Little Miss Muffet

"Little Miss Muffet"
William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for "Little Miss Muffet", from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose
Nursery rhyme
Published	1805

"Little Miss Muffet" is a nursery rhyme, one of the most commonly printed in the mid-twentieth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20605.

The rhyme first appeared in print in 1805, in a book titled Songs for the Nursery. Like many such rhymes, its origins are unclear. Some claim it was written by Dr Thomas Muffet (d.1604), an English physician and entomologist, regarding his stepdaughter Patience; others claim it refers to Mary, Queen of Scots (1543–87), who was said to have been frightened by religious reformer John Knox (1510–72). The former explanation is speculative, and the latter is doubted by most literary scholars, who note that stories linking folk tales or songs to political events are often urban legends. Several novels and films, including Along Came a Spider, take their titles from the poem's crucial line.

The "Little Miss Muffet" scenario explained by Denslow

1940 WPA poster using "Little Miss Muffet" to promote reading among children.

Little Miss Muffet
by Sir John Everett Millais

There is an alternative set of lyrics which has been taught in some countries where whey is not a common foodstuff. In the nineteenth century the rhyme existed in many alternative versions, including: 'Little Mary Ester, Sat upon a tester' (1812) and 'Little Miss Mopsey, Sat in the shopsey' (1842). These rhymes may be parodies of whichever is the original.

In the 1960 revue Beyond the Fringe, the English humourist and musician Dudley Moore sang "Little Miss Muffet" in the style of Peter Pears, to music parodying Benjamin Britten.