In most cultures, nursery rhymes feature children’s verses and songs that are verbally passed down from one generation to another. But how many of us realize that many of the most popular English nursery rhymes for our kids are often extremely violent in nature, filled with tales of death and suffering, and often contain quite disturbing and tragic endings?
"Jack and Jill Went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down And broke his crown And Jill came tumbling after"
I believe you are familiar with this one. In this rhyme, Jack fell down and "broke his crown" (which basically means severely injured his head - I suppose this can possibly be deadly) after he and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Soon afterwards, he goes home only to endure terrible pain when he "went to bed and bound his head with vinegar and brown paper". Oh, it doesn't stop there. Jill gave an evil grin when she saw Jack's silly paper plaster. Unfortunately, their mother saw this smirk and got really angry and whipped her quite soundly for the whole incident.
Humpty Dumpty
"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again!"
Humpty Dumpty is another famous nursery rhyme that unfortunately ends in tragedy. Humpty Dumpty (a curious egg-like character) falls down from the wall that he had been sitting on. But no one, including the king's men could fix the unfortunate broken Humpty Dumpty - whom of course dies in the freak accident.
"Rock a bye baby on the tree top, When the wind blows the cradle will rock, When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, And down will come baby, cradle and all."
This lullaby hints at quite possibly a very tragic ending. The baby is placed in a cradle, on top of the tree (for apparently no reason). The wind blows rather strongly, and the branch of the tree will seemingly eventually break so that the cradle (and the innocent baby inside it) will fall probably crash helplessly down on the ground. Don't ask me what would happen next. I personally feel that the lullabies we sing to our kids shouldn't have these types of nightmarish endings.
"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children, she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broth,Without any bread, Whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed."
This old woman actually lives in a big shoe with her "oh so many" children. She doesn't really even know what to do with them. It seems that she's poor, stressed out and her children are pretty neglected. She doesn't even have any bread to go with the broth she made to feed her children. In any case, after she fed them, she beat them all thoroughly and put them to bed. She seems to be quite far from the ideal mother as well as poor, and abusive. What a mom...
Goosey Goosey Gander
"Goosey goosey gander where shall I wander, Upstairs, downstairs and in my lady's chamber There I met an old man who wouldn't say his prayers, I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs."
This nursery rhyme is another that is quite violent in nature. Basically it is about this kid who meets an old man who wouldn't say his prayers. The kid decides to take matters into his own hands and takes this old man's left leg and throws him down the stairs as a punishment. Does this kid really want to kill the old man or what?
"Peter Peter pumpkin eater, Had a wife and couldn't keep her! He put her in a pumpkin shell, And there he kept her very well!"
This is about a man named Peter who loved to eat pumpkin. He had a wife but he couldn't keep her for some reason - probably neglected her. So what does he do? He stuffs her into a pumpkin shell and keeps her permanently in there. I don't know whether his wife would still be alive after an incident like this but realize that this pumpkin must be a pretty massively giant sized pumpkin. Okay, so he probably forget about the first wife. Soon after that, Peter gets married to another lady whom he didn't love at first. Peter who was also illiterate (a real find as far as husband material goes) eventually learns to read and finally starts to love his wife - from the second marriage.
"Ladybug ladybug fly away home, Your house in on fire and your children are gone, All except one and that's little Ann, For she crept under the frying pan."
This ladybird was told to fly home after being informed that her house was on fire. Sadly, all her children died in the fire, except for one, named Little Ann. Unaware of the danger surrounding her, Little Ann actually crept under the warming pan. Unfortunately, we don't really know what really happened next. Although it is quite a disturbing nursery rhyme, we somehow hope that Little Ann survives in the end.
Oh My Darling, Clementine
"Oh my darling, oh my darling, My darling Clementine, You are lost for me forever, Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
Drove she ducklings to the water Ev'ry morning just at nine, Hit her foot against a splinter, Fell into the foaming brine.
Ruby lips above the water, Blowing bubbles soft and fine, But alas, I was no swimmer, Neither was my Clementine.
In a churchyard near the canyon, Where the myrtle doth entwine, There grow rosies and some posies, Fertilized by Clementine."
This is a tragic love story, with a sad ending. A boy falls madly in love with a miner's daughter named Clementine. One day while playing near the seaside, Clementine falls down and gets swept away by the current. Her lover the boy wants to save her but he doesn't actually know how to swim himself. In the end, Clementine drowns and is buried.
"Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; But ne'er a penny was there in't Except the binding round it."
