we are from Doncaster not far from Sheffield in the UK.

The illegible word in the poem i believe to be gorse

gorse
n : very spiny and dense evergreen shrub with fragrant golden-yellow flowers; common throughout western Europe [syn: furze, whin, Irish gorse, Ulex europaeus]
from dictionary.com

But i was glad to read that there are other "verses" in the poem.

Sadly my grandmother passed away a good few years ago now but I'm glad I've found this poem on here. Thankyou x

[Jarreth]

This is the poem as i can best remember it ( i was about 5 or six at the time ) I'm 31 this year !!!

Oh dear, oh dear sobbed the tiny mole
A fairy has tumbled into my hole
It’s full of water and crawly things
And she can’t get out ‘cause she’s hurt her wings

I did my best to catch hold of her hair
But my arms are so short and she’s still in there
Please help her white rabbit your arms are so long
They say you are good and I know you are strong

Don’t bother me the white rabbit said
As he turned up his nose and his ears went red
There’s lots of mud and it’s sure to stick
To my beautiful fur so white and thick

Oh dear oh dear sobbed the tiny mole
Who will help this fairy out of my hole?
A little brown rabbit popped up from the gorse
I’m not very strong but I’ll try of course

His little tail bobbed as he waddled in
And the muddy water came up to his chin
But he caught the fairy by the hand
And helped her back to fairy land

She kissed him first on his muddy nose
She kissed his ears and his little wet toes
And when the day dawned in the morning light
That little brown rabbit was silvery white.

[Erin@MHCC]

Thanks, Jarreth!

In other news, I got the whole Charlotte Druit Cole thing wrong... she's not Charlotte Druitt, like I thought... Charlotte Druit Cole and Charlotte Druitt are two completely different people.

Oh well, back to the drawing board on that one... but I did learn some interesting history on the way!

[kjack]

Thank you for posting this poem, I have been looking for it for years! It was in my grade five reader, and I couldn't remember the name. I think it may be Silver and Grey.

[minerswife]

Well, here is another googler! My 85 year old mother recites this little poem she learned in 1927 or thereabouts and asked me to see what I could find out about it as she has never seen it anywhere since her primary school days. she went to school in Erickson BC ( very near Creston) in a tiny schoolhouse that burned down the year I was to begin school in the same building.
I love that there are other older folks that still remember this lovely little poem.
Isn't a shame that kids today seldom get a chance to enjoy poetry!
Yes the missing word is 'gorse'

[larraine hull]

Hi Erin,

I came across you message when I was searching for this poem which my mother used to read to us when we were children. She used to recite it as a party piece at parties for all us kids.

She always told us that it was called "The Grey and The White" by Walter de la mare. She had won a school prize for reciting it at school when she was young girl. She was born in 1926 and used to recite it to us in the 1950's and 60's. She must have learned it in the early 1930's.

Sadly she died several years ago and I was looking for the poem on the internet so that I could pass it on to my grandchildren. We all loved it so much when we were younger and she used to recite it so beautifully.

The missing word is gorse which is a bush with spiky leaves and yellow flowers. It grows wild in the countryside all over the UK.

Hope this is of some help

Regards,

Larraine

[julie haugh]

I'm really pleased to have found this poem, it was my favourite as a child in the early fifties recited to me by my mother at bedtime. My elder sister also remembers Mum reciting it to her, and this would be in the early forties. We don't know where our Mum learnt it, maybe at Southchurch school in Southend-on-Sea Essex.

[Erin@MHCC]

It's been awhile since I checked back here, and I am glad to see that people are still asking about the poem, and that they have been able to get the information they were looking for as well.

We're in full swing with the play. Unfortunately time and resources did not allow me to fing out who the mysterious G.A. was. I am still looking, but I also have to work on my collections work, as well as help with the promotion of our play.

I thought I'd share the website with you though. I'm going to put up information about researching the play, and definitely talk about the help I got here with the poem.

Thanks for all your help!

Minden Cultural Centre Website (http://www.mindenculturalcentre.com) -- just click on the link to A Little Study in Scheming by G.A.

[sarahk]

Its great to find this chat... My Mum used to tell us this poem as it was told her by her own Mum.

Sadly my Mum was diagnosed with Cancer in Feb this year and died a short 5 weeks later but one of her wishes was that we had this reproduced to pass to her grandchildren...

I remembered it when I started to research but not entirely..

Both my Mum and Grandma were from Leeds so again a Yorkshire link here although I did find references in a couple of personal sites in the US.

[robinnoad]

Hi - I can't tell you how excited and happy you have made my 83 year old mother, Maragaret Noad and indeed myself - I've been looking for references to this poem`on the interenet on and off for many years as mum has recited it to us kids for as long as we can all remember :-)

Mum was born in 1923 and brought up in Bath, England (so its not just known in Northern England!) She thinks she was about 10 years old when she learnt this poem at school - she believes she learnt it from a classmate - she's doesn't ever remember seeing it written down.

Mum knows (remembers) a very slightly different version which, when I have a chance, I will post - just for interest. - you have helped her remember a "missing" verse which she had forgotten - so she's very happy about that too.

