#Robert Southey

[foodandfolklore]

Goldilocks and the Three Bears -1917 Knock Off

I found a really bizarre book of Classic fairytales that have been rewritten or reinterpreted. Now, this isn't exactly unusual; authors have been doing this since the printing press was made accessible. But I couldn't help but chuckle some at this version of Goldilocks and the three bears. Not only has young Goldie been replaced with an unnamed old woman. But Papa, Mama, and Baby bear are now referred to as Huge Bear, Middle sized bear, and Wee bear. So if you would like a version of this story where the family is not gendered; maybe you are a same sex couple with a child (or a dog who likes to be read to, no judgment) this kind of thing might be what you're looking for. Either way, I found it interesting.

There were once three bears who lived together in a little house in the middle of a wood. One of them was a Little, Small, Wee Bear; one was a Middle-Sized Bear; and the other was a Great, Huge Bear.

And they each had a pot to eat their porridge from: a little pot for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; a middle-sized pot for the Middle-Sized Bear; and a great big pot for the Great, Huge Bear.

And they each had a chair to sit on: a little chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; a middle-sized chair for the Middle-Sized Bear; and a great big chair for the Great, Huge Bear.

And they each had a bed to sleep in: a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; a middle-sized bed for the Middle-Sized Bear; and a great big bed for the Great, Huge Bear.

One day they made the porridge for their breakfast, and poured it into their porridge-pots, and then went out in the wood for a walk while the porridge for their breakfast was cooling. And while they were out walking, a little Old Woman came to the house in the wood and peeped inside.

First she peeped through the keyhole; then she peeped through the window. Then she lifted the latch and peeped through the doorway; and, seeing nobody in the house, she walked in. And when she saw the porridge cooling on the table she was very pleased, for she had walked a long way, and was getting hungry.

So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, but that was too hot. Then she tasted the porridge of the Middle-Sized Bear, but that was too cold. And then she tasted the porridge of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too hot nor too cold, but just right. And she liked it so much that she ate it all up!

Then the little Old Woman sat down in the chair of the Great, Huge Bear, but that was too hard. Then she sat down in the chair of the Middle-Sized Bear, but that was too soft. Then she sat down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too hard nor too soft, but just right. And she liked it so much that she sat in it until suddenly the bottom came out, and she fell down plump upon the ground.

Then the little Old Woman went upstairs into the bedroom, where the three Bears slept. And first she lay down on the bed of the Great, Huge Bear, but that was too high at the head for her. Then she lay down on the bed of the Middle-Sized Bear, but that was too high at the foot for her. So then she lay down on the bed of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too high at the head nor too high at the foot, but just right. And she liked it so much that she covered herself up and lay there till she fell fast asleep!

By and by the three Bears came home to breakfast. Now, the little Old Woman had left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear standing in his porridge pot.

Somebody has been at my porridge!"

said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.

And when the Middle-Sized Bear looked, she saw that the spoon was standing in her porridge-pot too.

Somebody has been at my porridge!"

said the Middle-Sized Bear in her middle-sized voice.

Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked, and there was the spoon in his porridge-pot; but the porridge was all gone.

Somebody has been at my porridge and has eaten it all up!"

said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

Then the three Bears began to look about them. Now, the little Old Woman had not put the hard cushion straight after she had sat in the chair of the Great, Huge Bear.

"Somebody has been sitting in my chair!"

said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.

And the little Old Woman had squashed the soft cushion of the Middle-Sized Bear.

"Somebody has been sitting in my chair!"

said the Middle-Sized Bear, in her middle-sized voice.

And you know what the little Old Woman had done to the third chair.

"Somebody has been sitting in my chair and has sat the bottom out!"

said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

Then the three Bears went upstairs into their bedroom. Now, the little Old Woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear out of its place.

"Somebody has been lying in my bed!"

said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.

And the little Old Woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle-Sized Bear out of its place.

"Somebody has been lying in my bed!"

said the Middle-Sized Bear, in her middle-sized voice.

And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was the bolster in its place, and the pillow in its place upon the bolster; and upon the pillow was the little Old Woman's head, which was not in its place, for she had no business there at all.

"Somebody has been lying in my bed—and here she is!"

cried the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

The little Old Woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff voice of the Great, Huge Bear, but she was so fast asleep that it seemed to her no more than the roaring of the wind, or the rumbling of thunder. And she had heard the middle-sized voice of the Middle-Sized Bear, but it was only as if she had heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she heard the little, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so sharp and shrill that it woke her up at once. Up she started, and when she saw the three Bears, on one side of the bed, she tumbled out at the other, jumped out of the window and ran away through the wood to her own home. And the three Bears never saw anything more of her.

