Dr Foster

When the tide is out, little pools of water form on the beach.  Walking along the beach several times we have stepped in a pool of water that turned out to be surprisingly deep. Probably Earl is tired of me saying the Dr. Foster poem. I have been saying "all on a rainy day."  I wonder if I can memorize the correct phrase.
 Picture of beach puddle pending.



This not the deepest depression that I have accidentally stepped in.  But I think you get the idea.




You will undoubtedly notice that I like the cutesy pictures.

Origins and meaning[edit

The rhyme was first published in its modern form in 1844, although the rhyming of 'puddle' with 'middle' suggests that it may have originally been the archaic 'piddle' for a stream and that the verse may therefore be much older.^[1] The first recorded text was:

Doctor Foster went to Gloucester,
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again.^[1]

This one is definitely up to his middle.

Doctor Foster poem

Doctor Foster
Went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain.
He stepped in a puddle
Right up to his middle
And never went there again!

​The Origins of the words from "Doctor Foster" 

The origins and history of the poem "Doctor Foster" are in England, this is made clear with the reference to the English county of Gloucestershire (Doctor Foster went to Gloucester...). This was a warning to children in bygone days, prior to modern roads, that what may appear to be a shallow puddle could, in fact, be much deeper!

The rhyme scheme makes more sense if you say again as I did growing up.  It rhymes perfectly with rain.  In the US mostly the pronunciation of again is more like "a-gin" as in bin. And not at all like the alcoholic drink of that name.  

​

A more conventional representation

This site gives a reading of the poem.

by Chris Fisher

A modern day doctor and an older version.

“Doctor Foster” History
The origins of “Doctor Foster” are reputedly lie in English history dating back to the Plantagenet monarchy of the 13th century when King Edward 1 (“Doctor Foster”) was thought to have visited Gloucester and fell from his horse into a large muddy puddle! He is said to have been so humiliated by this experience that he refused to ever visit Gloucester again! King Edward 1 (June 17, 1239 – July 7, 1307) was a powerful man, over six foot tall – hence his nickname of Longshanks.

    King Edward I (Longshanks)

From Poems and Prose

This rhyme poked fun at King Edward I, who was made to look a fool on one of his pompous regal trips into the country, when he traveled to Gloucester in the middle of a torrential rain storm.

When he got there, his horse stumbled and the king and the horse wound up in a large muddy puddle. It was a pathetic and humiliating sight.

The townsfolk had to use planks of wood to rescue him and his horse from the very undignified situation.

Edward ranted and raved and swore he would never return to Gloucester.

The people celebrated his fall by singing this verse wherever and whenever they could.