If you think nursery rhymes are safe to ingrain in children’s rote memory, think again. Hidden within the seemingly innocuous and humorous lines are images and concepts even adults will cringe over. Most nursery rhymes run the gamut of insane to inane.
Ring Around The Rosie is about the stench carried by the rashes of bubonic plague that killed million of people who had to be cremated. It is said that Mary in the rhyme Mary, Mary Quite Contrary refers to Bloody Mary or Queen Mary I, the daughter of King Henry VIII, who was a staunch Catholic and was infamous for her persecution of Protestants. The ‘silver bells and cockle shells were instruments of torture and the maiden was a device used to behead people.’ The garden is a cemetery filled with Protestants.
Three Blind Mice is again about Bloody Mary. After three Protestant bishops were convicted of plotting against her, she had them blinded, dismembered, and then burnt at the stake.
One look at the thoughts provoked by Rock-a-Bye, Baby and Humpty Dumpty and one will glean images of painful death. Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater is a warning about infidelity, and that Peter solves his problem by killing his harlot wife and hiding her body in a giant pumpkin shell.
Jack and Jill is about the beheading of King Louis XVI and the eventual fall of Queen Marie Antoinette. London Bridge is about the ‘rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII of England. Boleyn was accused of adultery and incest and was ultimately executed for treason.’
Via brainz
