Perhaps you have heard the following folk song/nursery rhyme. Have we all heard it sung at some point ? I am curious as to the era and location of origin of this common American folk rhyme, as well as it's intended audience(s). This is the way that I remember it:
Miss Lucy had a baby.
She named him Tiny Tim.
She put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water, he ate up all the soap.
He tried to eat the bathtub, but it wouldn't go down his throat.
Miss Lucy called the doctor .
Miss Lucy called the nurse.
Miss Lucy called the lady with the alligator purse.
"Measles," said the doctor,
"Mumps," said the nurse.
"Out," said the lady with the alligator purse.
So, out went the doctor, out went the nurse, out went the lady with the alligator purse!
Out went the water, out went the soap, out went the bathtub that wouldn't go down his throat !
I have heard differentiation on the doctor and nurse's diagnosis of Tiny Tim's condition as being chicken pox also. In any case, here we seem to have a mentally challenged single mother, who is is physically abusing her underdeveloped child who seems to have a pan-ivore appetite. After the mother, Miss Lucy, places the child in the bathtub, the child, Tiny Tim, proceeds to drink bathwater, eat soap, and tries in vain to ingest a bathtub. For me, this raises a question ... what was the tub made out of? It might be wood, tin, porcelain, or maybe some other man made substance. Now, we all know that none of the suspected materials are edible. Well, anyway, it seems as if Miss Lucy's main purpose for placing Tiny Tim in the tub was to ascertain his innate? swimming skills. At some point in the consumption process, Miss Lucy determines that the child might be in need of medical attention and calls for the assistance of a nurse, a doctor, and a woman who is described as carrying a leather purse. The doctor proceeds to offer a ludicrous diagnosis and also fails to prescribe for the ailment. The nurse gives an equally nonsensical diagnosis for the child's engorged condition. The lady with the alligator purse seems to be right on target to ameliorate the child's likely uncomfortable, self induced condition. The Lady merely commands the objects to dislodge themselves from poor little Tiny Tim, and miraculously they do!
I have a lot questions about the tale of Tiny Tim.
Was Tiny Tim named after a circus side show, the type that was popular around the late 1800's to early 19th century?
Has this tale originated from a Celtic or Francophone tradition here in the U.S.?- since the name Tim, short for Timothy is a popular name within those traditions?
What about the role of the single mother in this - how is she portrayed?
What does this rhyme have to say about medical professionals?
Questions like that. Anyway, without getting into too much analysis of this popular rhyme. I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. What are the versions that you have heard of? What are your suspicions and/ or analysis of this tale?
Thanks.
Jane