[murakamijeva-muza]

“No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are throughout persuaded of each other's worth” ― Robert Southey

[dead-as-i-tread]

I don't belong.

...and my darling

neither do you.

[burningvelvet]

Lord Byron defending himself and Percy and Mary Shelley from rumours spread by his literary enemy Robert Southey, 1818:

Lord Byron to John Cam Hobhouse, from Venice, 11 November 1818:

“[..] the first Canto of Don Juan [contains] a dedication in verse of a dozen to Bob Southey - bitter as necessary - I mean the dedication, I will tell you why. - The Son of a Bitch on his return from Switzerland two years ago - said that Shelley and I ‘had formed a League of Incest and practiced our precepts with &c.’ - he lied like a rascal - for they were not Sisters - one being Godwin's daughter by Mary Wollstanecraft - and the other the daughter of the present Mrs. G by a former husband. - The Attack contains no allusion to the cause - but - some good verses - and all political & poetical. - He lied in another sense - for there was no promiscuous intercourse - my commerce being limited to the carnal knowledge of the Miss C. - I had nothing to do with the offspring of Mary Wollstonecraft - which Mary was a former Love of Southey's - which might have taught him to respect the fame of her daughter.”

Lord Byron to John Murray, from Venice, 24 November 1818:

“Lord Lauderdale set off from hence twelve days ago, accompanied by a cargo of poesy directed to Mr. Hobhouse - all spick and span, and in MS. You will see what it is like. I have given it to Master Southey, and he shall have more before I have done with him. I understand the scoundrel said, on his return from Switzerland two years ago, that ‘Shelley and I were in a league of Incest, etc., etc.’ He is a burning liar! for the women to whom he alludes are not sisters - one being Godwin's daughter, by Mary Wollstonecraft, and the other daughter of the present (second) Mrs. G, by a former husband; and in the next place, if they had even been so, there was no promiscuous intercourse whatever.

You may make what I say here as public as you please - more particularly to Southey, whom I look upon, and will say as publicly, to be a dirty, lying rascal; and will prove it in ink - or in his blood, if I did not believe him to be too much of a poet to risk it. If he had forty reviews at his back - as he has the Quarterly - I would have at him in his scribbling capacity, now that he has begun with me; but I will do nothing underhand. Tell him what I say from me, and everyone else you please.

You will see what I have said if the parcel arrives safe. I understand Coleridge went about repeating Southey's lie with pleasure. I can believe it, for I had done him what is called a favour. I can understand Coleridge's abusing me, but how or why Southey - whom I had never obliged in any sort of way, or done him the remotest service - should go about fibbing and calumniating is more than I readily comprehend

Does he think to put me down with his canting - not being able to do so with his poetry? We will try the question. I have read his review of Hunt, where he attacked Shelley in an oblique and shabby manner. Does he know what that review has done? I will tell you. It has sold an edition of the Revolt of Islam, which, otherwise, nobody would have thought of reading, and few who read can understand - I for one.

Southey would have attacked me, too, there, if he durst, further than by hints about Hunt's friends in general; and some outcry about an ‘Epicurean system,’ carried on by men of the most opposite habits. tastes, and and opinions in life and poetry (I believe), that ever had their names in the same volume - Moore, Byron, Shelley, Hazlitt, Haydon, Leigh Hunt, Lamb - what resemblances do ye find among all or any of these men? and how could any sort of system or plan be carried on, or attempted amongst them? However, let Mr. Southey look to himself - since the wine is tapped, let him drink it.”

Byron and Southey’s rivalry was infamous. Two books have been written about it. Byron frequently parodied or ridiculed people in his poems and Southey was his top target, mainly because he was an easy target. He was the Poet Laureate, disliked Byron, became something of a moralist and royalist as he got older, and due to popularity he generally sided with the status quo Byron despised. From Wikipedia:

[litandlifequotes]

It is with words as with sunbeams - the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.

— Robert Southey

[victusinveritas]

Goldilocks and the Three Bears was not written by the brothers Grimm, or Hans christian Anderson, but by Robert Southey, English essayist and poet. In his story the three bears are bachelors just living together (as you do) and the porridge eater is a little old woman.

