Dark messages behind nursery rhymes~

            Plagues ,murder, human sacrifice not your typical children's literature, right? Well nursery rhymes may seem harmless or downright cute to us today and have even played a huge role in our childhood. But when you actually pay close attention to the lyrics and their backstories these “adorable” children's songs will seem more like gruesome horror stories. These fun tunes for children's games are actually a living record of some of the darkest moments in history.

             “Ring around the Rosie 

             A pocket full of posies 

             Ashes, ashes

             We all fall down”

        This catchy nursery rhyme from 1881 brings to mind images of adorable children holding hands, singing and dancing in a circle until they “all fall down”. Although it might seem like a harmless game, this children's song actually has a very dark story behind it. This memorable rhyme is actually about the great plague that hit London in 1665. It killed up to 15% of the entire population of the city. The “Rosie” refers to the painful and very visible rash that was the main symptom of the plague. Death and diseases were so rampant in the crowded city that citizens took to filling their pockets with sweet smelling flowers, like posies to cover up the smell of death that was everywhere. And the mention of ashes is a reference to the thousands of bodies of plague victims unceremoniously burned in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease. The often brutal reality of life in London has inspired more than one dark poem, and it's not just plagues that provided dark foder for nursery rhymes.

“London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady.”

      But don't let the catchy tune of this classic nursery rhyme fool you, there is an incredibly dark history behind London Bridge’s sweet melody. The rhyme was written in 1744 and was originally written about a Viking attack on London in the early 1000's. According to legend, a group of Vikings stormed the city and destroyed the iconic bridge, but there’s still debate whether that actually happened. Even if this story turns out to be nothing but a legend, there is more darkness behind London Bridge that might be even more brutal than a Viking invasion. The real message behind the London Bridge nursery rhyme is the one of human sacrifice. At the time of the bridge's construction it was widely believed that burying bodies in the foundations of buildings was a surefire way to keep the structure standing. The bodies were thought to add strength to the structure, and spirits of the dead would also watch over the bridge. And even worse, the sacrificed people, most of them children, were rumored to have been immured in the walls, Which they eventually died from lack of food and water after the walls had been all bricked up. And this brings a whole new level of darkness to the children's game that often accompanies the rhyme. Where two children will form an arch with their arms to represent a bridge, while others take turns walking under the bridge. And when the song ends, the bridge falls and the children drop their arms and the last child under the bridge finds themselves trapped within the walls just like the human sacrifices of the legend.

These were just a couple of popular  nursery rhymes I took as an example but there are actually many more children's songs that have dark backstories… So in conclusion, nursery rhymes are more than childs play, and now that you know the dark messages behind these nursery rhymes, these merry songs will unfortunately never be the same.

Questions~

What are your thoughts on these horrific backstories?

What is your favorite nursery rhyme? 

Sources~ 

https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Plague-of-London

https://www.sewerhistory.org/miscellaneous/the-history-of-a-nursery-rhyme-ring-around-the-rosie/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/london-bridge-is-falling-down

https://closeronline.co.uk/entertainment/soaps/nightmarish-nursery-rhymes-10-dark-true-stories-behind-favourite-nursery-rhymes/

 

 



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  • Awesome topic choice and super job  Lineth. Very unique-+5. Great job replying as well!

  • I never knew that nursery rhymes could be so dark and twisty.  I didn't know they had a backstory even. I think they are fine for little kids to sing because they don't know the backstory. Now that I know the backstories behind these nursery rhymes they are really weird. My favorite nursery rhyme is "twinkle twinkle little star".

    • Same, I just found out about these backstories... And nice choice! That's also one of my favorites.

  • I do not understand how people thought of these stories and started singing them to children. Even though post people and children do not understand the background of the story I think it's weird that are so dark.

    • I know! Its crazy to think that these are children's songs.. And yes, their backstories are very dark.

  • I think that as children we really don't know the background about the songs, and we just sing them for fun. As we grow, we are eductaed and informed on the true stories of the songs and kind of changes them in a way. While I think it may change the way we hear them a bit, I'm not that we should just stop singing them.

    • Yes, as kids we're not really aware of things like this...and yea I'm not sure if we should stop singing them either.

  • I think that the horrific back story is not very well known. i have heard of these before and I thought it was very interesting but it can also be quite disturbing. i haven't heard the London bridge one before and I feel that it was a very neet backstory.

    • Indeed, these stories are very disturbing... Especially since they're meant for kids.

  • I think the back story to some of the nursery rhymes are pretty messed up and kinda scary and the fact that young kids are singing the is supprising. As a kid I suppose you don't really think about the meaning behind them but its kinda scary to think what they actully mean.

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