(1) What is MOTHER GOOSE?

"Mother Goose" rhymes are the beloved heritage of all English speaking people, repeated and modified by children and grown-ups for hundreds of years. They are the nursery rhymes, melodies, songs, jingles, riddles, catches, counting-out rhymes, lullabies, prayers, drinking songs, love songs that have enlivened life for all ages.

---"The Annotated Mother Goose " Edited by William S. Baring-Gould and Ceil Baring-Gould, New American Library

The term "Mother Goose" seems to be popularly used among people in the United States while the term "nursery rhyme" is frequently used among the British people. In Japan, however, we usually refer to English nursery rhymes as Mother Goose, partly because Mr. KITAHARA Hakushu, himself a poet and translator, chose that term when he introduced English nursery rhymes into Japanese in 1921.