Had this conversation on the way out the door at work today–
Receptionist (handing a stack of papers to the mailroom guy): Can I ask for 50 sets?
Me: To see the elephant jump the fence?
Mailroom Guy: HuWha?
Receptionist: Miss Mary Mack.
Mailroom Guy: Who?
Me: All dressed in black.
Receptionist: You’ve never heard of Miss Mary Mack?
Me: Well, he is a boy.
This got me to thinking. How old is Miss Mary Mack? Who was she? Where’d she come from? She can’t be like other nursery rhymes that date back to merrie olde England since the elephant doesn’t come back until the 4th of July, right? Any ideas?
Wikipedia says “Miss Mary Mack” may refer to the USS Merrimack, a Civil war ironclad ship (all “dressed” in black, with silver rivets, get it!?). But there’s no cite, so maybe someone just made that up.
She was either too young or too lazy to be employed, as she had to ask her mother for the 50 cents to see the elephants doing their fence-jumping.
She lived in a place that had multiple high-jumping elephants. India, Africa, or maybe the zoo. Perhaps the circus had come to town – they might have an elephant act despite the animal-cruelty protesters.
You had elephants? The version of the song we sang ran, “…to see the boys <clap> boys <clap> boys climb up the fence <clap> fence <clap> fence.” Or, in rhythm, Ti-ti-ti tah tah tah ti-ti-ti tah tah tah. How do you fit elephants into the meter?
(I know, you don’t fit elephants into a meter, you fit them into a yard…)
I think it’s interesting about the buttons, especially being silver and purple. Buttons used to be an expensive item – and silver and purple represent wealth and power. So, why does little Mary Mack have so many buttons? Enough, by the way, to bribe the elephant to stay with her. (OK, so maybe the elephant is just thinking “oooh, shiny!” Who knows?) And why is she dressed in black? Is she mourning something?
Also, at what time period did young ladies have silver buttons down the back? And what was the value of 50 cents in that era? Seems like a lot, back in the day, to watch a circus trick.
I’ve been surfing and the internet gives no definitive answers. I have seen a few theories but not with any real documentation. It’s a rhyme written by Mary Ann Holberman. It’s an old folk song describing The Merrimack and it’s an old English memory poem about Mary Queen of Scots.
Can someone find the first cite of the lyrics? My google-fu is not at this professional level.
Those of you who know it as boys doing something (climbing a fence or pulling down their pants), what’s the third verse? Neither seems to make sense with hitting the sky.