I'm wondering if you ever found out any more about the author of the play?

Robin Noad - visiting mum and home in Bath, England but now living in Norman, Oklahoma USA

[GillyA]

Hi Erin

My dad used to recite this poem when I was a child and it is a real family favourite. I do not know the origins but my dad's father used to recite it to his children. I am 41 years old and my father is 70 (although he is the youngest of 10). I wondered if you had heard from anyone else regarding the origins of this lovely poem. I will certainly ask him and his remaining siblings for their memories of it.

Regards


Gilly A (UK)


Hi everyone. I happened upon your forum while searching for the origins of a poem I found in some artifacts at the small museum where I work. I was hoping I could get some input from you.

A little background: I have been involved in cataloging our huge backlog of artifacts, and in the process found an original handwritten script for a play. We think the play was written sometime around 1900, and was most likely an amateur work. The donor of the script has no idea who wrote it, or when. It was simply given by him to us in a box of family artifacts that he though might generate some interest... boy was he right! The only clue we have about the author are the initials G.A. The play is titled "A Little Study in Scheming". We are hoping to have the play performed on our museum grounds as a bit of outdoor theatre as a fundraiser, but we would like to find out a little more history on the play if possible.

That leads me to the question of the poem. The poem is contained within the play. The play provides no context as to time period, but we might be able to use the poem to give us some clues. For all we know the poem may be written by the playwrite him/herself. I thought if you folks could read it and give any input that crosses your mind I would be very grateful.

As far as the context of the poem within the play: The poem is being recited by the servant of a fairly well of household. The man of the house was injured when his barn collapsed after being tricked by his daughter who was smitten over a young man. She has since married the young man without her father's blessing, and the father is now lamenting this fact, and that he has since found out the young man is heir to a small fortune (in which case the father would have indeed approved of the match). The servant recites this poem trying to show the father can be redeemed.

Untitiled Poem found in play by G.A.

There was once a rabbit with silver fur
Her little grey neighbors looked up at her
‘Till she thought with pride in the moonlit wood
The reason I’m white is because I’m good

Oh what shal (sic) I do! cried a tiny mole
A fairy has stumbled into a hole
It is full of water and crawly things
And she can’t get out for she’s hurt her wings
I did my best to catch hold of her hair
But my arms are short and she’s still in there
Oh darling white rabbit your arms are long
You say your good and I know you’re strong

Don’t tell me about it! The rabbit said
She shut up her eyes and her ears grew red
There’s lots of mud and it’s sure to stick
Because my fur is so long and thick

There’s plenty of water the wee mole cried
There are shining rivers from moorlands wide
Dews from the sky and the dear grey rain
And the fairy to kiss you clean again

Oh dear! Oh dear! sobbed the poor little mole
Who will help the fairy out of the hole
A common grey rabbit popped from the [--orse] (illegible)
I’m not very strong but I’ll try of course

His little tail bobbed as he waded in
The muddy water came up to his chin
But he caught the fairy tight by the hand
And sent her off safe into fairy land

But she kissed him first on his muddy nose
She kissed his face and his little wet toes
And when the day dawned with the early light
The dirty grey rabbit was shining white

Again, any input is most welcome. Have any of you heard the poem before? Does it strike you as familiar in anyway?

I look forward to reading any responses!

[mistah charley]

He's about to be 95, and was raised in Northport, Nova Scotia (although he came to the US 79 years ago). He learned it as a child. The occasion for the recital: my brother's wife's mother, also present at the family dinner, runs a poetry show on public access cable tv in NY state. Children benefit from learning poetry, was the general topic of conversation, and this was given as an example.

I came across this message board while researching the poem on the internet. I also found this poem, with slight variations in wording, several other places, including:

the Easter 2006 Parish Magazine of ST ETHELBERT’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE BARGATES, LEOMINSTER (England) - titled "A MORAL TALE FOR THE VERY YOUNG", the attribution is "sent in by Mrs Wren."

www.st-ethelberts.org.uk/Easter_Newsletter_06.pdf


The earliest source I found is The Ontario Readers First Book, authorized by the Minister of Education, Toronto, the T. Eaton Co. Limited, 1923. This is available on the internet in several formats - the text format has errors indicating that its source is uncorrected optical character recognition software, but a PDF format photocopy is available also. In this book, no author is credited. The title is GRAY AND WHITE, and the text is:

There was once a rabbit with silver fur :
Her little gray neighbours looked up to her,
Till she thought with pride in the moon-lit wood,
"The reason I'm white is because I'm good."

" Oh what shall I do?" cried a tiny mole;
"A fairy has tumbled into a hole:
lt's full of water and crawling things,
And she can't get out, for she's hurt her wings.

"I did my best to catch hold of her hair,
But my arms are so short, and she's still in there,
Oh! darling white rabbit, your arms are long,
You say you are good, and I know you are strong."

"Don't tell me about it," the rabbit said,--
She shut up her eyes, and her ears grew red;--
"There's lots of mud and it's sure to stick,
Because my hair is so long and thick."

