A little late for a Halloween reference... Last night I watched a comedian talk about nursery rhymes and the black/negative images they often project. I did some searching on the web today and found the following at http://www.scaryplace.com. Thought it was interesting enough to share. For many years I had no idea what the meaning of this first one was. I recently learned it came about as a reference to the plague....good thing to share with your precious little ones....
Ring around the Rosy
One of the first visible signs of infection were red rings surrounding a rosy bump, all over the victim's body.
Pocket full of Posy
A common belief of the time was that the plague was borne on "foul air." The rationale was that people could protect themselves from the bad air by keeping their local air smelling sweet. That, and it also helped them deal with the smell of death...
On the other hand, another sign of infection was the foul stench that would begin to emanate from the victim's body as their lymph system began filling with blood. Those still mobile endeavored to mask their stench and avoid detection by carrying flowers on their person.
Ashes, Ashes,
In the terminal phases of the disease, victims would be hemorrhaging internally, sometimes triggering sneezing as it irritated the breathing passages. "Ashes" is a child's approximation of a paroxysm of sneezing. In this weakened state, a victim could, and often did, sneeze their lungs out. Messy...
We all Fall Down
By now, this one should need little explanation...
"Rock a bye baby - in the tree top..."
A soothing childhood lullaby, right? You probably had it sung to you when you were an infant.
(But what's a cradle doing in a tree top? Is that safe?)
"When the wind blows - the cradle will rock..."
Heck, you probably sang it to your siblings, dolls, or your own children.
(A rocking cradle, nice soothing image.)
"When the bough breaks - the cradle will fall..."
But did you ever listen to the words?
(When the bough breaks!? Hey, wait a minute! This is getting serious!)
"And down will come baby - cradle and all!"
What exactly is it we are supposed to be teaching our children with this little gem of a song? Doesn't it seem a bit strange to plant such images subconsciously?
(And they wonder why kids have nightmares...)
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