The New Mother (Clifford)

Overview

Clifford’s New Mother first enters the story as a threat spoken by the loving mother of Blue-Eyes and the Turkey. If the children persist in being very naughty, she says, she will leave and send a replacement with glass eyes and a wooden tail. The eventual visitor is more than an ordinary stern guardian: a strange light flashes from her two glass eyes, and her heavy tail can smash a locked cottage door. The story never explains her origin, gives her a personal name or makes her the representative of an established supernatural species.

A village girl draws the children into increasingly destructive behaviour by promising to reveal a little dancing man and woman inside a peardrum. The girl first dismisses the possibility of glass-eyed, wooden-tailed mothers, then announces that one is coming after the children’s own mother has departed with the baby. Her promised dancers are never shown; the instrument’s box is empty when the children finally see inside. The New Mother belongs to the consequence of that manipulation, rather than being a revealed identity of the village girl.

At the cottage, the children hear something heavy dragging outside and repeated violent knocking. Through the window the Turkey sees a black satin poke bonnet edged with a frill, a long bony arm, a black leather bag and the flashing glass eyes. The visitor says she must break the door with her tail and strikes it hard enough to crack and splinter it. The children escape into the forest. The ending grants no reunion: the New Mother remains in the shut-up cottage, where flashes of her eyes and the sound of her wooden tail still betray her presence. Her complete face, clothing below the bonnet and exact tail shape are not described.

First appearances & development

Original English literary narrative.

Canon & continuity

Complete story in the retained 1882 edition OCR.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Anyhow Stories, Moral and Otherwise

   Mrs. W. K. Clifford · 1882

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary historical text (1882 edition OCR)Anyhow Stories, Moral and Otherwise — The New MotherResearch access: 2026-10-18

Image credits

AI-generated interpretation of Clifford’s New Mother; face, lower clothing and exact wooden-tail geometry are reconstructed.

The tale specifies glass eyes and a wooden tail without explaining the visitor’s origin.