Where do nursery rhymes come from? Ring O'Roses

By Linda Jones

KAREN'S post about a new wave of politically correct nursery rhymes sparked quite a discussion. It's interesting to see how language evolves and the passion this unleashes.

Equally fascinating is the origin of some of our best loved nursery rhymes and the less than fairytale circumstances which have inspired them.

In my last post I reported on the story behind London's Burning. Lisa from Talking Tots brought our attention to the grisly Ring O Roses origins in the comments.

Now, as we turn our attention to Ring O'Roses, we remember that this rhyme was composed at another time of great suffering - the Great Plague of 1665, otherwise known as the Black Death, which was only brought to an end by the Fire of London.

There's a detailed history at the Rhymes website which explains the original title was Ring around the Rosy.

The words were as follows:

Ring around the rosy

A pocketful of poses

Ashes, ashes

We all fall down

I think even as a very young child I was aware there was something nasty lurking in the background of this rhyme. But little did I suspect that the 'Atichoo' bit had come from Ashes Ashes - which referred to bodies being burnt!

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London's Burning

 

 

Comments

[moon]

Interesting, I thought this was true as well, however, the great Stephen Fry seems to think different ....

[Linda]

Thanks Moon, I'll have to check what Lord Stephen of Fry has to say on the matter.

[Adiamor Reviews]

the Great Plague of 1665, otherwise known as the Black Death, which was only brought to an end by the Fire of London.