[rabbitmotifs]

Robert Southey, "The Dead Friend" (1799)

[werewolfetone]

All of the stories about William Godwin & Samuel Taylor Coleridge interacting with each others' families are so wild. Godwin's kids were quiet when Coleridge first met them cos their mother had just died so Coleridge wrote to Southey telling him that Godwin was a TERRIBLE parent without Wollstonecraft & therefore needed to remarry immediately. meanwhile when Godwin met Coleridge's eldest son Hartley Coleridge Hartley kicked him so hard in the shins that Godwin yelled at Coleridge AND his wife about it. utter chaos

[aokvisualartist]

Progress! Woof - this one took a lot of research and I still have so many fun facts that may not make it into the issue! The timeline spread was... uh.... rough. (There’s a corrective patch piece of paper in there if you look closely.) But it all ultimately fits! Tomorrow night is plot summary time, and the original endings are a DOOZY, so that commentary is going to be super fun to write.

[foodandfolklore]

The History and Evolution of Goldilocks

I made a post a bit back sharing the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. But instead of the young Goldilocks, it was an old woman. I found the switch funny and shared the story. But another user pointed out, that's actually the original story by Robert Southey (The Person credited with creating Goldilocks and the Three Bears) and I checked my own copy and- they were right! I had completely miss remembered. You can check out the post and comment here. But that got me thinking....If Robert Southey didn't create the character Goldilocks; who did?

So I did a little digging.

First of all, I know Robert Southey didn't create this iconic story. It was likely a folk tale that had been told for many generations, and he was the first to write and publish the story. In fact, we can confirm this is not his original story because we have another book with the same story created before his publication. Southey Published his in 1837. But in 1831, a woman named Eleanor Mure made her own version of the story with hand painted illustrations as a gift for her Nephew. The nephew, Horace Broke, kept the book in his personal library for his entire life. When he died, his books were brought to Toronto Canada, and you can find this hand made gift in the Toronto Museum.

It was the same story as Robert Southey's, give or take some wording. Three civilized bears have their home invaded by an old woman while away. Though instead of running away, I think she is eaten in the end. So both versions have an old lady. Goldilocks is not an old lady.

Joseph Cundall is credited with being the first to write the iconic intruder as a young girl instead of an old woman. She has a more naïve, wide eyed demeanor vs the typical grouchy and crusty old woman. His apparent reasoning for this was because there were just too many stories with old women. So he wanted to give the story a fresh take.

But we're starting to build the character Goldilocks. The trope of a young child stuck. Re-tellings of the story had a young girl burglar; and there was a cultural bias toward youth/innocence and blond hair at the time. (It's also probably partly why so many early Disney Characters are blonde) So the young girl was often described to have golden blonde hair.

But a name wasn't always used in the story. If it was, she was called things like "Little Golden Hair"; probably due to the story of little red ridding hood. But nothing consistently stuck. At lest, not until 1904 when author Flora Annie Steel wrote her book 'English Fairy Tales'. In it, she tells the story of the three bears, and gives the little girl her iconic name: Goldilocks.

From there, the name stuck. It was easy to say, Identifiable to the character, and uniquely hers.

[travsd]

Robert Southey: Born 250 Years Ago

I haven’t tons to say about the English literary figure Robert Southey (1774-1843), but the fact that he was born a quarter of a millennium ago on this day seemed worth marking. Southey is invariably associated with his cohorts among the Lake Poets Coleridge and Wordsworth, and yet unlike the other two his memory has retreated somewhat in relation to the public at large. This was already the���

[justwatchmyeyes]

No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth. ~ Robert Southey

[poligraf]

Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state.

— Robert Southey

[litandlifequotes]

It is with words as with sunbeams-the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.

— Robert Southey

[fallenangelsrollthedice]

-The Battle of Blenheim by Robert Southey

[leitoracomcompanhia]

Elogio

"Deus e a natureza destinaram-na para mulher de um missionário. Não lhe deram encantos físicos, mas dons morais; é feita para o trabalho, não para o amor."

Charlotte Brontë, "Jane Eyre". É talvez o pior elogio de sempre.

A pintura é de John Opie e retrata o poeta Robert Southey. Charlotte escreveu-lhe uma vez, pedindo conselhos para uma carreira de poetisa. Southey é recordado apenas pela resposta que deu: "A literatura não pode ser a ocupação da vida de uma mulher, e não deve sê-lo." O conselho foi devidamente ignorado.