Dark Origins of 7 Nursery Rhymes

Introduction -

We all still love nursery rhymes and songs, and even today we love singing them with kids. But do you guys know that there are many dark origins of these rhymes? Today, I am gonna tell you guys about the 7 dark origins of nursery rhymes which are quite sinister.

1. Baa, Baa Black Sheep

The first rhyme is 'Baa Baa, Black Sheep', which was published in 1744 and we all know how much this rhyme is popular. But this song was, in the 13th century, Medieval England, was written in protest for tax. At that time, the business of wool was quite big in England and King Edward had put on heavy tax for it.

1/3rd money went to the King and 2/3rds went to Church and farmers, after which nothing was left for the 'shepherd boy. It is the reason in the lines, 'One for the master', meaning the King, 'and one for the dame', which symbolizes the Church.

Also, when the poem was published in 1744, its lyrics were changed. The original lyrics were this -

"Baa, baa, a black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes old mate I have
Three bags full,
Two for my master,
One for my dame,
None for the little boy
That cries in the lane."

Regarding this rhyme, there is another theory that directs towards slave trade and racism. It is due to the words, 'master' and 'black', which is an offense towards the Black Community. It is also the reason why teachers are using 'rainbow', 'little' or 'happy' words instead of 'black'.

2. Jack and Jill

The second rhyme is 'Jack and Jill', which was published in 1765. The first theory is that 'Jack and Jill' symbolize Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette of France, who was beheaded by guillotine in 1793. The poem lines, "Jack fell and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after", also support this theory because after beheading the King, a few months later, the Queen was also beheaded. But the execution of King and Queen happened after the publishing of the poem, so this theory is not convincing.

The popular theory is that it is about England's King Charles I. King Charles wanted to increase the tax on alcohol but the Parliament didn't refuse it. Because of this, the King used a clever way where he decreased 'Jack - 1/2 Pint' & 'Jill - 1/4 Pint' which decreased the amount of alcohol and tax increased according to volume. This way, he indirectly reformed the tax hence, "Jack fell and Jill came tumbling after".

3. London Bridge is Falling Down

The third rhyme is 'London Bridge is Falling', which was published in 1744 and the most common theory is that this is a poem about the attack of Vikings, in which Olaf II of Norway attacked the bridge in the early thousands and broke it down.

Other than this, another popular theory is that children who were still alive were buried under it as a sacrifice so that the bridge doesn't break. But there is no evidence to support this theory.

According to the last theory, the poem symbolizes the breaking of the bridge due to fire and age, and like we all know, 'The Great Fire of London', happened in 1666.

4. Humpty Dumpty

The fourth rhyme is 'Humpty Dumpty', which was published in 1797 and many depictions, he is portrayed as an egg but according to a popular theory, 'Humpty' is none other than England's Richard III and lyrics symbolize that Richard's back was hunched that he had a humped back. Due to this, he fell down his horse which is a wall in the poem and this incident is about the Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485 where Richard died brutally.

So, the 'Humpty Dumpty' poem is about Richard III whose soldiers could not save.

5. Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo

The fifth rhyme is 'Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo', which was published in the early 19th century. Original lyrics of the poem were something like this -

"Eenie, meenie, minie, mo,
Catch an N-word by the toe,
If he hollers,
Let him go. Eenie,
Meenie, minie, mo."

There is also an alternate version of this -

"Catch an N-word by his toe
If he hollers make him pay
Twenty dollars every day."

These lyrics are racist and offensive and symbolize racism and the slave trade. Basically, in the original lyrics of the poem, it is being told that how a White owner punishes a runaway slave and due to these problematic words or lyrics was changed.

6. Here we go round the Mulberry Bush

The sixth rhyme is 'Here we go round the Mulberry Bush', which was published in 1840 and is normally sung during a kid's game. But historian, R. S. Duncan, a former governor of England's Wakefield Prison, said that the song originated with 420-year-old female prisoners. The female inmates were exercised around a mulberry tree and they sang this rhyme to their kids in the prison.

7. Ring a Ring O' Roses

The seventh rhyme is 'Ring a Ring O' Roses', which was published in 1881, and all the theories related to this poem say that this poem is related to 'Death'.

Many people think that this poem is about London's Black Death or Great Plague in which many people died. The Great Plague, from 1665 - 1666, around 1 lakh (100,000) people died. Black Death, from 1347 - 1351, 75 - 200 million people died.

The lyrics of the poem in a popular version is like this -

"Ring-a-round the Rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall."

The lines in the poem, 'A pocket full of posies', symbolize the plague in England where on the roads there were so many dead bodies that people kept posies in their pockets to get away from the smell. Some people even thought that 'posies' will save them from disease too.

Same way, 'Ashes! Ashes!', symbolize that the people burned the dead bodies to save themselves from infection.

'Ring-a-round the rose, symbolizes a symptom of the disease in which on the skin, a reddish like rash would form and in the last, 'We all fall', symbolizes that because of the plague everyone died, 30-60% of Europe.

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This is it, guys. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please tell me your thoughts on this in the comments. Please tell me if I was wrong somewhere in the comment section.

Also a question for you guys: Will you guys get scared if you think about these rhymes later? Or will you not? Please tell me in the comment section.

Also, the next chapter is going to be interesting and I am super excited about it.

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Peace out ✌️.