you know this song use to actually give me the creeps , I know it was meant for chlidren but why in the world where nursey rhymes so violent?

Example 1:

Rock-a-bye baby, in the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all

What kinda drunken sick mother would put there baby in a tree anyhow

Example 2:

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.




What the heck where they trying to do scare kids to death?

Nursery rhymes are nothing compared to Grimm's fairy tales. Give them a shot.

IceNine said:

I had to read this in middle school, but actually never gotten around to finishing reading it :Lol: Snow white and the seven dawrfs was cool though

Three blind mice,
Three blind mice,
See how they run!
See how they run!

They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails,
With a carving knife...

Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice.

*sick-of-these-emoticons-where-can-i-get-some-more-edit*

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the Kings horses and all the Kings men
Couldn't put Humpty together again

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children,
she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth,
Without any bread,
Whipped them all soundly,
and sent them to bed.

STUPID COW!

bananacologne said:

ROFLMAO

Ring-a-Ring-of-Roses

Ring-a-Ring-of-Roses
A pocket full of posies
Atichoo! Atichoo!
We all fall down


"Ring-a-Ring-a Roses' is a fine example of an apparently vacuous and harmless rhyme, sung by happy school kids perhaps ignorant of the song's central macabre topic - namely, the Bubonic Plague. The Bubonic Plague is more commonly known as 'The Black Death' and this horrific disease swept through Europe in the 14th Century, spreading from China, killing 25 million people in just under five years, between 1347 and 1352. Thereafter, the plague was endemic throughout Europe.

The rhyme details the effects of the plague on the sufferer. 'Ring-a-Ring-of-Roses' refers to the first sign of the onset of the disease. Before lesions would develop on the skin of those affected, small rings of red bruise-like marks would appear.

'A pocket full of posies' indirectly points to the fact that people didn't know that it is germs that cause disease, and not smells. It was a commonly-held belief that bad smells - so often associated with the open sewers of London's Thames area - were actually carrying the disease. As a caution therefore, doctors used to carry with them a pouch of sweet smelling flowers thinking it would ward off the infection. 'A pocket full of posies' would also go some way to mask the stench of rotting corpses.

The third line, 'Atichoo!, Atichoo!' is particularly chilling in that the act of sneezing was final physical proof that you had indeed succumbed to the Plague. Sneezing was an audible harbinger of the worst news - that the disease was contracted and that much worse was to come. Flu-like symptoms would appear and become more apparent as the sufferer entered the final stages of the illness, where fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, shakes and bouts of tell-tale sneezing would manifest themselves together before the final breath was drawn.

And of course, 'We all fall down' refers to that great inevitability; the end of life itself."


From google.

Ding, dong, bell,
Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in?
Little Johnny Green.


Who pulled her out?
Little Tommy Stout.

What a naughty boy was that,
To try to drown poor pussy cat,

REDFEATHERS said:

"This jolly nursery rhyme is yet another classic example of a rhyme which deals with the subject of mortality in such a light-hearted manner as to be almost laughing in the face of death itself. It refers to the English King Charles I. At the time Charles was a very strong believer in the divine right of kings. Understandably so - he was a king. This severely annoyed members of Parliament, who didn't like the fact that he continually went against them. Charles kept this up for a while, until it came to a time when he needed more money for more soldiers for his army in order to put down the threat of an uprising.

Naturally, Parliament didn't trust the king with more money/soldiers, fearing he'd turn this army into Royalists and against Parliament. If the king was to have more money from Parliament, he would have to relinquish some of his ruling powers. Charles, however, decided to press his point by showing up at Parliament and arresting five Parliamentary Members in response to this list of reform demands they issued to him. At this point, both sides called up their respective armies. In the ensuing battle, Charles lost, got convicted of treason and was beheaded - hence the rhyme, 'all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty back together again"


This is what it is about!

Google edit
[This message was edited Thu May 29 17:07:26 PDT 2003 by Lleena]

always thought this one was sad:

It's raining, it's pouring;
The old man is snoring.
Bumped his head
And he went to bed
And he couldn't get up in the morning.
Rain, rain, go away;
Come again another day;
Little Johnny wants to play.

and...Sorry, but I couldnt resist posting these - these may not be violent as such, but they certainly have different connotations in 2days modern world!!!

