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Sunday, April 12, 2009
Dark Times and Nursery Rhymes/ 8:30 PM Do you still remember the nursery rhymes taught to you in pre-school? As kids, we just followed and repeat and due to the OH SO NICE SOUND of the nursery rhymes, we sometimes even chant it or say it for the fun of it. But learning all these nursery rhymes, have you ever wondered whats the story or the message or the lesson behind nursery rhymes. Have you ever wondered whether the poems comes from someones over imaginative mind or whether it was based on a true event. Nursery rhymes serve as a way to educate little children about historical as well as daily events. However, do you know the meaning behind the nursery rhymes that we often recite? The oh so popular "Humpty Dumpty", "Ring around the roses" and "Jack and Jill Went Up The Hill" Humpty Dumpty Many would think that Humpty Dumpty was a man due to the popular illustration of a egg-man sitting on a wall. However, Humpty Dumpty is not a person at all Humpty Dumpty is actually a Huge Cannon used in the English Civil War in the Seige of Colchester. The town of Colchester was a walled town. Standing exactly adjacent to the city walls was St. Mary's Church. A huge cannon called Humpty Dumpty was strategically placed on the wall.(humpty dumpty sat on a wall) So the story goes that a shot by one of the opposing party's cannon managed to collapse the wall causing the cannon to tumble to the ground(humpty dumpty had a great fall) And the cavaliers(all the kings men) tried to raise the cannon but to no avail due to the massive weight (couldnt put humpty together again). And therefore leading to the surrender of the strategically located town of Colchester. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the King's horses and all the King's men Couldnt put Humpty Together again Ring Around The Rosy This particular nursery rhymes refers to an epidemic, the Bubonic plague AKA The Black Death. One of the few symptoms of the Black Death is that the carrier of the disease included a rosy red rash in the form of a ring on the carriers skin (Ring around the rosy). One of the many beliefs was that the disease was transmitted through bad smells, therefore people carry pocket or pouches full of sweet smelling herbs (posies) with them. And the term "Ashes, Ashes" refers to the cremation of dead bodies. The death rate was as high as 60% and the plague was only stopped by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rat that transmitted the disease via water source. Ring around the rosy A pocketful of posies "Ashes, Ashes" We all fall down Jack And Jill Went Up The Hill Jack and Jill are to be said as King Louis XVI (Jack) and Queen Marie Antoinette (Jill). During the Reign of Terror in 1793 "Jack" was beheaded (lost his crown) and not long after, "Jill" suffered the same fate (Jill came tumbling after). Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water Jack fell down and lost his crown And Jill came tumbling after Mary Mary Quite Contrary Mary in this nursery rhyme refers to Mary Tudor AKA Bloody Mary (google it up if you're interested enuf), daughter of King Henry VIII. Queen Mary was a staunch Catholic and the garden mentioned in the rhyme is actually an illusion of a graveyard which is increasing in size with those who who dared to continue to adhere to the Protestant Faith. Silver bells and Cockle shells are instruments of torture. The Silver Bells were thumbscrews which crushes the thumb between two hard surfaces by the simple tightening of a screw. The Cockle shells were instruments of torture which were attached to the genitals. And the "maids" was actually a device to behead people called The Maiden. As beheading a person could take up to 11 blows(cruel much!) and that the person in question usually instinctively resisted and had to be chased around the scaffold and hacked by the Executioner, this device was invented(now known as the guillotine) to solve the problem. Mary Mary quite contrary How does your garden grow? With Silver bells and Cockle shells And pretty maids all in a row Well, theres actually more nursery rhymes that i could talk about, all having links to historical events just like the ones above, but i guess i'm too lazy to actually blog about all of them. So, you can just google it up and prolly find some interesting facts of your own. Cool, huh? Labels: random post 101 |
