1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: a show that gives a quick look it's something that 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: happened a long time ago. Today I'm Gabelusier, and in 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: this episode we're doing a deep dive into the origin 6 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: of the Three Stooges theme song, better known to traumatize 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: kids the world over as three Blind Mice. The day 8 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: was October twelfth, sixteen o nine. The original version of 9 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: the popular children's nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice was published 10 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: for the first time in London. It appeared in a 11 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: work called Douteromelia Uh, a collection of British folk music, 12 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: including rounds, catches, street cries, vendor songs, and other forms 13 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: of anonymous music that could be heard on the streets 14 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: of seventeenth century London. The collection was compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft, 15 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: a musician, composer and editor who sought to record and 16 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: preserve the oral traditions of his countrymen. It's unclear who 17 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: wrote Three Blind Mice or when they wrote it, but 18 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: it was well known enough by sixteen o nine for 19 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: ravens Croft too include it in his collection However, the 20 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,559 Speaker 1: version he transcribed was not the one we're familiar with today. 21 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:47,559 Speaker 1: The words of the original read as follows, three blind mice, 22 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: three blind mice, Dame Julian, Dame Julian, the miller and 23 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: his merry old wife, she scraped her tripe, lick thou 24 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: the knife. Three blind mice, three blind mice. If the 25 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: meaning of that rhyme is a little unclear to you, 26 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: you're not alone. The name Dame Julian seems to be 27 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: a reference to Julian of Norwich, a fourteen century author 28 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: who is best known for her book Revelations of Divine Love, 29 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: but why she would be included in the rhyme is 30 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: anybody's guess. As for the line she scraped her tripe 31 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: lick thou the knife, the meaning is roughly that the 32 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: miller's wife has scraped her belly with a knife, and 33 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: now someone maybe her husband, is expected to lick the 34 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: knife clean, which is pretty gross. It's possible the song 35 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: is some kind of reference to the religious beliefs of 36 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: Julian of Norwich, and that she, the miller, and his 37 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: wife are themselves the three blind mice. But the cultural 38 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: context that would explain such an interpret Paitian seems to 39 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: be missing. The current version of the rhyme didn't enter 40 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: the canon of children's literature until over two hundred years later, 41 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: in eight forty two, when it was published in a 42 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:17,640 Speaker 1: collection called the Nursery Rhymes of England. You're probably familiar 43 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 1: with this version, but just in case it's been a while. 44 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: It goes like this, Three blind mice, Three blind mice. 45 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,119 Speaker 1: See how they run? See how they run? They all 46 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: ran after the farmer's wife, who cut off their tails 47 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: with a carving knife. Did you ever see such a 48 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: sight in your life? As three blind mice? Now, that 49 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: version makes a whole lot more sense than the original, 50 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: but we're talking about nursery rhymes, so perhaps trying to 51 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: make exact sense of it is a fool's Errand anyway, however, 52 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: many people have speculated that there's a dark, hidden meaning 53 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: to both versions of the song. The theory goes that 54 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: the miller his wife or the farmer's wife is a 55 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: veiled reference to Queen Mary the First, a notoriously cruel 56 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: Catholic ruler also known as Bloody Mary. It's been speculated 57 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: that the three blind mice in the song are stand 58 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: ins for three Protestant bishops known as the Oxford Martyrs. 59 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: In fifteen fifty five, Mary had the three bishops tried 60 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: for heresy and eventually executed for refusing to reject their 61 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: Protestant faith. The men weren't maimed or blinded, however, but 62 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:40,119 Speaker 1: burned at the stake. Still, that doesn't rule out the interpretation, 63 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: as from a Catholic perspective, the bishops could be considered 64 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: blinded by their Protestant beliefs. The larger issue with this 65 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: reading of the song is that the execution of the 66 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 1: Oxford Martyrs occurred more than half a century before it 67 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: was first recorded. It's possible that Mary's merciless rain and 68 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: her punishment of the bishops left a lasting impression on 69 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: her British subjects, so much so that they were still 70 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: singing about it over fifty years later. After all, the 71 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: nursery rhyme Mary Mary, quite contrary, was also supposedly written 72 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: about that brutal ruler. But it's equally as likely, if 73 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: not more so, that three Blind Mice is just some 74 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: amusing nonsense about an exasperated woman terrorizing some sightless rodents, 75 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: you know, for kids. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you 76 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you 77 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you're so inclined, you can keep up 78 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: with the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t 79 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: d I HC Show. And if you have any nursery 80 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,360 Speaker 1: rhyme theories of your own to share, you can send 81 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: them my way at this Day at i heart media 82 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks as always the Channeler Mays for producing 83 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,919 Speaker 1: the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you 84 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,479 Speaker 1: back here again tomorrow for another Day in History class. 85 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i 86 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 87 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.