The Truth About Mother Goose   (1957) - video Dailymotion

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00:00 [theme music]

00:03 ♪ What's the truth about Mother Goose? ♪

00:21 ♪ Let's clear up all the mystery ♪

00:24 ♪ Her nursery rhymes from olden times ♪

00:26 ♪ Are really part of history ♪

00:29 ♪ What's the truth about Mother Goose? ♪

00:31 ♪ The rhymes that children learn today ♪

00:34 ♪ Let's read the signs between the lines ♪

00:36 ♪ Conduct a thorough exposé ♪

00:38 ♪ We'll find within these pages ♪

00:41 ♪ As we go behind the scene ♪

00:43 ♪ Famous people, famous places ♪

00:46 ♪ And what the verses really mean ♪

00:48 ♪ What's the truth about Mother Goose? ♪

00:50 ♪ Turn these pages and you'll see ♪

00:53 ♪ We'll get the truth, the facts forsooth ♪

00:55 ♪ Solve this age-old mystery ♪

01:01 ♪ Little Jack Horner sat in a corner ♪

01:04 ♪ Eating his Christmas pie ♪

01:08 ♪ He put in his thumb ♪

01:09 ♪ And pulled out a plump and said ♪

01:12 What a good boy am I.

01:13 [music]

01:18 According to the facts,

01:20 the history of this little rhyme

01:21 goes back to 16th century London.

01:24 [music]

01:27 Jack Horner was the servant of a city official

01:30 on his way to deliver a Christmas present

01:32 to King Henry VIII.

01:33 [whistling]

01:35 In those days, it was a custom

01:37 when bringing presents to the king

01:39 to put them in a pie.

01:41 And these presents, as Jack Horner knew,

01:44 were usually something of great value.

01:46 [whistling]

01:50 [music]

01:54 And since Jack was a bit of a knave,

01:57 he stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum.

02:02 [music]

02:07 Which happened to be the deed to a valuable estate.

02:10 [whistling]

02:18 [music]

02:25 Boy.

02:26 [music]

02:29 When King Henry sent for the city official,

02:31 he hurried to court,

02:33 expecting some special favor in return for his present.

02:38 And we can be sure that King Henry let him have it.

02:41 [gunshot]

02:42 [music]

02:45 And as for Jack Horner,

02:47 he took up residence on his stolen estate

02:49 where he lived happily ever after.

02:52 Unless, of course, he was haunted

02:53 by a certain nursery rhyme

02:56 that became surprisingly popular at that time.

03:00 ♪ Little Jack Horner sat in a corner ♪

03:04 ♪ Eating a Christmas pie ♪

03:07 ♪ Put in his thumb, pulled out a plum ♪

03:10 ♪ Said, "What a good boy am I" ♪

03:15 ♪ Jack Horner, Jack Horner, Jack Horner ♪

03:19 [music]

03:24 ♪ Mary, Mary, quite contrary ♪

03:27 ♪ How does your garden grow ♪

03:30 ♪ With silver bells and cockle shells ♪

03:34 ♪ And pretty maids all in a row ♪

03:40 The Mary in this old rhyme was Mary Stewart,

03:43 Queen of Scotland, who came from France

03:45 to take over the throne of Scotland,

03:48 bringing with her the gay French ways,

03:50 extravagant tastes, and a love of frivolity.

03:55 Such conduct was frowned upon by the dour Scots,

03:58 who believed in preserving the stern dignity of the court.

04:02 And therefore, Mary was considered quite contrary.

04:07 The silver bells refer to the elaborate decoration

04:10 on her dresses, and her love of exotic foods,

04:13 such as cockles, account for the cockle shells.

04:17 And the pretty maids all in a row

04:19 were her ladies-in-waiting.

04:22 But behind this playful little rhyme

04:24 lies one of the most sinister and tragic stories

04:27 in all history.

04:29 Four years after her arrival in Scotland,

04:32 she married Lord Darnley, a selfish weakling

04:35 who Mary soon came to despise.

04:38 And the beautiful queen turned her attentions

04:40 to a French poet who lost his head completely

04:45 when the dour Scots interfered.

04:49 Then followed a romance with a court musician.

04:52 But this too ended on a tragic note

04:56 when the infuriated Darnley interfered.

05:00 Then came the Earl of Bothwell.

05:02 [music playing]

05:10 And the end of Lord Darnley.

05:11 [music playing]

05:14 And three weeks later, Mary and Bothwell were married.

05:19 Now Mary was considered much too contrary,

05:22 and the outraged Scots rose against her,

05:25 forced her abdication, and sent her

05:27 to the island prison of Loch Leven.

05:30 After a few months, Mary's irresistible charms

05:33 so captivated the jailer's son that he risked

05:36 his life to help her escape.

05:38 [music playing]

05:44 Then, in an attempt to regain the throne,

05:47 Mary organized a sizable army, which was defeated

05:50 after a violent battle.

05:53 Oh, dear.

05:55 And she fled to England to take refuge

05:57 with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth.

06:01 But Elizabeth became jealous of Mary's great popularity.

06:05 This dazzling beauty had become the darling of the court

06:09 and a rival for the crown and must be eliminated.

06:13 [music playing]

06:15 Mary.

06:16 Mary.

06:18 Although Mary was warned of the danger,

06:19 she was still contrary and went her Mary way.

06:22 This was her fatal mistake.

