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was bored so tried google though you probably already thought of that so at the risk of repeating information you already got try here ... 
www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=nursery+rhymes+history
[edit] this save you time but then i dont know the mother goose rhymes ...
"Although the concept of Mother Goose is a relatively new phenomenon, the world of nursery rhymes and tales has evolved over thousands of year (Delamar, 2). Based on anthropological evidence, Henry Bett concluded that nursery rhymes and tales ". . . date from prehistoric times, and have spread over the world with the migrations of races and the forgotten commerce of many thousands of years" (12). This statement has been based on the language used for such rhymes, the variations in rhymes among countries, and because of their depiction of ancient customs and ideas.
But deciphering the history of nursery rhymes has not been an easy task. Gloria T. Delamar explains that "tracing the origins of nomenclature and identification leads the scholar of children’s literature along many paths. Some are clear, and others are fogged with the haze of poorly documented history" (2). Nevertheless, a history of nursery rhymes and the nursery tales of Mother Goose has been established. This paper will attempt to provide the reader with a chronological overview of nursery rhymes and Mother Goose, as well as a brief understanding of the entertainment reasons for such literary works, and the political allusions.
It was due to the lack of written material, and more importantly the lack of education for the working class, that the rhymes which we now refer to as nursery rhymes and Mother Goose tales were passed on by word of mouth. It has been suggested that the rhymes, based on the literary styles of composition, were "originally written for the gentry and copied by the ‘folk’ who worked for them, or observed them at their amusements" (Delamar, 2). One can conclude that this is where the term "folk tales" originated, later to become Mother Goose tales and rhymes.
Despite this emergence of rhyme, an interest in these "unappreciated trifles of the nursery" did not appear until the 1700’s (Eckenstein, 2). It was not until this time that publishers began to document the songs found in the nursery and put them into print for those who were able to afford the enjoyment of books. This is also the time where inconsistencies regarding the history of Mother Goose appear.
British literature claims that John Newbery, a publisher in London, printed his first volume of A Little Pretty Pocket-Book in 1744 (Delamar, 6). This work, although not using the identity of Mother Goose, consisted of many of the nursery rhymes we know today. Not only was this piece of work one of the first to focus on entertainment for children, but it was what established John Newbery’s name in the genre of children’s literature. Newbery’s accomplishments were further developed by John Carnan, Newbery’s stepson, who published Mother Goose’s Melody or Sonnets for the Cradle in 1780 (Eckenstein, 3-4).
Accordingly, American literature reserves the 1719 work Songs for the Nursery, or Mother Goose’s Melodies for Children, as the beginning of Mother Goose (Eckenstein, 4; Delamar, 12). Written by Thomas Fleet, a resident of Boston, Massachusetts, this book was said to resemble the format of the later version by Newbery. Unfortunately no record of either of these works has ever been found and as a result no concrete comparison of verification of dates may be made (Eckenstein, 4; Delamar, 12).
A final twist to the origin of Mother Goose can be traced from England back into France. According to Lang, "La Mere Oie was connected with the telling of fairy tales as far back as 1650" (xxiv). Furthermore, "La Mere Oie" has been associated with a storyteller named Bertha. This has given rise to the thought that Mother Goose was an actual person, and more specifically perhaps, one of royalty.
The first possibility is the French Queen Bertha, wife of Pepin. She was "known as ‘Queen Goose-foot’ or ‘Goose-footed Bertha’, possibly because of the size and shape of her foot which was said to be both large and webbed…The other was Queen Bertha, wife of Robert II, also of France… It was rumoured that the close blood-tie [with her husband] had caused her to give birth to a child with the head of a goose" (Delamar, 3). In each case the Queen has been represented, and is often depicted by the image of a child’s storyteller. "
it from someone's essay here...
www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/ENGL/courses/engl208c/esharris.htm
or i may have just confused you i dunno sorry
(Edited by EvilWillow 23/03/2003 21:27)
www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=nursery+rhymes+history
[edit] this save you time but then i dont know the mother goose rhymes ...
