"Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross" is an English language nursery rhyme connected with the English town Banbury in Oxfordshire. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 21143.
The statue of the "fine lady" at Banbury Cross
William Wallace Denslow's illustrations, 1901
The old lady on her white horse, according to Denslow
Celia Fiennes
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Celia Fiennes was an English traveller and writer. She explored England on horseback at a time when travel for its own sake was unusual, especially for women.
Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
…Despite not being present or significantly different in many early versions, the fine lady has been associated with Queen Elizabeth I, Lady Godiva, and Celia Fiennes, whose brother was William Fiennes, 3rd Viscount Saye and Sele (c. 1641–1698) of Broughton Castle, Banbury, on the grounds that the line should be 'To…
Memorial plaque in Hackney
Claimed to be "the only permanent memorial in the whole country to the memory of Celia Fiennes", this "Waymark" stands in No Man's Heath, Cheshire