Puritans were worried that otherwise children would fail to learn the Bible and become susceptible to the wiles of "that old deluder, Satan".
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In the poem Hrafnagaldr Óðins, the appearance of Dagr and his horse and chariot are described: > :The son of Delling :urged on his horse :adorned with :precious jewels. > :Over Mannheim shines :the horse's mane, :the steed Dvalin's deluder :dew in > his chariot.Thorpe (1866:31—32).
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Motivated by the religious needs of Puritan society and their own economic needs, some colonial women in 17th century rural New England opened small, private schools in their homes to teach reading and catechism to young children. An education in reading and religion was required for children by the Massachusetts School Law of 1642. This law was later strengthened by the famous Old Deluder Satan Act.
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The Massachusetts School Laws were three legislative acts of 1642, 1647 and 1648 enacted in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The most famous by far is the law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder Satan Law (after the law's first sentence) and The General School Law of 1642. These laws are commonly regarded as the historical first step toward compulsory government-directed public education in the United States of America. Shortly after they passed, similar laws were enacted in the other New England colonies.
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In the years following the passage of the Old Deluder Satan Law, Dedham was occasionally fined for not spending enough money of its school but, for the most part, the appropriations to the school were generous. The schoolmaster's salary was initially set at £20 and was raised in 1695 to £25 pounds. As there was little specie in the colony at the time, salaries were instead paid in wheat and corn. Michael Metcalf, for example, received five pounds of each crop at every six months.
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The rationale for the law reflected the Calvinist Puritan ethos of the time and in particular the influence of the Reverend John Cotton, who was a teacher in the First Church of Boston and one of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's most influential leaders. The Puritans sought to create a literate population to ensure that, as the law put it, "ye ould deluder, Satan" could not use illiteracy to "keepe men from the knowledge of ye Scriptures." Andrew J. Milson (ed.), Readings In American Educational Thought: From Puritanism to Progressivism, p. 1. IAP, 2004.
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Boston Latin School Grammar schools on the English and later British models were founded during the colonial period, the first being the Boston Latin School, founded as the Latin Grammar School in 1635. In 1647 the Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted the Old Deluder Satan Law, requiring any township of at least 100 households to establish a grammar school, and similar laws followed in the other New England colonies. These schools initially taught young men the classical languages as a preparation for university, but by the mid-18th century many had broadened their curricula to include practical subjects. Nevertheless, they declined in popularity owing to competition from the more practical academies.
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In 2013, Stephen Jones announced via his Twitter feed that Babybird was no more. He launched his own site at Bandcamp, and released a number of albums under aliases such as "Black Reindeer", "Deluder", "Arthritis Kid", "The Great Sadness" and "Trucker". In 2015, Jones started trading under the Babybird name again, reforming the band as a live unit in 2017 and in early 2019, toured as support to Dodgy with his new line- up. A number of Babybird tracks from 2015 onwards were released on 1 March 2019 as a compilation album 'Happy Stupid Nothing' Just a few months later, it was announced that another album 'Photosynthesis' would be released in July 2019.
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Babybird is a musical project centred around songwriter and multi- instrumentalist Stephen Jones, who has been releasing music since 1995. While Jones' early solo work was released under the "Baby Bird" name, the altered "Babybird" was first used to distinguish the full band line-up that has changed often over the years. However, in recent years, Jones has recorded many of the Babybird albums himself, in addition to recording as a solo artist, and under various aliases including Death Of The Neighbourhood, Trucker, Black Reindeer, Deluder, Arthritis Kid and others. Stephen Jones started writing and recording songs at home and his first collection of these demos, I Was Born a Man, was released in July 1995 using the name Baby Bird.
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