St Ignatius Parish

The horror story behind a popular children's rhyme

(From ‘What’s Your Problem’, Adelaide Advertiser, Thursday 10 February 2005 )

I understand that the nursery rhyme, Goosey, Goosey Gander has a more sinister meaning. Can you tell me about its origins? ‑ AR. (Torrens Park)

The rhyme goes:

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!

 I took him by the left leg,

And threw him down the stairs.

The rhyme dates back to the 16th century and the hiding of Catholic priests in priest holes or “1ady's chambers” to avoid persecution from Protestants who opposed the old Catholic religion.

Goosey refers to the goosestep marching adopted by the Roundheads, the army of the puritan dictator Oliver Cromwell, whose job it was to seek out and arrest anyone who would not adopt the puritan form of prayer.

The reference to the “left leg” concerns a dreadful torture to extract confessions from priests. A rope was tied to a victim’s ankle and used to hurl him down flights of stone steps. They were then dragged back up and thrown down again repeatedly.