06:24 [gunshot]

06:26 And she was accused and condemned

06:28 as a traitor to the government.

06:31 But Mary refused to plead for mercy

06:34 and remained quite contrary to the end.

06:39 [music playing]

06:40 Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden

06:47 grow with silver bells and carcass shells

06:55 and pretty maids all in a row?

06:58 London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.

07:09 London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

07:16 The history behind this famous nursery song

07:18 is the story of Old London Bridge,

07:22 a story which begins in 1176 when

07:26 it was decided to build a permanent bridge of stone

07:28 to unite North and South London.

07:31 [music playing]

07:51 After the bridge was finished in 1209,

07:54 it was sanctified by the addition

07:56 of a beautiful two-story chapel over the central pier.

07:59 And rows of elaborately designed houses

08:04 were added over the length of the bridge,

08:07 transforming the plain Gothic structure

08:10 into a thing of such picturesque beauty

08:13 that it was acclaimed one of the wonders of the world.

08:15 [music playing]

08:18 [music playing]

08:20 The street floors were rented to merchants

08:30 who did a bustling business, drawing their customers

08:33 from the tide of traffic coming and going over the bridge.

08:36 [music playing]

08:38 The upper stories of the bridge houses

08:47 were elaborately furnished apartments

08:49 with projecting bay windows and rooftop balconies

08:54 where residents could enjoy the invigorating air off the river

08:57 and contemplate the spectacular view.

08:59 [music playing]

09:14 Little wonder that Hans Holbein and William Hogarth

09:17 and many other famous painters chose

09:20 to live on London Bridge.

09:21 [music playing]

09:23 On one occasion, a tournament was held on the bridge,

09:29 and spectators crowded every available space

09:32 to watch two knights prove their courage in glorious combat.

09:36 [drum roll]

09:38 [music playing]

09:41 [drum roll]

09:44 [music playing]

09:47 [horse neighing]

09:48 [music playing]

09:51 [horse neighing]

09:52 [music playing]

09:54 [explosion]

10:13 [horse neighing]

10:14 [music playing]

10:17 [horse neighing]

10:20 [music playing]

10:23 [horse neighing]

10:24 London Bridge was often the scene

10:26 of spectacular displays and lavish celebrations, which

10:29 marked great moments in English history.

10:31 [music playing]

10:34 While living on London Bridge was both grand and glamorous,

10:44 there were times when it was equally hazardous.

10:48 Now and then, a cargo ship would break away from its moorings,

10:51 and a bowsprit would come crashing through a window.

10:54 [music playing]

10:55 [crash]

10:56 [crash]

10:57 [crash]

11:00 The greatest threat to the bridge and its inhabitants

11:02 was fire.

11:04 One such disaster occurred in 1666,

11:08 when a fire started in the King's Bakery

11:10 in Pudding Lane.

11:12 At first, it was of little consequence.

11:14 Then, suddenly, a strong east wind

11:17 spread the fire beyond control.

11:19 And it swept across the city and onto the bridge.

11:24 [music playing]

11:27 [fire alarm]

11:34 [screaming]

11:36 [music playing]

11:39 [screaming]

11:42 [music playing]

11:45 [fire alarm]

11:47 This was the famous Great Fire of London, which

11:50 reduced the world's largest city to a vast panorama of ashes

11:55 and charred rubble, and left London Bridge

11:59 a bare and blackened ruin.

12:00 [music playing]

12:04 During the reconstruction of London,

12:06 the bridge houses were rebuilt, and its endless tide

12:09 of humanity returned.

12:10 [music playing]

12:14 But as the centuries passed, London Bridge

12:17 began to feel its age.

12:18 [music playing]

12:22 A lot of water had passed under the old bridge,

12:30 undermining its foundations.

12:34 The intense heat of the fires had

12:36 dangerously weakened its arches.

12:38 [explosion]

12:39 And heavy timbers braced the tottering houses.

12:42 [music playing]

12:45 As violent tremors ran throughout the whole structure.

12:48 [music playing]

12:50 [explosion]

12:54 The once magnificent bridge, which

12:57 had been the pride of London and proclaimed

12:59 as one of the wonders of the world,

13:01 was declared a public nuisance, and was

13:05 ridiculed in rhyme and song.

13:07 [music playing]

13:10 [laughing]

13:13 [music playing]

13:16 [laughing]

13:19 [music playing]

13:22 [explosion]

13:26 Finally, on July the 4th, 1823, the death warrant

13:30 of the old bridge was signed, and it was demolished.

13:35 And a new bridge was built in its place, the London Bridge,

13:39 which stands today.

13:40 [music playing]

13:44 But the original London Bridge still lives on

13:47 in the famous old nursery song.

13:51 (SINGING) London Bridge is falling down, falling down,

13:55 falling down.

13:56 London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

14:01 Shake and quake, old London Bridge.

14:03 Have a ball till your arches fall.

14:06 Jump and jive, old London Bridge, my fair lady.

14:10 And that's the truth about Mother Goose.

14:14 The whole truth?

14:15 The absolute historical truth?

14:18 Well, as far as we know, that's the truth about Mother Goose.

14:23 Now you saw the mystery.

14:25 That's all we know.

14:26 That's all to show.

14:27 We'll close our book of history.

14:29 [music playing]

14:32 [music playing]

14:36 (upbeat music)

14:39 you

The Truth About Mother Goose (1957)

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