By Michael Patrick O’Brien–
I was born on a Wednesday and, for some odd reason, I knew that fact at a very young age. As a child, I discovered a fancy tin biscuit box my mother owned. I was about to peek inside when I read this on the side of the container: “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” Wait…woe? Whoa!
The tin was from the renowned Carr’s biscuit and bread bakery of England, so it once contained something quite delicious inside. By the time it was in my hands, however, the interior was full of old photos and the outside decorated by the dread poem that seemed to bear only bad news for us Wednesday-born folks.
The full poem goes like this:
“Monday’s child is fair of face
Tuesday’s child is full of grace
Wednesday’s child is full of woe
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.”
Full of woe? Really? Only Thursday’s children get somewhat similarly dissed because allegedly they have “far to go.” In contrast, the kids of the rest of the week are deemed fair, graceful, generous, hardworking, and blithe.
According to my recent research, the rhyme was first recorded in A. E. Bray’s “Traditions of Devonshire” (Volume II, pp. 287–288) in 1838 and probably was inspired by English folk lore poems of the 1500s. Apparently, many people believed, back then, that the birth weekday of a child will predict his or her temperament. They were wrong.
Of course, like everyone else, I have felt sad at times, but in no way could you describe me as melancholy or full of woe. I was a content kid and have been a fairly happy adult. Thus, I respectfully suggest the poem be re-written as follows: “Wednesday’s child will learn and grow, Thursday’s child is fun to know.” I recognize, however, that my proposed rewrite faces an uphill battle against a poem that has been around for about two centuries.
My closest sibling is six years older than me, so I was an unplanned child, the product of Catholic birth control. My mother once told me I was the best mistake she ever made. I guess that makes it all worthwhile, even if it had to happen on a woeful Wednesday.
