Fakt of the day: Nursery rhymes were used to recruit pirates

[Krug]

Interesting: http://www.snopes.com/lost/sixpence.htm

Origins: Many of us fondly recall the rhyming ditties we learned as children, such as "Jack Be Nimble" and "The Farmer in the Dell." But how many of us realize that several of our most fondly-recalled nursery rhymes (e.g., "A Tisket, A Tasket" and "Little Jack Horner") were not mere nonsense songs, but actually originated as coded references to such dark events as plagues and religious persecution? Such was the case with another childhood favorite, "Sing a Song of Sixpence."

See Knight Otu's post...

 

[Knight Otu]

I fell for that one, too. At the bottom of the page is a link "More information about this page", read that one too.

 

[Piratecat]

That's awesome, Knight Otu. What a way for them to make their point!

 

[diaglo]

ring a round the rosie
a pocket full of posie
ashes, ashes
we all fall dead.

 

[Wombat]

Everyone needs a copy of The Annotated Mother Goose

 

[Krug]

Pah.. TRICKED!

 

[Mercule]

ring a round the rosie
a pocket full of posie
ashes, ashes
we all fall dead.

Okay, so, is this one really about the black plague or not? It makes a lot of sense that way, but it could just as easily be innocent.

 

[diaglo]

Okay, so, is this one really about the black plague or not? It makes a lot of sense that way, but it could just as easily be innocent.

i always thought it was about small pox, but i'm not much up on histories of diseases. rosie marks being a characteristic of the disease.

the posies were kept in your pocket to hide the smell.

ashes refers to burning the bodies and their things.

and the diseases was highly fatal and contagious.

 

[randomling]

In the version of the rhyme that I know, it's

"achoo! achoo!
we all fall down"

This referred to the sneezing which was an early symptom of bubonic plague.

 

[diaglo]

In the version of the rhyme that I know, it's

"achoo! achoo!
we all fall down"

This referred to the sneezing which was an early symptom of bubonic plague.

well there is a tissue a tissue version too.

some of these are made nice so kids can sing them on the playground