Quick Description: Mary's Little Lamb statue is located on Main Street and Meetinghouse Hill Road in Sterling, MA; the hometown of Mary Elizabeth Sawyer and her pet lamb, the subjects of the familiar children's nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

The popular nursery rhyme was first published by Sarah Josepha Hale on May 24, 1830. The poem was inspired by an actual incident. When Mary Sawyer took her pet lamb to school a commotion ensued.

In Mary's words: "Visiting school that morning was a young man by the name of John Roulstone, a nephew of the Reverend Lemuel Capen, who was then settled in Sterling. It was the custom then for students to prepare for college with ministers, and for this purpose Mr. Roulstone was studying with his uncle. The young man was very much pleased with the incident of the lamb; and the next day he rode across the fields on horseback to the little old schoolhouse and handed me a slip of paper which had written upon it the three original stanzas of the poem."

The full text of the poem:



Mary had a little lamb,

His fleece was white as snow,

And everywhere that Mary went,

The lamb was sure to go.



He followed her to school one day,

Which was against the rule,

It made the children laugh and play

To see a lamb at school.



And so the teacher turned it out,

But still it lingered near,

And waited patiently about,

Till Mary did appear.



"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"

The eager children cry.

"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know."

The teacher did reply.



The bronze statue is located in a small green the center of Sterling, MA. The life-size lamb stands on a rectangular granite base that has three plaques.

The side plaque has the first verse of the poem:





"Mary had a little lamb,

His fleece was white as snow,

And everywhere that Mary went,

The lamb was sure to go."

John Roulstone

BORN IN STERLING, MASS.

MARY ELIZABETH SAWYER

1806 - 1889

AND HER LITTLE LAMB



The front plaque is inscribed:

The rear plaque is inscribed:





This memorial, commemorating the

poem, "Mary had a little lamb",

by the STERLING HISTORICAL SOCIETY,

it was made possible by donations

from the "young-at-heart" everywhere

***

Dedicated Mar. 1991