In this rhyme, Lucy Locket loses her pocket, i.e. pouch. Her close friend, Kitty Fisher actually finds it later, but sadly, all of the money in the pouch is unfortunately gone. The only thing left inside is the ribbon around the pocket. Truly a very sad thing for a poor little girl.
Georgie Porgie, puddin' and pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry. When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away.
Georgie Porgie was a very sad, anti-social boy. He tries to make friends with the girls by kissing them, but that only makes them cry. However, when the boys finally come out to play, Georgie Porgie decides to make his exit - and runs away. History: This rhyme actually refers to the amorous and amoral Prince Regent who became George IV during Regency times in England
I love this. You've actually beat me to this, I was thinking of doing this too!
Good job.
#2 by Sher, Jan 8, 2008
Sorry Anne. Thanx for your support.
#3 by rhymer, Jan 8, 2008
Never knew the whole story behind these rhymes but I knew them now.
Very depressing if only the children knew what they were really singing about. Good one.
#4 by Rico, Jan 9, 2008
I wonder why our older generation wanna instill this sorta thing to tgeir children or was it done unintentionally?
#5 by Richard Sakai, Jan 10, 2008
they're all analogies and metaphors for historic events or social commentary in older times where criticism of society, religion, royalty was punishable by strict penalties or even death.
#6 by Ruby Hawk, Jan 10, 2008
The nursery rythmns are horrible for children but mine loved them and so did my grandchildren. I think they just hear the rythmn.
#7 by Liane Schmidt, Jan 10, 2008
Wow...what an incredible article...and look at children's nursery rhymes. With kid's centered work like this...who needs censorship? Wow.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
#8 by Excluding dt, Jan 11, 2008
Never look at nursery rhymes from this perpective. Wow indeed
#9 by Beatrice Adams, Jan 11, 2008
Very interesting, indeed! How about "Ring around the rosies" where they sneeze and end up dead? :-)
#10 by louie jerome, Jan 11, 2008
An interesting angle! Many English nursery rhymes have their origins in English history, like Humpty Dumpty aka Cardinal Wolsey, and Jack and Jill (originally Gill) relating to old measures of liquid: 2 jacks= 1 gill, etc
#11 by jEFf, Jan 14, 2008
You forgot 'Ring around the Rosie' That's a morbid one about the plague.
#12 by quiet voice, Jan 14, 2008
Hi, I never thought about the content of the rhymes, until my sister and I taked about them. Like Humpty Dumpty, they are troublesome to say the least, learned something while reading the comment section as well. Great job on puting the whole thing together, lots of work, but it appears you enjoyed it.
#13 by J.R.D., Jan 15, 2008
call me my sense of humor mourbid, but I still like the nursery rhymes even if they are tragic and warped, great article though
#14 by sdave, Jan 15, 2008
In South Africa there is an old Afrikaans nursery rhymes that deals with abortion. It goes:
"Siembamba mama se kindjie,Siembamba mama se kindjie, draai sy nek om gooi hom in die sloot, trap op sy kop dan weet jy hy is dood". Translated:
"Siembamba mommy´s child,Siembamba mommy´s child, twist his neck and through him in the ditch, step on his head and you know he is dead".
Quite horrible actually but said and sang to the cutest of melodies
#15 by Ammar, Jan 15, 2008
i love this article and it's soooo informative..such a brilliant idea you've got here.
#16 by Anonymous, Jan 15, 2008
Very good! However, I would have included the 'RING AROUND THE ROSIES' / 'RING A RING O' ROSES' one, which refers to the 1665 Great Plague of London.
Ring a-ring o' roses,
A pocketful of posies.
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!. (sickness)
We all fall down. (death)
Hey sdave! I'm an Afrikaner living in UK now. I remember that Siembamba one. Something is seriously weird about these nursery rhymes...
#17 by ben, Jan 15, 2008
Don\'t forget the last verse of Clementine, for added moral ambiguity:
How I miss her,
How I miss her,
How I miss my Clementine,
So I kissed her little sister,
and forgot my Clementine.
#18 by a parent, Jan 15, 2008
You're surprised? Wait til you discover fairy tales.
#19 by Kris Hughes, Jan 15, 2008
Hmmm this is pretty interesting. A form of social conditioning maybe.
#20 by Monkey, Jan 15, 2008
Well, Clementine seems a reasonable enough lesson for the most part - "Learn to swim, kids, or your life may end in tragedy!". Silly numbers of people STILL drown every year, despite the fact any able-bodied human child can learn to swim at least as easily as learning to walk given the opportunity.
