After reading what I considered to be a horribly written "rhyme", I got curious about who could have come up with such a thing.
I admit, when I found the answer (it wasn't hard), I was completely and totally taken aback. I kept thinking, no, this can't be right. What made it even worse is that I should have
known who wrote the thing, or at least recognized the style.
The author was more or less a failed businessman. His efforts at running a sort of general store came to no good due to his habit of extending credit to just about anyone but never trying to collect the money. His newspaper went bust...he apparently wasn't much of an editor.
He seemed to be easily led into schemes wherein he lost money over and over again.
He eventually turned to writing, trying his hand at writing stories and nursery rhymes for children.
He eventually wrote a little book titled
Mother Goose in Prose in 1897, and in this book was a story called "The Little Man and His Little Gun", which included the "little man, little gun" rhyme. So that mystery was solved for me, but again, it was hard for me to believe it when I saw the author's name.
The book was a decent success, and he began writing more children's stories.
Father Goose was another success. One of his intentions was to bring the European style of storytelling into American literature...he liked the Brothers Grimm style of writing.
Well, long story short, this sort of unassuming man finally hit the mother lode...writing the story that would make him a household name and ensure his fame forever.
His name? You'll probably recognize it. If not, you should.
He was L. Frank Baum, and the story that brought him everlasting fame and fortune, and was used to make one of the most famous films of all time is...
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
So...color me flabbergasted.
