Looking for origins of poem
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!
A lead on Charlotte Druitt
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...ail.asp?ID=170 - The Incredible Druitts
http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/articles...ail.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/spcol...S1707Brown.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.
the poem as i can best recall it.
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.
The Grey and White by Walter de la mare
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
A Little Study in Scheming website
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 -- just click on the link to A Little Study in Scheming by G.A.
I have heard yoru poem before
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)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
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!
My father recited this poem earlier this week (June 2008)
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."
http://www.st-ethelberts.org.uk/East...sletter_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/OSIEon...iuoft_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.
A little brown rabbit popped up from the gorse!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
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.
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.