" Oh dear! oh dear!" sobbed the poor little mole,
"Who will help the fairy out of the hole?"
A common gray rabbit popped up from the gorse,
"I'm not very strong, but I'll try, of course."

His little tail bobbed as he waded in,
The muddy water came up to his chin,
But he caught the fairy tight by the hand
And sent her off safe into Fairy-land.

But she kissed him first on his muddy nose,
She kissed his face, and his little wet toes,
And when the day dawned, in the early light
That little gray rabbit was shining white.



http://www.archive.org/stream/OSIEontreadersfirst00miniuoft/OSIEontreadersfirst00miniuoft_djvu.txt

Some comments:

Two authors have been suggested in earlier posts: Walter de la Mare and Charlotte Druit Cole. I regard both as unlikely - no other Googleable source connects de la Mare and this poem, and the version attributed to Cole always omits the first verse, and spells crawling as "crewling." The Ontario Readers First Book credits the authors of other poems, and would not have intentionally omitted the author of this one.

The version from G.A.'s play which began this thread is interesting because:

1)The poem is recited by a character in it - and this discussion thread shows us that many children in Britain and British North America learned this poem to recite, and continued to recite it to their children and grandchildren decades later.

2) After the "Don't tell me about it" quatrain, A.G. adds a verse I can find no trace of elsewhere: "There’s plenty of water the wee mole cried...."

Otherwise, the G.A. and Ontario Readers First Book versions agree almost exactly.

[alenda]

This is the poem as i can best remember it ( i was about 5 or six at the time ) I'm 31 this year !!!

Oh dear, oh dear sobbed the tiny mole
A fairy has tumbled into my hole
It’s full of water and crawly things
And she can’t get out ‘cause she’s hurt her wings

I did my best to catch hold of her hair
But my arms are so short and she’s still in there
Please help her white rabbit your arms are so long
They say you are good and I know you are strong

Don’t bother me the white rabbit said
As he turned up his nose and his ears went red
There’s lots of mud and it’s sure to stick
To my beautiful fur so white and thick

Oh dear oh dear sobbed the tiny mole
Who will help this fairy out of my hole?
A little brown rabbit popped up from the gorse
I’m not very strong but I’ll try of course

His little tail bobbed as he waddled in
And the muddy water came up to his chin
But he caught the fairy by the hand
And helped her back to fairy land

She kissed him first on his muddy nose
She kissed his ears and his little wet toes
And when the day dawned in the morning light
That little brown rabbit was silvery white.

Jarreth may be only 31 years old; I am 71 years old and this was one of my favourite childrens´ poems whilst I grew up through World War two. How very nice to find it again.

[JBI]

I doubt it is anyone famous - and if it is, I hope they aren't famous for this work. Seriously, syllabic lines without coherent stress patterns and cliché rhymes don't work. Scanning the poem, the poet must not have had much a sense of prosody, so it is problematic.

For instance


Oh what shal (sic) I do! cried a tiny mole
A fairy has stumbled into a hole
It is full of water and crawly things
And she can’t get out for she’s hurt her wings
I did my best to catch hold of her hair
But my arms are short and she’s still in there
Oh darling white rabbit your arms are long
You say your good and I know you’re strong


The metre is unsteady at best, and sloppy at worst (depending on how harsh you are, and how seriously you take your prosody). Chances are this was penned by some small-time amateur publishing most likely locally, or self-publishing.

edit: turns out it is folk poetry, which doesn't seam to big a stretch, so take out the self-publishing bit, and just say was written amateurishly.

[malberts]

Hi - like others who have posted here, my Mom used to recite this poem when I was a small child. I could only remember the first two lines and after that kind of the gist of the story. My Mom passed on in 1989 and my sisters did not remember any more than me. Anyone else I asked had never heard of it. I thought it was lost and I was sad, I would like to share it with my grandchildren. I typed the first line into the search bar and it brought me to your posting. Sorry I can't help with origins but want to thank you for posting the poem. I have been looking for it for a long time. Thanks again!

[Nomoreblunders]

Does anyone think there are any copyright concerns with the Ontario Readers First book version of the Gray and White ?
In reproducing this version in a book, should the author be left as unknown ?
From what is written above, is it likely that Charlotte Druitt Cole created her own version of the poem ?
Does anyone know whether she died in 1943, and if so which month, as copyright ownership would cease 70years after her death ?

[AuntShecky]

The remarkable about this thread is --aside from Logos, JBI, "Whifflingpin" as well as the original poster with 8 and somebody else with 2- the number of LitNutters with only ONE post! Talk about "fly-by-night!"

Where did everybody go? Why did they never come back?

[tailor STATELY]

Performance art ?

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[skellywash]

I had this printed in a book when I was a young teenager (am now 68).

In verse two it said 'SHALL' in live 1
Verse 5 'a common grey rabbit popped up from the gorse'

Lovely poem! Thank you ... Sue Washington

[Gillianjane]

My mother now 94 can still recite this poem which she learnt at school in Glasgow Scotland. I too always loved it.