Nursery Rhymes
Rock-a-bye-baby On the treetop
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall
And down will come baby
Cradle and all
OK, so how messed up is that? Who would stick their baby in a treetop? Why would they talk about baby’s plummeting to the ground? What is wrong with all of us that we would freely sing this nursery rhyme? Where did it come from?
Well, the author of this lullaby was reportedly a pilgrim who sailed on the Mayflower. The Wampanoag Indians, who befriended (wow, they died to regret that) the colonists, carried their infants in cradleboards on their backs. In temperate weather, they suspended the cradles from tree limbs so that passing breezes could rock the babies while their mothers tended the maize and beans.
At least this is what is believed to be the history behind it. What if the song was made up by the Salem witches and was really a curse on the town that they sang while being burned at the stake? How do they know? Take for instance:
Ring Around the Rosie (or Ring a Ring of Rosies)
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, Ashes
We all fall down
Here is the conflict…Philip Hiscock, a folklorist at Memorial University in Newfoundland, states that this rhyme likely originated as a way of skirting Protestant bans on dancing:
"Adolescents found a way around the dancing ban with what was called in the United States the 'play-party.' Play-parties consisted of ring games, which differed from square dances only in their name and their lack of musical accompaniment. They were hugely popular, and younger children got into the act, too. Some modern nursery games, particularly those which involve rings of children, derive from these play-party games. 'Little Sally Saucer' (or 'Sally Waters') is one of them, and 'Ring Around the Rosie' seems to be another. The rings referred to in the rhymes are literally the rings formed by the playing children."
The other interpretation is The words to the Ring around the rosy children's ring game have their origin in English history . The historical period dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when the first outbreak of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies! The death rate was over 60% and the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which was transmitting via water sources.
So how in the world did we decide singing this to our kids was a good idea if it is all true? Hey kids, lets sing about Watergate and the Challenger explosion! How about this?
Monica, Monica
What a nice dress
Don’t tell Hillary
I have made a mess
This brings me to my point (as I almost always have one). What if just maybe, they were just kid’s songs. Think about this. Is Barney’s “I love you” song going to be turned into some sort of political statement 300 years in the future? Will it have something to do with our oppression of purple dinosaurs? I end with this highly political statement…
If all of the Raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh what a rain that would be…
Standing outside with my mouth open wide (opens mouth)
Ah, ah..ah..ah….ah, ah..ah….ah, ah..ah
If all of the Raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh what a rain that would beeeeeeeeeeee
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall
And down will come baby
Cradle and all
OK, so how messed up is that? Who would stick their baby in a treetop? Why would they talk about baby’s plummeting to the ground? What is wrong with all of us that we would freely sing this nursery rhyme? Where did it come from?
Well, the author of this lullaby was reportedly a pilgrim who sailed on the Mayflower. The Wampanoag Indians, who befriended (wow, they died to regret that) the colonists, carried their infants in cradleboards on their backs. In temperate weather, they suspended the cradles from tree limbs so that passing breezes could rock the babies while their mothers tended the maize and beans.
At least this is what is believed to be the history behind it. What if the song was made up by the Salem witches and was really a curse on the town that they sang while being burned at the stake? How do they know? Take for instance:
Ring Around the Rosie (or Ring a Ring of Rosies)
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, Ashes
We all fall down
Here is the conflict…Philip Hiscock, a folklorist at Memorial University in Newfoundland, states that this rhyme likely originated as a way of skirting Protestant bans on dancing:
"Adolescents found a way around the dancing ban with what was called in the United States the 'play-party.' Play-parties consisted of ring games, which differed from square dances only in their name and their lack of musical accompaniment. They were hugely popular, and younger children got into the act, too. Some modern nursery games, particularly those which involve rings of children, derive from these play-party games. 'Little Sally Saucer' (or 'Sally Waters') is one of them, and 'Ring Around the Rosie' seems to be another. The rings referred to in the rhymes are literally the rings formed by the playing children."
The other interpretation is The words to the Ring around the rosy children's ring game have their origin in English history . The historical period dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when the first outbreak of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies! The death rate was over 60% and the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which was transmitting via water sources.
So how in the world did we decide singing this to our kids was a good idea if it is all true? Hey kids, lets sing about Watergate and the Challenger explosion! How about this?
Monica, Monica
What a nice dress
Don’t tell Hillary
I have made a mess
This brings me to my point (as I almost always have one). What if just maybe, they were just kid’s songs. Think about this. Is Barney’s “I love you” song going to be turned into some sort of political statement 300 years in the future? Will it have something to do with our oppression of purple dinosaurs? I end with this highly political statement…
If all of the Raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh what a rain that would be…
Standing outside with my mouth open wide (opens mouth)
Ah, ah..ah..ah….ah, ah..ah….ah, ah..ah
If all of the Raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh what a rain that would beeeeeeeeeeee
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