Nursery Rhymes - their origin and allusions
T. V. Wijeyaratnam
You walk down the primary classes - you hear chirpy voices of the
tiny tots singing in chorus along with the teachers.
"eenie meenie mini mo" - a rhyme for counting. The Scottish
equivalent of this English rhyme is "eetern, teetern, penny pump".
The rhyme - "One two buckle my shoe" is also a similar rhyme -
nursery rhymes are not verses composed to be sung by kids or to amuse
them.
Most of these nursery rhymes have their origin in subject matter
intended for adults. Some are based on historical events. They may be
sly satires on important personages or crude jokes and romantic verses -
just a clang association of words.
Take the rhyme, "Ride a cock horse to Banbury". It was supposed to be
a reference to Queen Elizabeth I. But some say it refers to Lady Godiva.
One Jack Horner was supposed to be a steward to Richard Whitting the
last of the abbots of Glastonbury. At that time the monasteries were
being broken up. Hoping to appease King Henry VIII, the abbot sent his
steward Horner to London with a Christmas pie in which were hidden the
title deeds of 12 manors. On the way Horner is said to have pulled out
the title deed of the manor at Mells.
It is said a man named Thomas Horner went to live at Mells. This
historical event was the origin of the rhyme "Little Jack Horner" - The
plum he pulled out was the title deed of Mells.
There was an unpopular clergy man who was small made. The thyme "Jack
Sprat" was sung to ridicule him "Jack Sprat" was the name of a dwarf.
How often have we heard children singing gaily.
"Georgie porgy pudding and pie
kissed the girls and made them cry
when the boys came out to play
Georgie porgy ran away"
Hardly do they know that this was a rhyme on king George IV (?) - on
his friendship with the women of the court. Totally unaware of this
royal scandal children clap their hands and sing the rhyme.
There is a picture of Humpty Dumpty on the wall of the class-room.
But does the primary teacher or the children who sing the rhyme Humpty
Dumpty ever stop to think what historical event gave rise to this jolly
nursery rhyme? king John, youngest son of king Henry II was a tyrannical
king.
When he was fighting a battle with France, the nobles and clergy
forced him to set his seal to the document - Magna Carts - in Latin - it
means the Great Charter - a basic document that states the liberties
guaranteed for the English people. It happened on June 15-1215 at
Runnymede. It was a great fall from power for the king. This is referred
to in the rhyme,
"Humpty Dumpty had a great fall."
The rhyme "Mary Mary quite contrary" is supposed to refer to Mary
Queen of Scots. Most of you would have heard of the "Black Death" - The
Pandemic plague which killed one third of the population of Europe in
two years - 1348-1450. The victim first finds a reddish swelling - like
a rose - on the groin. It bursts and forms a ring or sores - like
posies.
When the final stage comes the victim sneezes and falls to death. You
would have seen and heard nursery kids singing the rhyme.
"Ring a ring of roses
a pocket full of posies
Achoo, achoo we all fall down"
Joyfully they fall down enjoying the fun quite unaware of the tragic
event which gave rise to this nursery rhyme.
Tales in England refer to the building of the London Bridge. It kept
breaking down and it seemed only blood of babes was used to stick the
stones together. It seemed they caught babes and dashed them against the
building and that was how the London Bridge was built. Our children play
a game, singing.
"Here the robbers passing by
passing by passing by
The London bridge is falling down falling down falling down"
What is played happily as a game singing this nursery rhyme actually
took its origin in this horrific happening during the building of the
London Bridge.
Slavery was rampant in the 19th century. Slaves always tried to
escape. Slave owners sent their people to catch the miserable slaves.
From this event rose the nursery rhyme,
"Catch a nigger by the toe
" if he hollers let him go"
The interesting rhyme - which ends like this,
"The dish ran away with the spoon
and the cow jumped over the moon"
Sounds absolute nonsense. But there is an interesting story behind
it. Queen Elizabeth I was a lovable queen full of fun and mischief. She
nicknamed her courtiers.
One man was named dish and a woman was called spoon. Yet another was
named moon and a fourth was named cow. Now if you go through the nursery
rhyme, you can understand better!
the nursery rhyme,
"Hey didle didle
the cat and the fiddle" - is a rhyme with lampooning on Queen
Elizabeth I or Queen Mary.
There may be many more such stories which the readers may know and
enlighten us on.
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