Sunday’s
child
Mondays’ child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s
child is full of grace.
Wednesdays’
child is full woe,
Thursday’s
child has far to go.
Friday’s
child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s
child works hard for its living,
But the
child that is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.
Printed variations of this little nursery rhyme have been appearing since 1838, but the tradition of foretelling a child’s future from the day on which it was born goes back to the 1570s.
For most people it is a harmless piece of nonsense, though I did know one woman who was desperate not to give birth to her child on a Wednesday. I don’t know how serious she was, but she had some odd behaviours, so maybe she was superstitious, too.
I know the
rhyme has sometimes been adapted to make Wednesday seem less doom-laden.
I am indebted to Michelle Pauli, writing in the Guardian in 2005, for further information on the old rhyme. She wrote that the ‘Original Book of Knowledge’, published in 1775, proclaimed a different set of prophesies.
‘A Child born on Sunday shall be of long Life and obtain great Riches;
A Child born on Monday shall be weak, and of an effiminate Temper, and seldom come to Honour.
A Child born on Tuesday, shall be given up to the Inordinate Desire of Riches, and is in danger of dying by Violence.
A Child born on Wednesday, shall be given to the Study of Learning, and shall profit thereby.
A Child born on Thursday, shall arrive to great Honour.
A Child born on Friday, shall be of a strong Constitution, but very letcherous; and if it be a Female, she is in great danger of turning Whore.
A Child born on Saturday, shall be dull and heavy, and of a dogged Disposition, and seldom come to good.'
According to this version, the most favourable days to be born are Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday. The rest of the week is a dead loss!
Well..! Well..! Well..! Yes! I'm a Sunday child...
ReplyDeleteAnd a typical Virgo, being born in September,
though l did'nt find out the delights of a Virgo,
until l grew much older..and my beliefs and
life style that came into the ways of a Virgo,
and not the other way round..!
HaHa! I had to laugh at the end bit...'The rest
of the week is a dead loss'..! :) Love that..!
🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷
Well, the three Sunday's children in my family certainly bear out the description:-)
DeleteI'm a Monday child, don't agree with fair of face, or the other suggestion, but then I don't often follow convention. Gillian looks just like you.
ReplyDeleteBeauty is in the eye of the beholder.
DeleteI felt so bad about a child born on Wednesday and only a bit better about the one born on Saturday. The earlier set of prophecies improved things for Wednesday's child, but not for others.
ReplyDeleteI was curious and checked what day I was born. It was a Monday. That's a bit iffy.
I went through all of my family's birthdays to find out which days they were born on. It was interesting but didn't prove or disprove anything. (Who said I have too much time on my hands?)
ReplyDeleteI have just checked and I was born on a Sunday. Phew... that's a relief.
ReplyDeleteI could have predicted it ;-)
DeleteOh dear, I was born on a Tuesday! xxx
ReplyDeleteMe, too. x x x
DeleteThat's lots of Sunday children in your family.
ReplyDelete3 out of 20 - I didn't include in-laws.
DeleteYour grandchildren are so cute ! I am a Thursday child and have far to go......but I shall arrive to great Honour. Wow, I wonder when that happens !
ReplyDeleteOf course - and soon;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Janice - we come along when we come along don't we ... I'm a Tuesday child - rather worse than I thought! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteBut just remembered ... Dashing Away with a Smoothing Iron, and there's another 'similar' poem on what one does on a Monday, each day to the end of the week ... cannot for the life of me remember what - love the photos of the kids ... cheers H
Oh of course - 'Solomon Grundy' ... !!