Did you ever fall asleep as someone read you the poem, Wynken, Blynken, and Nod? It was written in 1899 by newspaper man, and writer Eugene Field who was best known for hundreds of children’s poems.

The original title was "Dutch Lullaby". The poem is a fantasy bed-time story about three children sailing and fishing among the stars from a wooden shoe boat. The names suggest a sleepy child's blinking eyes and nodding head. The spelling of the names, and the "wooden shoe," suggest Dutch language and names, as hinted in the original title.

Before sharing the store of a Chicago sculptress behind the original work of art, two Wellsboro, Tioga County natives, and how a fountain of Wynken, Blynken and Nod is featured in the park in Wellsboro, here are the first and last stanzas of Field’s much-loved poem.

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night

 sailed off in a wooden shoe —

Sailed on a river of crystal light,

 into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"

 the old moon asked the three.

"We have come to fish for the herring fish

 that live in this beautiful sea;

Nets of silver and gold have we!"

 said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,

 and Nod is a little head,

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies

 is a wee one's trundle-bed.

So shut your eyes while Mother sings

 of wonderful sights that be,

And you shall see the beautiful things

 as you rock in the misty sea,

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:

 Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

American sculptor Mabel Landrum Torrey created the "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod Fountain" dedicated in 1919 in Denver, Colorado’s Washington Park.

Fred W. Bailey and Elizabeth Cameron were both natives of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Bailey moved west to Denver, in 1884. A few years later he returned to Wellsboro, met and married Elizabeth Bailey in 1892, and both returned to Denver.

A September 28, 1938, article in the Wellsboro Agitator newspaper reported "Young Bailey and his bride went West to seek their fortune. They lived in Indianapolis, Indiana for several years, then journeyed to Denver, Colorado, where Mr. Bailey became active in business and politics, and later achieved success and prominence. A most interesting record of his business career is the fact that 30 years ago he was one of the organizers of the United States National Bank of Denver and that during all the intervening years he has been a member of the Board of Directors institution (he) has missed but four meetings of the Board throughout the entire period. He was one of the organizers of the Capitol Life Insurance Company of Denver and served as a director and its secretary for ten years, when he sold his interest in the corporation.”

In describing additional details surrounding the story, the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce added that Bailey was also a major stockholder in the Cripple Creek Gold Mine and the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.

Mabel Landrum Torrey attended the Art Institute of Chicago, majoring in sculpture. Her Wynken, Blynken, and Nod work received praise while on display at the Art Institute. She gave the original work to the Mayor of Denver, who then commissioned her to sculpt one in marble which was placed in the Children’s Fountain, Washington Park, Denver, Colorado in 1919.

Elizabeth Bailey loved the poem and the Denver sculpture. After her death in February of 1937, her husband Fred had the Wynken, Blyken, and Nod Fountain replicated and dedicated on February 23, 1938, and placed on the Wellsboro Green in her honor. Because of his health, Fred Bailey was unable to take part in the ceremony attended by an estimated 2,000 people. Mrs. Torrey, the sculptress of the original piece of art, was on hand to explain the inspiration for her work.