Have you ever wondered about the meaning behind those nursery rhymes you used to sing as a child? They were quite catchy and easy to remember, however they hardly ever made any sense at all. The interesting fact is the old nursery rhymes have historical and sometimes rather gruesome references.
Here is a collection of some of the strangest and most shocking ones.
Ring Around The Rosy
Ring around the rosy
A pocket full of posies
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down
One of the most popular ones, “Ring Around the Rosy” has its roots in English history. This poem dates back to the Great Plague that struck London 1665.
The “Ring around the Rosy” refers to the red rash shaped like a ring one would experience whilst having the disease. People were not aware of the manner in which this disease was transmitted and as they believed it was because of foul odors, they would carry small pouches of appealing smelling flowers and herbs, or posies, with them.
The line “Ashes, Ashes” refers to the mass cremation of the bodies that were claimed by the Plague. In roughly a years time, the disease had claimed around 100,000 lives.
Georgie Porgie
Georgie Porgie pudding and pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys come out to play
Georgie Porgie ran away
Georgie Porgie is an English nursery rhyme and it refers to the courtier George Villiers, the 1st Duke of Buckingham. He was the lover of King James I, women also find George very appealing. George eventually ruined his reputation when he had an affair with Anne of Austria who was the Queen of France.
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the Kings horses and All the Kings men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again
Though the term ‘Humpty Dumpty’ was used for ‘rather large individual,’ in this poem Humpty Dumpty was in fact a large cannon that was used during the English Civil War (1642-1649) This cannon was situated on a wall, next to St. Mary’s Church on the walled city of Colchester. During the siege of Colchester, the Parliamentarians managed to destroy the wall underneath Humpty Dumpty, causing it to ‘have a great fall’. The Royalist, or the ‘Kings men’ attempted to place cannon on another part of the wall but did not succeed.
Jack and Jill
This rhyme actually refers to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. During the French Revolution, King Louis was beheaded, as was indicated by the words “Jack fell down and lost his crown” and Marie suffered the same fate “Jill came tumbling after.
I was a little confused as to the relevance of running up the hill to fetch a pail of water, but I discovered that the words were added in order to make the rhyme appropriate for children.
Mary Mary Quite Contrary
Mary Mary quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells and Cockle Shells and pretty maids all in a row.
Of all the nursery rhymes, this has to be the most shocking.
In this rhyme, Mary is referring to Mary Tudor akas Bloody Mary. She was the daughter of King Henry VIII and was a strict Catholic.
Her ‘garden’ refers to the graveyards that were filled with rotting Protestants who were considered the blasphemers.
Now here is where it gets gruesome, Silver Bells and Cockle Shells are, in fact, instrument of torture. Cockle Shells were instruments that were attached to the genitals and Silver Bells were thumbscrews that were used to crush the thumbs between two hard surfaces.
“Maids” or “Maiden” was the original guillotine. The design fault with the Maiden was that it had no mechanism to hold the beheadee down, which made it very difficult for the executioner to carry out his job as the convicted would run around in an attempt to escape. The new and improved guillotine was designed in order to hold the person in place while his/her head was being chopped off.
The poems meaning was rather shocking for me to learn as I had seen, as a child, many illustration with “silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row” as beautiful flowers all a lined in a garden.
