Lydia Maria Child (1802 - 1880) wrote a poem in 1844 as she remembered her childhood visits to her grandmother's house.
The original Grandfather's House, Medford Mass., as immortalized in Lydia Child's poem. Now owned by Tuft's Univeristy, courtesy of Wikipedia.
The poem she wrote subsequently became the famous song Over the River and Through the Woods.
Lydia Child was an editor living in Medford, Massachusetts, when she wrote the poem. The Grandfather's house portrayed in the poem actually exists and is located at 114 South Street in Medford.
The house, seen in the photo, was built in the early 1800s as a small farmhouse and was enlarged in 1839 to include the two stories shown here. In 1976, Tufts University, also located in Medford, bought and restored this historic house. It is a classic example of Greek Revival architecture, common in that era.
Several versions of Child's original poem exist. The one below is my favorite. Although this version mentions "Grandfather's house (and this was the original 'grandparent' mentioned in the poem) some versions do say "Grandmother's house."
The river mentioned in the poem is Medford's Mystic River, also memorialized by a movie of the same name a few years ago.
Over the river and thru the wood,
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh,
Thru the white and drifted snow, oh!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes,
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
Over the river and thru the wood,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh, hear the bell ring,
"Ting-a-ling-ling!"
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day-ay!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Trot fast my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground,
Like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
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Comments: 100
I remember singing this in grade school, too.
I don't know if a painting of the original small farmhouse exists, Bob.
Thanks, Kathryn, for the great value-add to Gather!
Grandpa was loaded, back in the day, it seems. That's one big house.
Over the river and through the woods
and straight to the barnyard gate
We seem to go extremely slow,
it is so hard to wait;
Over teh river and through the wood,
Now grandmother's cap I spy,
Hurrah for the fun, the puddings done,
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie.
Bert - thank you.
Thanks, Laura, Carol Roach for enjoying.
Anne B. Grote: Yes, what a house. It has been rebuilt several times. Medford was a small village, back in that day...
Kate
We sing the "hurrah for the fun, is the pudding done?" version!
Melinda - it was probably a cozy cottage at one time. That version is great, too.
thank you chris and amy
Thanks for stopping by my TGD photo for all of you....have an enjoyable holiday!
cheers,gayle
Happy Thanksgiving!
Marge - I did not know that either.
Pamela, thank you.
Wonderful
answer of the…heart*
Thank you K-E-O. Love you.
Lucky you; I miss New England so very much.
Let me know if you come up this way. Our summers are not nearly so hot or humid.
and thanks too for commenting on
Lessons on Living Longer
I appreciate it. Your comments were excellent and very useful.
Happy Thanksgiving
I always thought the song said, "Off to gradmother's house, we go"
But, of course, I could be wrong.
Layla, very familiar with internet being down.
so it was a thanks giving poem first? interesting.
Wow, I love activists, will look into Tourgee, too.
Sorry for the off-topic comment -- I tend to get carried away by history.
Glad to know grandfather's house has been preserved!
Hugs and blessings from Moscow - S.
JustMe...Thank you for enjoying....
Sheila, glad you stopped by, too.
Thank you all.
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