Mary Had a Little Lamb and Thomas Edison

 In  May 24, 1830 – Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale was published.An interesting information that i just learned that the first words successfully recorded by Edison when testing the phonograph were "Mary had a little lamb." This was on a tinfoil-wrapped cylinder recorder. Edison announced the invention on November 21, 1877.The phonograph was developed as a result of Thomas Edison's work on two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone.

Original Edison Tin Foil Phonograph.

In 1877, Edison was working on a machine that would transcribe telegraphic messages through indentations on paper tape, which could later be sent over the telegraph repeatedly. This development led Edison to speculate that a telephone message could also be recorded in a similar fashion. He experimented with a diaphragm which had an embossing point and was held against rapidly-moving paraffin paper. The speaking vibrations made indentations in the paper. Edison later changed the paper to a metal cylinder with tin foil wrapped around it. The machine had two diaphragm-and-needle units, one for recording, and one for playback. When one would speak into a mouthpiece, the sound vibrations would be indented onto the cylinder by the recording needle in a vertical (or hill and dale) groove pattern. Edison gave a sketch of the machine to his mechanic, John Kruesi, to build, which Kruesi supposedly did within 30 hours. Edison immediately tested the machine by speaking the nursery rhyme into the mouthpiece, "Mary had a little lamb." To his amazement, the machine played his words back to him.

His exact words " "The first words I spoke in the original phonograph. A little piece of practical poetry. Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go."

I accidentally found this recording while looking for something  in the world of modern musical technology today… but – to say the very least, I was elated and truly impressed to hear the clarity and quality this genius (word actually applies) created from a mere sequence of collective thought in his mind. Could any of us imagine life without recorded music?  Imagine, this man just dreamed up this machine, handed the drawing to one of his machinists, and “POOF” we have audio recording. He recorded it on a piece of rolled up tin foil. As another point of, what would we do without it, Edison also invented moving pictures. We would be in the stone age. Oh yeah, he also invented a little thing called the light bulb, talk about being in the dark. VIVA Tomas Edison, a great example of the opportunity afforded us in a FREE SOCIETY.

Although it is widely believed to be an English rhyme, "Mary Had A Little Lamb" was actually written by an American schoolteacher turned novelist and magazine editor. It was inspired by a young girl named Mary Sawyer who took her pet lamb to school at the suggestion of her brother.

Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day which was against the rules.
It made the children laugh and play, to see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about, till Mary did appear.
"Why does the lamb love Mary so?" the eager children cry.
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know." the teacher did reply.

If translated into Tagalog, this perhaps will be its version:

Si Maria ay may maliit na tupa,Maliit na tupa  Maliit na tupa
Si Maria ay may maliit na tupa Buhok ay kasing puti ng nieve.
Sinundan sya sa eskwelahan isang araw Eskwelahan isang araw
Eskwelahan isang araw Sinundan sya sa eskwelahan isang araw
Ipinagbabawal ito.
Ang mga bata ay nagtawanan Nagtawanan Nagtawanan
Ang mga bata ay nagtawanan Dahil sa tupa sa eskwelahan.

Its Japanese translation goes like this:
Mary-san no hitsuji hitsuji hitsuji
Mary-san no hitsuji Kawaii desu






One interpretation is on the religious undertone of the rhyme:
 Jesus is the Lamb of God, Mary is His mother. White represents His purity and innocence. Jesus "followed Mary to school," meaning He preached in the Temple. It was against the rules-- the Pharisees and Sadduces had Him persecuted because Jesus (the Lamb) was preaching against them. Still, "It made the children laugh and play." The people were happy because Jesus brought them salvation.


Unsurprisingly, "Mary Had A Little Lamb" has been both imitated and parodied. Here some of the interesting videos :

Paul McCartney and the Swing

A rock version by one of the best guitar player,  Stevie Ray Vaughan