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The Controversy Surrounding Mary Had A Little Lamb
Everyone knows the nursery rhyme but do they know the backstory to the beloved song?
Nine-year-old Mary Elizabeth Stewart found a lamb that had been abandoned by its mother in 1815. She begged her father to allow her to keep the young animal. Reluctantly, he agreed to let her take care of it but did not hold out much hope that the animal would live for very long.
To everyone’s surprise, Mary nursed the lamb back to health. In a series of letters that she wrote in the 1880s, she revealed that the morning after she found the lamb, it was able to stand on its own. Shortly after that, the lamb was able to start drinking milk. Its health continued to improve, and it became stronger and stronger with each passing day.
The connection between Mary and the lamb also grew. It began following her wherever she went. Just as the eventual nursery rhyme would indicate, many of the people around her would laugh at the bond she had with the lamb.
Mary and her lamb would often get into trouble. She would be tasked with doing a chore, but her parents would find her playing with her pet instead. The same would happen when she was supposed to be doing homework.
