A drift: mention of Perrault's collection, whose title translates as Tales Of My Mother The Goose, gives the lie to the widespread American belief, perpetuated by Burl Ives & others, that the original Mother Goose was one Mrs Elizabeth Goose of Boston who regaled her grandchildren with tales and rhymes from the old world; which is, alas, but a charming but untenable piece of what the late Peter Opie, the authority on children's lore, called 'folklore about folklore'.

~Michael~