What are the origins of this nursery rhyme? Dr Oliver Tearle analyses a classic children’s poem ‘Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross’ is a famous nursery rhyme, and has been popular with children for several centuries. The nineteenth-century Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone, used to sing ‘Ride a cock-horse to […]
By Dr Oliver Tearle ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ is one of the best-loved nursery rhymes in all of English literature, but its origins are somewhat different from most beloved children’s rhymes. What does this little rhyme mean? And where did it come from? First, here’s a minder of the […]
This week, the paperback edition of our literary travelogue, Britain by the Book, was published by John Murray. In honour, here is a shortened version of one of the entries from the book… The village of Yealmpton (pronounced ‘Yampton’) is a few miles east of Plymouth. Market Street boasts a […]