Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes.
This rhyme is perhaps not so well known as others, but is often present in nursery rhyme books,
especially older ones. I certainly remember it from my youth, and have during the research for this blog come upon it several times.
Firstly, it should be noted that there are several variants to the rhyme, the most notable of which is the change to a fine lady, from an old woman, during the 1700s. The rhyme, as printed in “Tom Tits Songbook”, (published in 1790 by C. D. Piguenit of Aldgate, London), actually goes thus:
To see an old lady, upon a white horse
A ring on her finger,
A bonnet of straw,
As well as this, there are some variations which give Coventry Cross as the lady’s location, amongst other places. The question to be begged then, is can we deduce the identity of the “fine lady” or indeed, “Old lady” from the clues in the rhyme?
The first thing is to deduce the approx. age of the rhyme. So far, we know it is at least older than 1790, which disproves one theory found online, that the fine lady was in fact a Lady Katherine Banbury, from the late 1800s, despite how that lady bore the name Banbury and was well-known for riding a white horse with bells attached to her saddle. One place where it might be alluded to, is in a poem written in 1725 by Henry Carey which states “now on a cock horse he does ride”. This then, could potentially be the earliest mention of the rhyme. This could also, however, be alluding to one of several other rhymes which both start with the same line, “Ride a cock-horse” although of course it is more than possible that at one time these were all verses of the same rhyme or song. For example, in the 1744’s Tommy Thumb’s pretty songbook, the following lines were recorded:
Ride a cock-horse To Banbury Cross,
To see what Tommy can buy;
A penny white loaf,A penny white cake,
And a two-penny aple-pie.
Or, as seen in another pic here from Tommy Thumb's Book of Pretty songs, another very similar rhyme:
These verses, it could be argued seem to have the same rhythm and style of the fine lady variant and so add credulity to the idea that this rhyme was originally set into several different verses.
Whilst it might seem that the use of currency in the “Tommy” part of the rhyme is a good start to try to date it, it is most likely that the currency would change over the years, as the rhyme evolved, so this is in fact not an accurate measure at all. What might be more relevant, and has been cited by a number of other scholars, is the allusion to clothing in the “fine lady” verse. During the 25th century, it was, in England at least, fashionable to wear tapered shoes which often were decorated with tiny bells (the tradition of bells on shoes or around ankles or lower legs for Morris dancers also potentially comes from this era!) Couple this, then, with the history of Banbury Cross, which was destroyed in 1602 by puritans, and it would seem that there is strong evidence to show this fine, or old, lady was likely of the 15th century. What must be noted however, is that there were other crosses in Banbury at the time, so although unlikely, it is possible that the rhyme refers to another cross.
So, the next step in this mystery is to look into what notable and fine ladies might have been likely candidates for such a rhyme. Firstly to note is that although in general a cock-horse might have been a spirited horse, or a horse which was brought in to assist in pulling carts where the terrain was difficult, during the 16th century at least a cock-horse could also allude to a child’s toy horse, something like a hobby horse. This then, especially if the rhyme is actually a children’s rhyme, brings the imagery of the children lining up to look out at the lady, a procession perhaps for royalty, or personages of note.
In his 1962 book, the “Annotated mother goose” history scholar, William Baring-Gould comments that there are three distinct possibilities as to the identity of this mystery woman. That it was Elizabeth I, that it was a medieval noblewoman named Lady Godiva, or that it was a different noblewoman named Celia Fiennes.
Let us examine each of these ladies individually!
Elizabeth I is certainly a good contender for the part. Certainly, Banbury cross was present during her reign, which is eveidenced both by knowledge of when the stone fell, and also by the comments of a Mathew Knight in 1604 who stated:“remembraunce all the publique proclamacions of our late soueraigne Ladie Quene Elizabeth and of her (most) noble progenitors that were directed thither to be proclaymed were alwaies made and proclaymed vpon the step~ or grises of the same heigh Crosse” (That is, that all royal proclamations given by the then Late Elizabeth, were read out by the Babury representative at Banbury Cross.)
The white horse, in this case, could symbolise not just royalty, but also the white for the “virgin queen”. However, it can also be seen that despite there being many uncited references to Elizabeth I visiting Banbury for the erection of the Banbury cross, thus far I have found no sources to cite this, in fact in his 1841 book on the history of Banbury, A Beesley made no mention of Elizabeth ever having visited. Another fact to consider is that Elizabeth might have been a little late (about 100 years) to be wearing the shoes with bells on, although as an extravagant dresser, it’s still possible she wore such accessories.
The second lady who this rhyme is cited to be about is Lady Godiva, a noblewoman from 1067 who is said to have ridden naked through the streets as a protest against high taxes. Whilst Lady Godiva was a real historical figure, her deeds are the stuff of legends, namely legends created in the 13th century! Other than the obvious connection of a “fine lady on a white horse” there is little but speculation to link this rhyme to Lady Godiva.
The third and final lady to consider is that of Celia Fiennes. All that is really known of Celia is that she was a noblewoman who was well-known for being a keen rider. The story here, is that the original verse was “A Fiennes Lady” rather than a "Fine" Lady. Celia was also sister to the viscount of Banbury castle, so there is a connection there. She was, however about 100 years late to be visiting Banbury cross, having been born in the late 1600, so 100 years after the cross was destroyed! An anecdote mentioned in the Oxford dictionary of nursery rhymes states that this version of events was actually made up by the antiquarian who claimed to discover it!
Overall then, it would seem that the fine lady on the white horse was most likely to be Queen Elizabeth I. Despite some discrepancies, she seems to fit the most comfortably into the clues given by the rhyme!
Sources used:
Baring-Gould, William Stuart, and Ceil Baring-Gould, The Annotated Mother Goose, Nursery Rhymes Old And New, Arr. And Explained By William S. Baring-Gould & Ceil Baring-Gould, 1st edn (New York: C.N. Potter, 1962)Beesley, Alfred, The History Of Banbury, 1st edn (London: Nichols and Son, 1841)
Candicott, Randolf, "Ride A Cock-Horse To Banbury Cross & A Farmer Went Trotting Upon His Grey Mare : R. Caldecott's Picture Books", Project Gutenberg, 2017 <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18596/18596-h/18596-h.htm> [accessed 4 April 2017]
Gurton, Gammer, "Gammer Gurton's Garland, Or, The Nursery Parnassus : A Choice Collection Of Pretty Songs And Verses For The Amusement Of All Little Good Children Who Can Neither Read Nor Run : Ritson, Joseph, 1752", Internet Archive, 2017 <https://archive.org/details/gammergurtonsgar00ritsiala> [accessed 4 April 2017]
Harvey, P, "Where Was the Banbury Cross", Oxoneinsia, 1966, 83 - 106Heaney, Michael, "Kingston To Kenilworth: Early Plebeian Morris", Folklore, 100 (1989), 88-104
Opie, Iona Archibald, and Peter Opie, The Oxford Dictionary Of Nursery Rhymes, 1st edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997)
Opie, Iona, Joan Hassall, and Peter Opie, The Oxford Nursey Rhyme Book, 1st edn (Oxford: Clarendon Pr., 1977)