The biggest shoe you think of might be Italy's boot, but in this rhyme it's the British Isles. The “old woman” was Parliament, who looked after her many colonial children in the far-flung British Empire. Parliament whipped her misbehaving children by appointing the much-hated James I to the throne. Even though James is bad-mouthed in this rhyme, he wasn't all bad. During his reign, a new version of the Bible was translated (yes, that one) and a group of colonial children named their New World settlement after him — Jamestown, Virginia.

On September 5, 1997, Scott Begg wrote:

Regarding “There was an old woman...” I was under the impression that “The old Woman” referred to either King George II or King George III; one of them began the fashion of wearing white, powdered wigs, and was secretly referred to as the “Old Woman” with some derision. The children were the members of parliament, the shoe of course referring to the British Isles. I actually think that the names “Broth” and “Bread” referred to actual personages — perhaps a prime minister or two, and Bed referred to parliament house itself, which he forced to hold session for some odd reason...

On May 24, 2000, Michael Gildersleeve wrote:

A most informative website on the extremely valid and relevant subject of English Nursery Rhymes.

However, with regards to your explanation of the Old Woman / Shoe song, I was informed that this was (in part) factually based upon a late 18th Century eccentric one parent family, steered at the helm by Margery Buttwhistle, a known village drunk and prostitute.

Ms. Buttwhistle is believed to have had in excess of 20 illegitimate children — fathered during her financially-focuseed liaisons — and was unable and/or unwilling to bring them up in accordance with period mores.

Vainly vying for their callous mother's attention, the children formed the notorious “Shoe Gang” which specifically targetted wealthy aristocrats in exile from revolution-torn Paris. They were so-named due to their targetting of their victims' footwear.

Once thieved, these trophies were presented to Ms. Buttwhistle, who would barter them in exchange for mead. The incredulous local inn keeper who accepted this payment in kind stored the contraband in the cellar until it could be surreptitiously shipped up to Bristol by clipper.

Because of her daily inebriated state, Buttwhistle would seldom leave the bar of a night, managing only to collapse in the cellar and sleep off her drunken execesses — with only the shoes for company.

Hence the origin of the nursery rhyme.

On February 28, 2001, Shamyn Whitehawk wrote:

Regarding your description of King James 1 in your explanation of “The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe”:

Yes, he did commission a new translation of the Bible. But it wasn’t for any altruistic purpose. He had various portions of it changed to suit his own religious and political agendas. For instance, the well-quoted “Thou shalt not allow a witch to live” was originally “Thou shalt not allow a sorceress to live”, although the word has also been translated as “poisoner”. The website this link, Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, will take you to covers that and a few other problems, but not all, by any means.

On January 16, 2004, Chuck Wheat wrote:

I have always heard that the old woman who lived in a shoe was, in fact, Mother Gouse herself. She had 6 children from her first husband, and, after he died, had four more with a second husband. At that time, she was getting pretty old, and it was hard for her to keep up with 10 children. She literally “Had so many children, she didn't know what to do.” The boot was the country she lived in.

On January 16, 2004, Chuck Wheat wrote:

Another interesting thing about Mother Goose...

When she was living, you would be tried and convicted for treason, if you spoke badly about the government in public.

She was named “Mother Goose”, because of her last name, and the way she treated everyone around her as if they were her own children.

She was very defiant of the government of her time, and would make up rhymes, to quote at social functions, knowing that she could get away with mocking the government. At one function, she was asked to write down some of these rhymes for a few of the guests, so they would have something to remember her by — and so she wrote a leaflet that she called “Old Mother Goose's Rhymes.”

She had a family member, I think it was her brother-in-law, who didn't like to hear her speak so rudely about the government — a government that he supported. He worked at a printing press, and decided that a good way to expose her would be to print this leaflet in masse', and hand them out to the public. If everyone was exposed to her defiance, he thought, they would turn on her, and this would shut her up. Little did he know that, by his acts, her rhymes would become so popular — as NURSERY RHYMES!!!

On December 24, 2004, Jeanne Hill wrote:

In your comments regarding The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. You mentioned King James and that the Bible was translated. Actually the King James is a version of the Bible...not a translation...there is a big difference. Most people don’t know that but they should and that is why I am pointing it out. It is the King James Version of the bible and reflected HIS beliefs.