Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross

A Noble Lady or an Old Lady? - Visions of the Lady

Over the years, there has been speculation about who is the lady on the horse. Some people speculate that it was Elizabeth I or Lady Godiva. Others believe that it was Celia Fiennes, a noblewoman who lived in Banbury, and that the rhyme originally said "a Fiennes lady." Celia Fiennes traveled around England on horseback from 1685 to 1703. Another explanation is that the lady was the earth goddess who rode through the countryside on a white horse. Lastly, the lady might have been a beautiful and pure local maiden chosen by the townspeople as Queen of the May. This maiden rode through town wearing finery during the May Day celebration.

In many illustrations, the woman is dressed in expensive clothes and attracts the attention of everyone by riding proudly on her white horse. She is young and beautiful. Her stallion prances nobly around town. In DeAngeli's illustration, she looks like a princess. The children in the foreground have ridden their hobby-horses just to see her ride.

The illustration from Mother Goose's Melodies shows a woman who looks like a witch galloping to town on a white horse. She is old and seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere. This old lady does not have the beauty or fancy dress of the other lady. In the background, a mother holds up her child to see the woman.

The ladies in all the illustrations are riding sidesaddle which was the proper way for a woman to ride a horse.