Goosey Goosey Gander

 
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Goosey Goosey Gander,

Whither shall I wander?

Upstairs and downstairs

And in my lady’s chamber.

There I met an old man

Who wouldn’t say his prayers,

So I took him by his left leg

And threw him down the stairs.

I often wondered about this rhyme as I recited it for my children. Why would a goose be indoors, or was the ‘speaker’ addressing a goose?

That must be it, for a goose would not be capable of throwing a man down the stairs.

I guessed it had something to do with religion, from the dark days when following the practice considered the ‘right’ one would be safe, but displaying heretical tendencies could cost one’s life, often in the most horrific manner.

In some communities ‘Left Footer’ refers to those who belong to the Church of Rome. The others are called ‘Prods,’ as in ‘Prodestants’ (Protestants)

One interpretation of the rhyme suggests that after Henry VIII’s break away from the Roman Catholic Church, in the early 16^th century, new English language prayers replaced the old Latin prayers. Catholics became increasingly disliked, and feared, for they might rise up against the King. They were treated harshly, though the old Catholic noble families protected their family priests from execution, hiding them in priest holes in their houses. If discovered, the priests would be hauled from their hiding places and treated abominably, along with their protectors.

‘Goose’ is a sexual reference – indeed, being ‘goosed’ is still British slang for being pinched on the bottom (male to female, usually).

‘Goose’ was a slang name for a prostitute from the twelfth century onwards. ‘Winchester Goose’ referred to London prostitutes working in an area called the ‘Liberty of the Clink,’ also known as the ‘Liberty of the Bishops of Winchester.’

The Bishops of Winchester issued licences for brothels and prostitutes from the twelfth to the seventeenth centuries, and taxed them on their earnings. The prostitutes were denied Christian burial and were interred in an unconsecrated graveyard called ‘Cross Bones,’ in Southwark, which is now a memorial to them.

‘Winchester Goose’ became a common term for venereal disease, or for a person suffering from a sexually transmitted sickness. ‘Goose bumps’ refers to one of the symptoms of such ailments. Syphilis and gonorrhoea can cause a skin rash with bumps or sores. Be careful telling someone you have goose bumps. It’s unlikely, but they may know the origin of the phrase.

The inference in the rhyme is that a priest has been discovered in a brothel and, incapable of reciting the new prayers, is cast down the stairs.

The things we unknowingly teach our children!