the mulberry tree of central park!

photo by ana traina ~2011

  Mulberry Tree (Morus)

 o, the mulberry-tree is of trees the queen!

bare long after the rest are green;

but as time steals onwards, while none perceives

slowly she clothes herself with leaves—

hides her fruit under them, hard to find.

    *    *    *    *    *

but by and by, when the flowers grow few

and the fruits are dwindling and small to view—

out she comes in her matron grace

with the purple myriads of her race;

full of plenty from root to crown,

showering plenty her feet adown.

while far over head hang gorgeously

large luscious berries of sanguine dye,

  for the best grows highest, always highest,

  upon the mulberry-tree.
 d. m. mulock—the mulberry-tree.

       

as i was meandering my way home yesterday from the museum of natural history i took an unknown path in central park and had the very good fortune to stumble onto a mulberry tree...so many memories came rushing back and this song as well as...

here we go round the mulberry bush,

the mulberry bush, 

the mulberry bush.

here we go round the mulberry bush

on a cold and frosty morning.

here is a little history i learned about the rhyme, it was first recorded as a children's game by james orchard halliwell in the mid-nineteenth century.  he also noted that there was a similar game with the lyrics 'here we go round the bramble bush.'  but some believe that the bramble bush was the earlier version, and perhaps changed because of the difficulty of articulating the alliteration, not least because mulberries do not grow on bushes.

also, the song and associated game is traditional, and has parallels in the scandinavian languages and in dutch (although the mulberry bush is replaced by a juniper bush in scandinavia)  r. s. duncan has suggested that the song derives from female prisoners at hmp wakefield.  a sprig was taken from hatfield hall (normanton golf club) in stanley, wakefield, which grew into a fully mature mulberry bush. the prisoners would exercise by the mulberry bush and coined the verse which later became a well known rhyme.  there is no corroborative evidence to support this theory.

here we go ‘round the mulberry bush
the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush
here we go ‘round the mulberry bush
so early in the morning

this is the way we wash our face
wash our face, wash our face
this is the way we wash our face
so early in the morning

this is the way we comb our hair
comb our hair, comb our hair
this is the way we comb our hair
so early in the morning

this is the way we brush our teeth
brush our teeth, brush our teeth
this is the way we brush our teeth
so early in the morning

this is the way we put on our clothes
put on our clothes, put on our clothes
this is the way we put on our clothes
so early in the morning…

the simple game involves holding hands in a circle and moving around to the first verse, which is alternated with the specific verse, where the players break up to imitate various appropriate actions.

 MULBERRY gummy GUMDROPs RECIPE

you can make different flavors of gumdrops too! Use raspberry juice instead of mulberry juice and one drop of red food coloring for raspberry gumdrops. or go wild and add a little spice and sweetness with a bit of cinnamon! it is a fun twist on the traditional fruit-flavored gumdrop. remember, your imagination is the limit!

prep Time: 20 minutes cook Time: 25 minutes total Time: 45 minutes ingredients:

•1 cup sugar

•1 cup light corn syrup

•3/4 cup mulberry juice

•1-3/4 oz. pkg. powdered fruit pectin

•1/2 tsp. baking soda

   •2 drop blue food coloring or you can go au natural, my very favorite way!

•sugar

preparation: line a 9x5" loaf pan with aluminum foil and brush with peanut or safflower oil to coat.  in 1-1/2 quart heavy saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup and stir well, making sure to scrape down the sides. bring to a boil over medium high heat until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. cover pan briefly so steam will help wash sugar crystals off the sides of the pan.  

clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan with the bulb touching the syrup, but not touching the pan. then, cook without stirring over medium heat, until mixture reads 280 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (you can also test the candy by dropping a small amount of candy into cold water. the candy is ready when it separates into hard threads that aren't brittle.)

meanwhile, in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine grape juice, pectin, and baking soda. bring this mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. when the mixture boils (it will look very foamy), reduce the heat to low but leave pan on the heat.

slowly pour the hot, 280 degree sugar mixture into the grape juice mixture in a thin stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. this will take a couple of minutes. then remove the pan from the heat and stir in food coloring, if using. let the mixture stand for 2 minutes, then skim off any foam from the surface.

pour candy into prepared pan and let stand, uncovered, at room temperature, for 24 hours. lift foil from the pan and remove from from the sides of the candy.

cut candy into 3/4" squares, using a sharp knife dipped into sugar. roll all the squares in sugar to coat. Let stand at room temperature for one hour to dry. store gumdrops in a tightly covered container at room temperature. yields 72 gumdrops!

one final note...yesterday truly was a miraculous day, not only did i find a mulberry tree in central park but as i continued on my walk home, a beautiful blue and brown butterfly alighted on my shoulder and proceeded to give me a very long and might i say, memorable kiss!