#21 by matt, Jan 15, 2008
Georgie Porgie, puddin' and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
He kissed them too, cos he's funny that way.
#22 by frumpiefox, Jan 15, 2008
Great list!
I have one nit to pick: "My Darling Clemintine," while freakishly morbid, isn't actually a nursery rhyme, but a flok ballad (the two types are very closely related, of course.)
How about "Ding Dong Dell," where the kid throws a cat in the well, attempting to not only end a poor animal's life, but to also poison the water supply? This was the one that offended me most as a kid.
Or "Solomon Grundy:"
Solomon Grundy,
Born on Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday:
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy.
Where to even start with this one!
#23 by frumpiefox, Jan 15, 2008
Sorry, *folk ballad
#24 by Joel, Jan 15, 2008
A bit conflicted some of the meanings you put are different to other ones i've heard.
#25 by Jack Rodnessey, Jan 15, 2008
Very informative article.
#26 by Ryu Kiris, Jan 15, 2008
Damn, all the good ideas are taken. ^^' I wish I had found triond sooner.
#27 by kiji, Jan 15, 2008
very good tho there are more versions of clementine - in which the boy forgets clementine when he kisses her little sister!
#28 by Craig, Jan 15, 2008
Actually, I've always wondered why, when Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall, they started by getting the King's Horses to try and put him together again? I probably would have started with the King's men instead ... horses would have had a very difficult time of it with their hoofs ...
#29 by mathew, Jan 15, 2008
this is a really gud article....well thought
#30 by mindy, Jan 15, 2008
I LOVED this list! I'd like to add the French Alouette about plucking a birds head. "Alouette gentille Alouette"....
#31 by Profkampf, Jan 15, 2008
I had heard that Rock a bye baby was written and meant to be about a bastard son of a royal family
Rock a bye baby on the tree top - (the baby is at the top of a family tree)
when the wind blows the cradle will rock - (when people start talking about the baby, its going to cause a commotion)
when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall - (when its learned that the baby is NOT of royal blood, he will be disinherited)
and down will come cradle, baby and all - (it will be the end of the monarchy)
#32 by action0099, Jan 15, 2008
This was great. I really enjoyed reading your article!
#33 by Jim, Jan 16, 2008
Not only the nursery rhymes but in the original Italian version of Sleeping Beauty the prince finds her and she wakes months later to find herself about to deliver a baby.
Ring a round the rosie - the black plague
London Bridge - the collapse of the original bridge due to overcrowded housing on it.
#34 by Monyet Miskin, Jan 16, 2008
And of course there's no need to explain what 'goosey gander' is.
#35 by George VI, Jan 16, 2008
Like many blogs say, if you don't like it move on. So move on (I am).
#36 by NoLikey, Jan 16, 2008
I like to sing to my daughters so I changed the words of some songs. for instance:
Rock a bye baby,In the treetop
When the wind blows, The cradle will rock
Whe-en it rocks, will sleep
And dream of all sorts of wonderful things
Feel free to use it :)
#37 by NoLikey, Jan 16, 2008
Bah, it lost part of it, here we go:
Rock a bye baby, in the treetop
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
Whe-en it rocks -baby name here- will sleep
And dream of all sorts of wonderful things
#38 by Surprised , Jan 16, 2008
This hasn't been pointed out yet, but Humpty Dumpty has nothing to do with eggs.
It's the story of a massive English cannon, mounted on a wall. The cannon gets knocked off the wall and fractures, and they try to use teams of horses to drag all the pieces back together, but it's all bolloxed.
#39 by The problem solver, Jan 16, 2008
I liked the article but you forgot quite possibly the most depressing kids song. Ring around the rosie. This song is a song about death and pockets full of posey. Posey were little flowers people put over ther nose to protect from the smell of dead folks
#40 by YPatton, Jan 17, 2008
This is a great article. It made me laugh. I know people think it's offensive, but it's part of history. I enjoy all the morbid nursery rhymes and fairytales. If you read the original Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson Fairytales you will see some very morbid things there like when Cinderella's step sisters try on the shoe and one cuts off her toe and the other cuts off her heel to make it fit then they both get their eyes pecked out by crows at the end. It's fitting.
Also for Craig's comment about Humpty Dumpty. The reason why it's the kings horses is because it's a reference to the game of Chess where horses are used as knights. All the kings horses mean all the kings knights. all the kings men are his soldiers and officials. they couldn't put humpty (Cardinal Wosley) back together again after he was executed.
#41 by Koyin, Jan 19, 2008
Wow, Good article Sher D Fly, I guess you never really think of these things.
