Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
Day 208 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
Sandburg writes: "We have heard of a man who bet he could eat two dozen raw oysters. Before putting up the money he excused himself, left the room, came back and won the bet. "But why did you leave the room?” he was asked. He replied,”I went out and ate two dozen raw oysters to make sure I could do it." Then they all joined hands and sang a tune that used to have words about Mary and her little lamb."
When dating a folk song, scholars give the earliest date the song was printed, recorded, or referred to, not when it was written. The song could have been passed down orally for generations. Sometimes there are clues within the lyrics that narrow down the origin somewhat, such as reference to an historical date or person. The Traditional Ballad Index has the earliest date as Carl Sandburg’s American Songbag 1927. This, of course, is not set in stone because an earlier source could be unearthed. But are there other clues as to the date of origin? Two, immediately come to mind:
1. MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB can be traced back to a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale, which was published 1830. A version with music credited to Lowell Mason was published in 1831. The Traditional Ballad Index says that this poem is “Reported to be based on a true story. Which seems likely enough; who would make up something so trite?”
2. THE TIN CAN. By 1810, Englishman Peter Durand had introduced a method for sealing food in "unbreakable" tin cans. And the first commercial canning establishment in the U.S. was started in 1912 by Thomas Kensett.
So somewhere between 1831 and 1927 the world was blessed with the one joke throw-away MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB. It’s this kind of song that Carl Sandburg loved to include in his “bag of strips, stripes, and streaks of color from nearly all ends of the earth” which he called his American Songbag.
One last thing. What actually is a 'William Goat'? The simple answer is that it is a cleaned-up name for “billy-goat” supposedly a pejorative reference to a “hillbilly.” As one who lives in Appalachia and who’s distant relatives were born here, I personally don’t mind being called a hillbilly, although my goat, if I had one, might.
Day 208 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
Sandburg writes: "We have heard of a man who bet he could eat two dozen raw oysters. Before putting up the money he excused himself, left the room, came back and won the bet. "But why did you leave the room?” he was asked. He replied,”I went out and ate two dozen raw oysters to make sure I could do it." Then they all joined hands and sang a tune that used to have words about Mary and her little lamb."
When dating a folk song, scholars give the earliest date the song was printed, recorded, or referred to, not when it was written. The song could have been passed down orally for generations. Sometimes there are clues within the lyrics that narrow down the origin somewhat, such as reference to an historical date or person. The Traditional Ballad Index has the earliest date as Carl Sandburg’s American Songbag 1927. This, of course, is not set in stone because an earlier source could be unearthed. But are there other clues as to the date of origin? Two, immediately come to mind:
1. MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB can be traced back to a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale, which was published 1830. A version with music credited to Lowell Mason was published in 1831. The Traditional Ballad Index says that this poem is “Reported to be based on a true story. Which seems likely enough; who would make up something so trite?”
2. THE TIN CAN. By 1810, Englishman Peter Durand had introduced a method for sealing food in "unbreakable" tin cans. And the first commercial canning establishment in the U.S. was started in 1912 by Thomas Kensett.
So somewhere between 1831 and 1927 the world was blessed with the one joke throw-away MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB. It’s this kind of song that Carl Sandburg loved to include in his “bag of strips, stripes, and streaks of color from nearly all ends of the earth” which he called his American Songbag.
One last thing. What actually is a 'William Goat'? The simple answer is that it is a cleaned-up name for “billy-goat” supposedly a pejorative reference to a “hillbilly.” As one who lives in Appalachia and who’s distant relatives were born here, I personally don’t mind being called a hillbilly, although my goat, if I had one, might.
