Guest Author - Nicola Jane Soen
The history of nursery rhymes and their origin all have to do with the country they originate from. In fact not only that, the nursery rhyme was the equivalent of the modern day pop song!
Hawkers and Ballard men would write and sell them; based on things they themselves saw everyday. Any local news or events would be incorporated, the more scandalous the better!
Some of the most famous and well loved nursery rhymes today were made and sung centuries ago, and not for fun, but because of terror.
London’s burning,
London’s burning,
Fetch the Engine,
Fetch the Engine,
Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
Pour on water,
Pour on water
Is a classic historic song, now a nursery rhyme; however when it was written the song was both tragic and desperate. Based during the infamous fire of London in 1666; when the whole of London burned. All starting from a fire in pudding lane, in a bakery, the fire was believed to have been caused by Papists or the Dutch, with whom the English had been having skirmishes with. It was only the intervention of the King himself that the truth came out.
Ring o’ Ring o’ Roses,
A pocket full of posies,
Atichoo, Atichoo,
We all fall down.
Was also a famous rhyme from that period, written because of the Great Plague in London in 1665. Thousands of people died because of the flea bite of the black rat, brought over in the boats and ships from France.
It started by black lumps called buboes under the armpits, and once caught there was very little chance for survival.
Once a house was known to be infected the whole house with all init, infected or not were nailed in. A red ochre cross painted on the door, and a watcher was posted outside, until all was gone. Also the words ‘God have Mercy on our Souls’ was painted on the door.
The modern version, with mothers trying to protect their children was slightly altered at the end.
All the little fishes,
Swimming in the sea,
We all jump up,
With a One, Two, Three!
The original was of course sung out of fear and reality. It is tragedy medieval mothers had no such comfort to give their own children as modern mothers did by altering the ending; but of course their children did not die nor were left orphaned because of it.
The posy was a sweet smelling herb and flowers carried to try to avoid the pestilence. Often and orange stuck with cloves was thought to ward off bad smells and ills. The sneeze was when the person was so sick they then ‘fell down’ being dead. Half of England’s population was wiped out. In a way the Fire in 1666 was a blessing in disguise. It burnt all the corpse choked churches and killed any infection remaining in the jam packed and filthy streets.
So nursery rhymes actually show us about how our ancestors lived, loved and past on history to us down the centuries.
