WITH reference to the story of Mary Hughes at Broadwater Cemetery Open Day, it is claimed that Mary was the inspiration to the well-known nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb.
It would appear that this is indeed a falsehood.
The poem was published on May 24, 1830, by Sarah Josepha Hale from New Hampshire, USA, some 12 years before Mary Hughes was born.
The question that remains is, why did Mary Hughes (or perhaps her parents) encourage and inflate this myth to the extent of having it carved on her tombstone?
J Hastell
Worthing-------------------------------------
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