If you're hoping to figure out the name and address of the person who first wrote this somewhat creepy song ... well, good luck with that time machine. First of all, the oldest known appearance of this rhyme in print (originally named "Hush-a-bye Baby") occurred in the 1765 publication of Mother Goose's Melody, in London, according to the McFarland Historical Society. It seemingly wasn't until the 1800s where this little poem gained its official melody, which then thoroughly embedded itself in American culture.
The source of inspiration for this rhyme is, unfortunately, unclear. Perhaps the most prominent theory, according to Country Images Magazine, is that the rhyme goes back to a 1700s woman named Betty Kenny, who lived in the U.K.'s Shining Cliff Woods with her husband, Luke, and eight children. Betty and Luke used a 2000-year-old yew tree as their home, creating a hut beneath the tree's branches and using its massive trunk to support the house. This structure must've certainly looked quite fairy tale-esque, and many believe that she lulled her eight babies to sleep by placing them in the tree's massive, hollowed out branches. Now, that's certainly far safer than the lullaby sounds, though it's easy to see why it could've amazed people enough to write a rhyme about it.
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