...Who sat down beside her and frightened Miss Muffet away
"Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away."
Let me explain because I know a lot of you are thinking "he's got way too much time on his hands if he's writing about nursery rhymes."
I got an email from one of my suppliers with this great gift idea for Halloween; the "Along Came A Spider" assorted candy treats.
That got me to thinking; who was Miss Muffet? What exactly is a tuffet? What are curds and whey? What's with a spider?
The most prevalent explanation, though there are others with one involving Mary Queen of Scots, is that the rhyme was written by Dr. Thomas Muffet, who was an English doctor and entomologist. (1553-1604).
Miss Muffet was his stepdaughter Patience Muffet. Apparently, one of the Doctor's spiders got loose and scared her while she was eating her breakfast.
OK, but what are "curds and whey" Basically it's cottage cheese. If you have the time check out the link, pretty interesting.
And lastly,what's a tuffet? It's a low seat, like a stool. The other definition is that it's a clump or tuft of grass. So maybe our Miss Muffet was sitting outside eating her cottage cheese. Makes sense that she'd run into a spider if she were outdoors.
This is all probably much more than you ever wanted to know about Little Miss Muffet, and perhaps we'll never know the real story.
You can keep this to yourself and sound wicked smart if the subject ever comes up, or you can share this invaluable knowledge. Use "Forward email" below.
Thanks
William Wallace Denslow's illustration for "Little Miss Muffet" from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose
