Mother Hubbard

Mother Hubbard can have different, probably related, meanings:

  • Old Mother Hubbard is a nursery rhyme.
  • Mother Hubbard (dress) is a dress from the South Seas.
  • A Mother Hubbard was another name for a camelback steam locomotive.

A Mother Hubbard Clause is a provision in a deed for the conveyance of real property that attempts to sweep within it other parcels not specifically described.

For example: O gives B a mortgage on a tract of land and "all other land I own in Delaware." O owns several other tracts of land in Delaware. Generally, Mother Hubbard clauses are not valid against subsequent purchasers of the undescribed land, and a bona fide purchaser of the other land in Delaware would not take subject to the mortgage.

Famous quotes containing the words mother and/or hubbard:

    “My mother thinks us long away;
    ‘Tis time the field were mown.
    She had two sons at rising day,
    To-night she’ll be alone.
    —A.E. (Alfred Edward)

    Classic music is th’ kind that we keep thinkin’ll turn into a tune.
    —Kin Hubbard (F. [Frank] Mckinney Hubbard)