"Although the concept of Mother Goose is a relatively new phenomenon, the world of nursery rhymes and tales has evolved over thousands of year (Delamar, 2). Based on anthropological evidence, Henry Bett concluded that nursery rhymes and tales ". . . date from prehistoric times, and have spread over the world with the migrations of races and the forgotten commerce of many thousands of years" (12). This statement has been based on the language used for such rhymes, the variations in rhymes among countries, and because of their depiction of ancient customs and ideas.
But deciphering the history of nursery rhymes has not been an easy task. Gloria T. Delamar explains that "tracing the origins of nomenclature and identification leads the scholar of children’s literature along many paths. Some are clear, and others are fogged with the haze of poorly documented history" (2). Nevertheless, a history of nursery rhymes and the nursery tales of Mother Goose has been established. This paper will attempt to provide the reader with a chronological overview of nursery rhymes and Mother Goose, as well as a brief understanding of the entertainment reasons for such literary works, and the political allusions.
It was due to the lack of written material, and more importantly the lack of education for the working class, that the rhymes which we now refer to as nursery rhymes and Mother Goose tales were passed on by word of mouth. It has been suggested that the rhymes, based on the literary styles of composition, were "originally written for the gentry and copied by the ‘folk’ who worked for them, or observed them at their amusements" (Delamar, 2). One can conclude that this is where the term "folk tales" originated, later to become Mother Goose tales and rhymes.
Despite this emergence of rhyme, an interest in these "unappreciated trifles of the nursery" did not appear until the 1700’s (Eckenstein, 2). It was not until this time that publishers began to document the songs found in the nursery and put them into print for those who were able to afford the enjoyment of books. This is also the time where inconsistencies regarding the history of Mother Goose appear.
British literature claims that John Newbery, a publisher in London, printed his first volume of A Little Pretty Pocket-Book in 1744 (Delamar, 6). This work, although not using the identity of Mother Goose, consisted of many of the nursery rhymes we know today. Not only was this piece of work one of the first to focus on entertainment for children, but it was what established John Newbery’s name in the genre of children’s literature. Newbery’s accomplishments were further developed by John Carnan, Newbery’s stepson, who published Mother Goose’s Melody or Sonnets for the Cradle in 1780 (Eckenstein, 3-4).
Accordingly, American literature reserves the 1719 work Songs for the Nursery, or Mother Goose’s Melodies for Children, as the beginning of Mother Goose (Eckenstein, 4; Delamar, 12). Written by Thomas Fleet, a resident of Boston, Massachusetts, this book was said to resemble the format of the later version by Newbery. Unfortunately no record of either of these works has ever been found and as a result no concrete comparison of verification of dates may be made (Eckenstein, 4; Delamar, 12).
A final twist to the origin of Mother Goose can be traced from England back into France. According to Lang, "La Mere Oie was connected with the telling of fairy tales as far back as 1650" (xxiv). Furthermore, "La Mere Oie" has been associated with a storyteller named Bertha. This has given rise to the thought that Mother Goose was an actual person, and more specifically perhaps, one of royalty.
The first possibility is the French Queen Bertha, wife of Pepin. She was "known as ‘Queen Goose-foot’ or ‘Goose-footed Bertha’, possibly because of the size and shape of her foot which was said to be both large and webbed…The other was Queen Bertha, wife of Robert II, also of France… It was rumoured that the close blood-tie [with her husband] had caused her to give birth to a child with the head of a goose" (Delamar, 3). In each case the Queen has been represented, and is often depicted by the image of a child’s storyteller. "
it from someone's essay here...
www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/ENGL/courses/engl208c/esharris.htm
or i may have just confused you i dunno sorry
(Edited by EvilWillow 23/03/2003 21:27)
Posted: 21:10 Mar 23 2003 