Koyin
#42 by Erica Barton, Jan 19, 2008
I thought this was incredibly funny...and yet I can also see WHY these nursery rhymes were chosen by their originators. I too have found myself singing morbidly creepy songs to my screaming little boy as he fights sleep. Nothing soothes him so much as the cooing gyrations that issue from my throat, and nothing soothes my nerves more then to threaten bodily harm should he fail to give into the "Sandman." It's amazing how creative you can become when desperate...and that's what a lot of these nursery rhymes sound like to me...desperate parents trying to soothe their child to sleep.
#43 by Cassidy, Jan 20, 2008
I\'m sorry to say that all these theories are wrong...
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read these books on the subject :
WHO REALLY KILLED COCK ROBIN by Norman Iles
THE RESTORATION OF COCK ROBIN by Norman Iles
These are the real meanings as restored to their historical correctness.
You will be truely amazed (and shocked).
#44 by Spyros, Feb 1, 2008
Cassidy is a silly nanny.
#45 by Jimbo, Feb 5, 2008
A very interesting article!
Mindy mentioned \"Alouette\" which we all sang in school, phonetically in French, never knowing what the words meant. I\'ve heard that it is about chicken plucking. (\"Jaunte plume array\"... plume=feathers) I wish I could find the English translation.
The line in \"Clementine\"... \"her shoes were number nine\" hints at clumbsiness so it\'s no surprise she tripped... and that the balladeer had designs on Clementine\'s sister all along. Ha!
\"Humpty Dumpty\"... alluding to a Cardinal? A big cannon? Maybe English readers might set the record straight on that one.
Yes, as mentioned, I think these are remembered and loved for their catchy tunes rather than what the words are saying. Non-sensical American tunes like \"Oh, Suzanna!\" and \"Camptown Races\" are other examples of that.
#46 by Renae, Feb 6, 2008
I never thought about this so true.
#47 by goulash, Feb 6, 2008
i supposed ths not only happen in the english society but asians too...our nursery rhymes are not "innocent" either.
#48 by emem, Feb 29, 2008
i think it is pretty obivious the person who made this doesnt know the real stories behind them...if she did she would have "Pocket Full of Posies" that is the worst out of all ten of these who ever made this doesnt know what they are talking about
#49 by emem, Feb 29, 2008
Here are some real ones and what they really mean.. to the people who really want to learn about history and the real stories about nursery ryhmes
#50 by susan, Mar 13, 2008
There is so much you left out of this and many of your explanations are wrong. it was a half hearted shallow attempt and you missed the true meanings completely. For example Goosey Goosey Gander originated from the time of Oliver Cromwell. He was trying to abolish Catholicism and a common toture for those who refused to "Say [their] prayers", meaning prodestant prayers, We're flung down stone steps and then dragged up again by a rope tied around their left leg. This process was repeated until the victim renounced their religion.
If you are going to do it at all, at least do it properly.
#51 by Craig, Mar 24, 2008
Ring Around the Rosie
"ring around the rosie,
pocket full of posies
ashes, ashes,
we all fall down"
This is about the exciting....Bubonic Plague (very childlike!!)
ring around the rosie = refers to fever
pocket full of posies = refers to swollen lymph nodes around your groin
ashes, ashes = your skin turns ashen color
we all fall down = death
that is a wonderful nursery rhyme to tell our children!!
#52 by BrieDanielle, May 30, 2008
I agree that this list was incomplete and not altogether accurate, but OH it made me and my 13 year old Goddaughter laugh! Thanks!
#53 by Beyond Birthday, Jun 16, 2008
That's really morbid,but it's not all that accurate,and you may have made some of it up.
Not that I'm saying you did.
#54 by Shahidah from Bermuda, Jun 17, 2008
What about Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down and broke his crown (head) and Jill came tumbling after.
It was a big hill too!!!
#55 by Shahidah, Jun 17, 2008
Oh! Sorry, I didn't see Jack and Jill at the top of the list.
#56 by elaine, Jun 25, 2008
great article, good job
#57 by samantha, Jul 4, 2008
you missed one.
ring around the rosie pocket full of posies ashes ashes we all fall down.
witch is about people dieing...
people would get red dots on their arms and a ring around them and the middle dot was called a rosie. and then the cure of it was a posie. and when they died.. they burnded them, wich makes ashes ofcaorse. and they all fell down as in dieing. but the rest were good.
#58 by Callum, Jul 17, 2008
Hmm...
