The Stories Behind Six Famous Nursery Rhymes and What They are Really About
by Some of our most loved nursery rhymes were originally historical records written in a catchy way for people to remember them. Over the years and with a little tinkering here and there they arrived in their present innocent but intriguing form to charm the children of later generations.
The following rhymes are less gruesome and more of a social statement.
‘When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?’ Was the theme of the Peasant Revolt in 1381. England was spared a revolution by the action of Richard II a brave 14 year old who saved the day by riding into the mob and shouting “Would you kill your king?” They didn’t but his retinue killed their leader.
‘Little Tommy Tucker’ was a colloquialism for an orphan. In 1829 orphans were so destitute that they had to beg and sing in the streets, literally for their supper. Which serves to remind me of the little Tommy Tuckers still begging for food in so many of our cities today, especially in the Third World, where hunger and Aids means that their numbers are increasing.
‘Pop goes the weasel’ never did make any sense to me, except to visualise a furry little animal exploding for some reason. Then I learned about the cockney background of rhyming slang and the poverty in the East End of London when the rhyme was penned. “Pop was another word for “pawn’, “stoat” rhyming slang for “coat” so the translation was that a coat was taken to the pawn shop to get some extra cash. The Eagle was a much visited local pub. Read it again, it’s a comment about poverty and money being wasted on drink.
Half a pound of tuppenny rice, half a pound of treacle,
That’s the way the money goes, pop goes the weasel.
Up and down the City Road, in and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money goes.
Pop goes the weasel.
If you want to know more about Little Polly Flinders and whipping stools for girls, or Goosy Goosy Gander who was believed to be a witch, then check out some sites for yourself. As for me, I think I’ve learned more than enough for the time being.
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Post CommentRJ Chamberlain
On October 3, 2008 at 7:29 am
Fantastic information Terri. Well done.
BC Doan
On October 3, 2008 at 10:11 am
Fascinating read..
M R Amell
On October 8, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I’ve been reading a lot of old tales myself lately and some are rather brutal and yet we hear them as children and think of them as strange little stories that often don’t really make sense, but we smile..If we only knew…
I wonder how many people tell the truth about these rhymes to their young children today and scare the living bajesus out of them..
DarkSteele
On October 13, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Pretty sure I read that the ring around the rosie one was false? Dunno. Anyway, the rest of those are pretty grim- great for the kids.
thanh thao
On April 1, 2009 at 10:19 pm
i’m very much impressed by what you have written here.
could you please give us the refernces used in your post for our further reading and clarifications ?
Meerduith
On November 8, 2009 at 8:14 pm
And I always thought Pop Goes The Weasel was a lesson about not over-inflating small mammals…
shelpeare
On June 18, 2010 at 1:33 pm
You can check out my interpretation of “Mary had a little Lamb” as being based on the Bible with a twist here:
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/294623_mary-had-a-little-lamb-a-true-bible-story