Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross

Well finding ourselves in Banbury i decided i needed to find out if the Banbury cross existed and it did.

With Hobby Horses at the foot

"Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross" Roud #21143
The statue of the "fine lady" at Banbury Cross
Written by	Traditional
Published	1784
Written	England
Language	English
Form	Nursery Rhyme

"Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross" is an English language nursery rhyme connected with the English town Banbury. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 21143.

Lyrics

William Wallace Denslow's illustrations, 1901

The old lady on her white horse, according to Denslow^[1]

Common modern versions include:

Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
And she shall have music wherever she goes.^[2]

Origins

The modern rhyme is the best known of a number of verses beginning with the line "Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross", some of which are recorded earlier. These include a verse printed in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (c. 1744), with the lyrics:

Ride a cock-horse
To Banbury Cross,
To see what Tommy can buy;
A penny white loaf,
A penny white cake,
And a two-penny apple-pie.^[2]

A reference in 1725 to 'Now on Cock-horse does he ride' may allude to this or the more famous rhyme, and is the earliest indication we have that they existed.^[2] The earliest surviving version of the modern rhyme in Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus, printed in London in 1784, differs significantly from modern versions in that the subject is not a fine lady but "an old woman".^[2] The version printed in Tommy Thumb's Song Book in America in 1788, which may have been in the original (c. 1744) edition, has the "fine lady", but the next extant version, in The Tom Tit's Song Book (printed in London around 1790), had:

A ring on her finger,
A bonnet of straw,
The strangest old woman
That ever you saw.^[2]

Interpretations

The instability of the early recorded lyrics has not prevented considerable speculation about the meaning of the rhyme.
A medieval date had been argued for the rhyme on the grounds that the bells worn on the lady's toes refer to the fashion of wearing bells on the end of shoes in the fifteenth century, but given their absence from so many early versions, this identification is speculative.^[2] Similarly, the main Banbury Cross was taken down around 1600, but other crosses were present in the town and, as is often the case, the place may have retained the name, so it is difficult to argue for the antiquity of the rhyme from this fact.^[2]
A "Cock Horse" can mean a high-spirited horse, and the additional horse to assist pulling a cart or carriage up a hill. From the mid-sixteenth century it also meant a pretend Hobby horse or an adult's knee.^[2]
Despite not being present or significantly different in many early versions, the fine lady has been associated with Queen Elizabeth I, Lady Godiva, and Celia Fiennes, whose brother was William Fiennes, 3rd Viscount Saye and Sele (c. 1641-1698) of Broughton Castle, Banbury, on the grounds that the line should be 'To see a Fiennes lady'. There is no corroborative evidence to support any of these cases.^[2]

Popular culture

• The nursery rhyme was very popular before the twentieth century, it was sung every day by William Ewart Gladstone to his children as they had "rides on his foot, slung over his knee".^[3]

 We then headed into Banbury and i saw a sign for Banbury cakes, i never heard of them so bought some, they are a bit like Eccles cakes and are not bad at all.

Banbury cake

Two Banbury cakes, one having been cut into two pieces

A Banbury cake is a spiced, currant-filled, flat pastry cake similar to an Eccles cake, although it is more oval in shape. Once made and sold exclusively in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, Banbury cakes have been made in the region to secret recipes since 1586 or earlier and there they are still made today, but not in such quantity. The cakes were once sent as far afield as Australia, India and America.
Banbury Cakes were first made in the sixteenth century by Edward Welchman, whose shop was on Parsons Street.^[1] In the late nineteenth century, the notorious refreshment rooms at Swindon railway station sold 'Banbury cakes and pork pies (obviously stale)'.^[2][3]
Besides currants, the filling typically includes: mixed peel; brown sugar; rose water; rum; and nutmeg.

 

British Food

Banbury Cakes

1 lb. puff pastry
2 oz. butter, melted
4 oz. raisins
4 oz. currants
2 oz. mixed peel
4 oz. demerara sugar (coursely ground brown sugar)
1 level teaspoon mixed spice
Egg white and caster sugar for topping (caster sugar is finely ground white sugar) [editor's note: I believe this is known in North America as "berry sugar"]

Set Oven to 425F or Mark 7.
Mix the melted butter, fruit, peel, sugar and spice together in a bowl, combining well.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and, using a saucer, cut into about 16 circles. Divide the fruit mixture evenly between them, then dampen the edges of the pastry circles and draw up into the centre, sealing well. Turn over and, with the hands, gently form the cakes into ovals, then press down very gently with a rolling pin.

Make 3 diagonal cuts across the top of each cake, then brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Place on lightly greased baking trays and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Serve slightly warm.Makes about 16.

The oval cakes date back to Tudor days, and were originally sold from special lidded baskets and wrapped in white cloths to keep them warm.

 http://www.banburycakes.co.uk/

After looking briefly around the town and Castle Quay shopping mall we went and had a look at the canal.

The Pirate

The Dancers