Nursery Rhymes are a form of oral tradition and folklore passed down through generations where the text is simple, usually involves repetition and are rhythmic in nature. During the 18th century, nursery rhymes were thought to be more educational than entertaining and were used to teach moral values and religious principles to children.
Some examples of nursery rhymes include “Humpty Dumpty,” “Jack and Jill,” and “Three Blind Mice”. They are often used to teach children about animals, numbers, counting, and colors. Although these nursery rhymes have origins that may have changed with the times throughout history, most still retain their original meanings and messages. Let’s learn about a few of them below:
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is one of the most well-known nursery rhymes who’s character in the story falls off a wall and can’t put himself back together because he has been broken into many pieces. The takeaway message of this nursery rhyme is that if you break something, you cannot put it back together again, but the rhyme’s origin is often debated.
Some believe that Humpty Dumpty represents a broken egg or a form of vulnerability that each of us has within us. The nursery rhyme represents fragility and vulnerability where one wrong move will send us crashing down like Humpty Dumpty did and the damage is irreparable.
Meanwhile, a popular theory suggests that Humpty Dumpty originated and is nicknamed after a cannon in Colchester, UK which was placed atop the walls of a church tower to defend the city. During an enemy siege, the top of the church tower was hit, causing the cannon to tumble to the ground, where it shattered and could not be put back together again.
Jack and Jill
The story of Jack and Jill is a folk tale about two children who are fetching water atop a hill. Most would remember only the first stanza where Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after but did you know that there are more stanzas that followed? Read here to learn more the continuation.
The original rhyme dates back to the 18th century and a few theories are used to explain the rhyme’s historical origin. The most popular belief is that Jack and Jill refers to King Louis XVI who was beheaded in 1793 ( fell down and broke his crown) followed by his queen Marie Antoinette who came tumbling after.
Alternatively it has been taken to satirise the attempt by King Charles I of England to raise extra revenue by ordering that the volume of a Jack (1/8 pint) be reduced, while the tax remained the same. In consequence of this, the Gill (a quarter pint in liquid measure) “came tumbling after”.
Ring A Ring o’ Roses (a.ka Ring Around The Rosie)
Ring around the Rosie is a children´s game in which one person joins hands with others in a circle, then either walks around or shuffles around the circle. The song is often sung to children as an amusement but its origins have many different interpretations.
The “pocketful of posies” is thought to refer to carrying flowers around one’s neck or having them pinned to clothing as protection against infection. The “atishoo!” refers to sneezing, which creates droplets that could transmit infection if inhaled by others.
Most commonly, it is thought that the rhyme refers to the Great Plague of London which killed over 100,000 people within a year. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, and posies of herbs were carried as protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and “all fall down” was exactly what happened.
Three Blind Mice
Three blind mice is a well-known nursery rhyme that tells the story of three blind mice who got their tails cut off by a farmer’s wife. It is speculated that the origin of the tale of the unfortunate mice came from the cruel Catholic Queen Mary I, aka ‘Bloody Mary’, who was known for her merciless hounding of Protestants.
The dark humour of the episode captured in these verses could relate to Mary’s execution of three leading Protestant bishops, also known as the ‘Oxford Martyrs’. Although they were burnt at the stake and not blinded per se, Ridley, some say that the mice’s blindness could be interpreted as faithlessness, alluding to their Protestantism and rejection of Catholicism.
Though there is no definitive answer for all these origins, it is clear that nursery rhymes has played a significant role in children’s literature that most would have grown up with since young.
