Nursery rhymes have been a part of our childhood for generations, but did you know that many of these innocent-sounding rhymes have dark and twisted origins?
From plagues to execution, these rhymes were not always meant to be sung to children. Let’s take a look at five nursery rhymes with dark origins that may surprise you.
“Ring Around the Rosie” – This nursery rhyme originated as a song about the bubonic plague, with the “ring around the rosie” representing the rash that appeared on the skin of those infected and the “ashes, ashes” indicating the funeral pyres that burned the bodies of the dead.
“Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” – This nursery rhyme is a reference to Mary I of England, who was known as “Bloody Mary” for her persecution of Protestants during her reign.
“Rock-a-bye Baby” – This nursery rhyme originated as a song about a baby dying, with the “cradle” representing a coffin and the “boughs” referring to a tree from which a baby’s cradle-coffin would be hung.
“Humpty Dumpty” – This nursery rhyme is about King Richard III, who was killed in battle and his body left unburied for several days.
“Jack and Jill” – This nursery rhyme is thought to be a reference to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who were both executed during the French Revolution.
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Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such.
” – This nursery rhyme is about King Richard III, who was killed in battle and his body left unburied for several days. “Jack and Jill” – This nursery rhyme is thought to be a reference to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who were both executed during the French Revolution.
Is 'Ring around the Rosie' the darkest nursery rhyme ever? Scholars have long maintained that this cryptic rhyme is about the deadly plague that killed millions of people in Medieval Europe.
Goosey Goosey Gander may be about religious persecution, while Lucy Locket is about 18th Century prostitutes, writes Clemency Burton-Hill. Plague, medieval taxes, religious persecution, prostitution: these are not exactly the topics that you expect to be immersed in as a new parent.
He had a son in 1688 and many feared his heir would lead to a Catholic dynasty in England. According to this political theory, the lyrics of "Rock-A-Bye Baby" were a death wish directed at the infant son of King James II, hoping he would die and be replaced by a Protestant king.
Queen Mary I of England influenced more than one nursery rhyme. “Three Blind Mice” refers to her order to have three Protestant bishops viciously tortured (possibly including blinding) and burned to death at the stake.
However, there is a darker side to the song. In the final lines, they are so desperate to keep the baby asleep, it suggests the mother would see the baby's death as a blessing as they would become the 'sweetest little baby in town'.
More recently the rhyme has been alleged to have a connection to the slave trade, particularly in the southern United States. 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.
“Hickory, dickory, dock” is a simple little rhyme about a mouse and a clock, but it probably refers to one of Britain's least known-about rulers who made a brief appearance on the political scene in the 17th century. Hickory, dickory, dock. Hickory, dickory, dock. The mouse ran up the clock.
The rhyme is believed to have first appeared in print in Mother Goose's Melody (London c.1765), possibly published by John Newbery, and which was reprinted in Boston in 1785.
Explanation- In this stanza, the poet is listing the features of the “l*ttle star”. She says that when the sun has set and nothing else is shining in the sky, then the star “twinkles” its light all night. It implies that despite being small, the poet is comparing the star to something important.
"It is often used to describe someone's negative feelings about a person, eg. 'he's the black sheep of the family'. "The history behind the rhyme is very negative and also very offensive to black people, due to the fact that the rhyme originates from slavery.
“Is 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' about black slaves picking cotton for white masters?” No. The conjecture that the meaning is about slavery only dates from the 1980s. In reality, the rhyme and the lyrics largely antedate the development of cotton plantations in the American slave South.
It means to take life easily. The essence of ' take it easy' and enjoy life. If you live life each day( row, row, row your boat gently)you will be happy ( merrily merrily life is bout a dream). Take life as it easy.
In the mid-19th century, "pop" was a well-known slang term for pawning something—and City Road had a well-known pawn establishment in the 1850s. In this co*ckney interpretation, "weasel" is co*ckney rhyming slang for "weasel and stoat" meaning "coat". Thus, to "pop the weasel" meant to pawn your coat.
“Humpty Dumpty” – This nursery rhyme is about King Richard III, who was killed in battle and his body left unburied for several days. “Jack and Jill” – This nursery rhyme is thought to be a reference to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who were both executed during the French Revolution.
The story of a little girl scared of a spider is based on an incident that would now involve social services. Dr Thomas Muffet, who died in 1604, is believed to have crushed up spiders and fed them to patients, including step-daughter Patience, to cure their aliments.
If the first pig went to the market to get slaughtered, then the “l*ttle piggy staying home” refers to a pig not yet ready to eat, and that must stay home to mature. The “l*ttle piggy having roast beef” is about fattening a pig up, while the fourth “piggy that gets none” is too small to go to the market.
According to many, the song is based on a real incident of the early 1800s involving a girl named Mary Sawyer. After finding a sickly young sheep in her family's Massachusetts farm, she not only nursed it back to life — but saw it lovingly follow her every step.
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