 In 1834, John Bellenden Ker Gawler published a book (with a 2nd-volume sequel in 1840) deriving the origin of the "Mother Goose" rhymes as arising from political disaffection expressed in a largely invented Flemish language, an effort described by the Opies as "the most extraordinary example of misdirected labour in the history of English letters".In addition to being the purported author of nursery rhymes, Mother Goose is herself the title character in one recorded by the Opies, only the first verse of which figures in later editions of their book.Titled "Old Mother Goose and the Golden Egg", this verse prefaced a 15-stanza poem that rambled through a variety of adventures involving not only the egg but also Mother Goose's son Jack.