I think the reason these rhymes (and fairy-tales) can be so \"disturbing\" to us nowadays is that childhood was a lot shorter (practically non-existant) back when these songs were first thought up. And I suppose they are a lot more \"realistic\". Children weren\'t as sheltered from stuff (like death) as they are today. A lot of the poorer ones had to start working when they were around 8, often in horrible places like coal mines! Stuff like poverty, violence and beatings, (like in \'The Old Lady Who Lived In A Shoe\'), diseases and death (like \'Ring-A-Ring-A-Rosie\') were much more commonplace and accepted.
Also I think you forget kids (even today) aren\'t often quite as innocent as their parents think. I\'ve heard many a child quote the odd childhood rhyme \"Bang, Bang, You\'re Dead! Fifty Bullets In Your Head\" Somehow I doubt their parents taught them that. It\'s just one of those things that kids seem to make up and pass on to each other. Most things kids see these days on TV, at the movies, or even on the news, are a lot worse than these stories!
----
Just as a side note, I also think it\'s interesting that we all KNOW Humpty Dumpty is an egg, even though it doesn\'t say in the rhyme at all. That\'s always struck me as strange =)
#59 by Natalia, Aug 24, 2008
You know, Humpty Dumpty (god knows why in the nursery rhyme it's an egg) is (was) a cannon in some war.....I can't remember which one. French Reveloution??? Well I'm still a kid so whatever. Anyways! The cannon was mounted on a wall and when the wall got shot. " Humpty Dumpty had a great fall." Yeah. Then the King's men (on horses) tried and failed to "put humpty together again." lol. That's what I wanted to add. I also wanted to add the Ring around the rosies thing but it looks like Samantha already covered what I was gonna say.
#60 by Natalia, Aug 24, 2008
OMG =0 I was looking through one of my old nursery rhyme books and I found this one.
\" Great A, little a,
Bouncing B!
The cat\'s in the cupbard,
And can\'t see me.\"
I looked at the picture and found the meaning.
The little girl locked her cat in the cupboard to play with alphabet blocks. =0 Gave me the shivers when I thought what happened to the cat later. I\'ll find some more. Hold on. I\'ll post in a few minutes.
#61 by Natalia, Aug 24, 2008
ok whoah. I can post this with NO explanation.
" There was a man in out town.,
And he was wonderous wise.
He jumped into a bramble bush,
And scratched out both his
eyes;
But when he saw his eyes were out,
With all his might and main,
He jumped into another bush,
And scrathed em' in again."
Sooo this is supposed to teach little kids not to scrath their eyes out?????
#62 by Natalia, Aug 24, 2008
Here are a whole bunch I found
" There was a little man and he had a little gun. And his bullets were made of lead lead lead; He went to the brook, and he saw a little duck, and he shot it right through the head head head. He carried it home to his old wife Joan, And bade her a fire to make make make. To roast the little duck he had shot in the brook, And he'd go fetch the drake drake drake. The drake was a-swimming with his curly tail; The little man made his mark mark mark. He let off his gun but he fired too soon, And the srake flew away with a quack quack quack."
This one shocked me
" Cry, baby, cry,
Put your finger in your eye,
And tell your mother it wasn't I. "
Poor little abused baby
The last verse of Baa Baa black Sheep
" One for my master,
One for my dame,
But none for the little boy
Who cries down the lane."
Sing a song of Sixpence is long so I'll put in the first and last verses
" Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye; Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie!"
" The maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes; When down came a blackbird Andb snapped off her nose."
That's all I have time for. You know? I should make a blog about this on my website.....I will!!! lol bye!
#63 by Elizabeth, Sep 12, 2008
"Ring around the rosie pockets full of posie Ashes, Ashes we all fal down" Means... Ring around the roseis is a disease, pockests full of posie means that when people die they put flowers in their pocket, Ashes,Ahses means when they die the burn them to ashes, and We all fall down means they are dead!
#64 by Sara, Sep 27, 2008
mind opening article...i really do enjoy reading it. well done!
#65 by funky monky, Sep 28, 2008
dont u ppl realize that these nursery rhymes r pure evil?! u ppl dont know that evil is at work and is going to destroy us all! think about it. these nursery rhymes, violence around the world, etc. whats next. idk whats going on but what ever is going on, we need to act.
#66 by Joshua Colasacco, Oct 6, 2008
you nimrod the humpy dumpy was about a british cannon that was made to destroy ships from far away and during a war the cannon was hit and landed on the ground and broke into pieces hint "all the KINGS horses and all the KINGS men couldnt put Humpy together again"
Good job.