10 Nursery Rhyme Origins by Danielle Morgan
10. Humpty Dumpty
Humpty- dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty-dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Cannot put humpty-dumpty
Together again.
The rhyme does not explicitly state that the subject is an egg, but the origin of the rhyme is to a cannon recorded as used from the church of St Mary-at-the-Wall by the Royalist defenders in the siege of 1648. In 1648 Colchester was a walled town with a castle and several churches and was protected by the city wall. The story given was that large cannon, which the website claimed was colloquially called Humpty Dumpty, were strategically placed on the wall. A shot from Parliamentary cannon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath Humpty Dumpty which caused the cannon to tumble to the ground. The Royalists, or Cavaliers, "all the King's men", attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall, but because the cannon was so heavy "All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again".
9. Three Blind Mice
Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife?
Did you ever see such a sight in your life?
As three blind mice.
Attempts to read historical significance into the words [2] have led to the speculation that this musical round was written earlier and refers to Queen Mary I of England (bloody Mary) blinding and executing three Protestant bishops, [8] but problematically the Oxford Martyrs, Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer, were burned at the stake, not blinded; although if the rhyme was made by crypto-Catholics, the mice's "blindness" could refer to their Protestantism.
8. Mary, Mary, quite contrary.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And maids all in a row.
The Mary that is portrayed in this nursery rhyme is none other than Mary Tudor, also known in historical infamy as "Bloody Mary". Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon (the first wife of Henry VIII). It seems that in an attempt to break away from the Church of England, she tried to revert back to the Catholic Church as soon as she became Queen. It was said that she persecuted and murdered many Protestants. Her reign of terror became widely known over the course of history, thus giving her that well deserved title of "Bloody Mary". Silver bells stood for thumb screws that were torture devices, cockle shells that was a genital torture device and the pretty maids in a row stood for the people lining up to be executed by the guillotine. Did you know it toke up to 11 tries before the head was disembodied?
7. Peter, peter, pumpkin eater
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.
"Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater" is one of those nursery rhymes that seem innocent and nonsensical at first glance, but if you take a closer look, you'll discover that it has a gruesome hidden message. This nursery rhyme talks about relationships, infidelity, and murder. It is generally believed that Peter's beloved wife was a hooker. Since he could not keep his spouse from having sexual affairs with numerous men, he decided to kill her and hide her body in an absurdly large pumpkin.
6. Rain, Rain, go away
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!
The Spanish Armada consisted of many Spanish galleons and was sent to invade England. The Armada was led by Duke of Medina Sedonia and the fleet numbered over 130 ships. The English fleet, under Admiral Lord Howard, totaled 34 small Navy vessels and 163 armed merchant ships. But the great Spanish Armada was defeated. Only 65 Spanish galleons and just 10,000 men returned to Spain. The attempt failed, not only because of the swift nature of the smaller English ships but also by the stormy weather which scattered the Armada fleet. Hence the origin of the "Rain, rain, go away" Nursery rhyme!
5. Ring around the Rosie
Ring-a-round the Rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.
The rhyme has often been associated with the Great Plague which happened in England in 1665, or with earlier outbreaks of the Black Death in England. The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, and posies of herbs were carried as protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and "all fall down" was exactly what happened.
4 Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Bah, Bah black Sheep,
Have you any Wool?
Yes merry have I,
Three Bags full,
One for my master,
One for my Dame,
One for the little Boy
That lives down the lane
Katherine Elwes Thomas in The Real Personages of Mother Goose (1930) suggested that the rhyme referred to resentment at the heavy taxation on wool.[5] This has particularly been taken to refer to the medieval English "Great" or "Old Custom" wool tax of 1275, which survived until the fifteenth century.[1] More recently the rhyme has been connected to the slave trade, particularly in the southern United States.[6] This explanation was advanced during debates over political correctness and the use and reform of nursery rhymes in the 1980s, but has no supporting historical evidence. Rather than being negative, the wool of black sheep may have been prized as it could be made into dark cloth without dyeing.
3 Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper;
And went to bed and bound his head
With vinegar and brown paper.
Admit it, you fooled around with the lyrics to "Jack and Jill" a bit yourself when you were younger, turning what you thought was an innocent poem into something a little bit naughty. But its origins aren't as clean-cut as you probably imagined. One of the most common theories surrounding the story's origin is that it's about France's Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, who were both found guilty of treason and subsequently beheaded.
2 ladybird, ladybird
Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children are gone,
All accept one,
And her name is Ann,
And she hid under the baking pan.
The English word ladybird is a derivative of the Catholic terms "Our Lady". The tradition of calling this rhyme was believed to have been used as a seemingly innocent warning cry to Catholic (recusants) who refused to attend Protestant services as required by the Act of Uniformity (1559 & 1662). This law forbade priests to say Mass and forbade communicants to attend it. Consequently Mass was held secretly in the open fields. Laymen were subject to jail and heavy fines and priests to execution. Many priests were executed by the terrible death of being burnt alive at the stake or, even worse, being hung, drawn and quartered. The most famous English recusants were Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot Conspirators.
1GOOSEY, GOOSEY, GANDER
Goosey, goosey, gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers?
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs
It's hard to imagine that any rhyme with the phrase "goosey, goosey" in its title could be described as anything but feel-good. But it's actually a tale of religious persecution, during the days when Catholic priests would hide themselves in order to say their Latin-based prayers, a major no-no at the time—not even in the privacy of one's own home. In the original version, the narrator comes upon an old man "who wouldn't say his prayers. So I took him by his left leg. And threw him down the stairs."
Bonus: LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
In 2006, Fergie got saucy with some of this classic kid tune's lyrics. But the original song wasn't much better. Depending on whom you ask, "London Bridge is Falling Down" could be about a 1014 Viking attack, child sacrifice, or the normal deterioration of an old bridge. But the most popular theory seems to be that first one. More specifically: the alleged destruction of London Bridge at the hands of Olaf II of Norway sometime in the early 1000s. ("Alleged" because some historians don't believe that attack ever took place.) The song's popularity around the world is often cited as further proof that it was the Vikings who created it, believing that they brought the tune to the many places they traveled. Oh, and that whole child sacrifice thing? That's an idea that is also often debated (there's no archaeological evidence to support it), but the theory goes that in order to keep London Bridge upright, its builders believed that it must be built on a foundation of human sacrifice, and that those same humans—mostly children—would help to watch over the bridge and maintain its sturdiness. Which we're pretty sure isn't a practice they teach you in architecture school.