One 4 CBORGMAN:
In Spring I look gay,
Decked in comely array,
In Summer more clothing I wear;
When colder it grows,
I fling off my clothes,
And in Winter quite naked appear

...and one 4 REDFEATHER seen as she's such a seXual creature of the nite:

I love little pussy,
Her coat is so warm,
And if I don't hurt her,
She'll do me no harm.
So I'll not pull her tail,
Nor drive her away,
But pussy and I,
Very gently will play.

Ladybird, ladybird

fly away home,

your house in on fire

and your children are gone,

all except one

and that's little Ann,

for she has crept under

the frying pan.

bananacologne said:

That is me!

bananacologne said:

:Sad2: Okay now I'm seriously depressed... the old man died and we're singing about it in a happy tune, what kinda morales do we have people


[This message was edited Thu May 29 17:10:27 PDT 2003 by DigitalLisa]

Hey diddle diddle,
the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

DigitalLisa said:

You started the thread DigiLisa!


Here ya go, girl!

Ring a-round the roses,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down!

One of the world's most famous of Nursery Rhymes - attesting 2 the Plague & the Great Fire of London in 1665 and 1666 respectively.

1665 had experienced a very hot summer. London’s population had continued to grow and many lived in squalor and poverty. The only way people had to get rid of rubbish was to throw it out into the streets. This would include normal household waste as well as human waste. As a result, London was filthy. But this was a perfect breeding place for rats. A popular belief during the plague was that the disease was caused by dogs and cats. This was not so. The plague was caused by disease-carrying fleas carried on the bodies of rats. A pair of rats in the perfect environment could breed many off-spring. The filth found in the streets of London provided the perfect environment for rats.

Not surprisingly, the first victims of the plague were found in the poorer districts of the city. The cramped living conditions these people lived in, and the fact that so many actually lived in the slum areas of London, meant that many people could not avoid contact with either the rats or someone who had the disease.

The first comment in the poem was a reference to red circular blotches that were found on the skin. These could also develop into large pus filled sacs found primarily under the armpits and in the groin. These buboes were very painful to the sufferer.

The second line refers to the belief that the plague was spread by a cloud of poisonous gas that was colourless (known as a miasma). This miasma could only be stopped, so it was believed, if you carried flowers with you as the smell of the flowers would overpower the germs carried by the miasma. There was also another ‘benefit’ to carrying sweet smelling flowers. A victim’s breath started to go off as the disease got worse. The flowers perfume would have covered up this unpleasantness.

The final symptom was a sneezing fit that was promptly followed by death. Some of the victims did not get as far as this stage presumably as their lives were so poor that their bodies were even less able to cope with the disease. For some, a swift death was merciful.

Once the disease took a hold it spread with frightening speed. Those who could, the wealthy, left London for the comparative safety of the countryside. No such option existed for those who lived in the slums. In fact, militiamen were paid by the city’s council to guard the parish boundaries of the area they lived in and to let no one out unless they had a certificate to leave from their local parish leader. Very few of these certificates were issued.

The poor were very badly hit by the plague. The authorities in London decided on drastic action to ensure that the plague did not spread.

Any family that had one member infected by the plague was locked in their home for forty days and nights. A red cross was painted on the door to warn others of the plight of those in the house. No one was allowed in except ‘nurses’.

The approaching winter halted the spread of the disease as the weather took its toll on the rats and fleas. However, though the worst had passed by the end of 1665, the end of the plague as a major killer only occurred with the Great Fire of London – the city’s second tragedy in two years. The fire devastated the filthy city areas where rats had prospered. The rebuilt London was more spacious and open. Never again was the city going to be affected so badly by this disease.

THAT'S what that ones about!

Ashes Ashes? I thought it was Atichoo Atichoo?

GREAT thread DL!
U should check out Eddie Izzard musing on this very subject (I THINK it's on his 'Definate Article' video) It's hilarious! That will cheer u up - go and hire it from your local video store right this very instant!!!

Lleena said:

Atchoo was the modern way it began 2 be sung - the original version from back then was: 'ahes ahes' due 2 the rumour of the Great fire being no accident, and merely an easy (albeit drastic) measure by the government 2 halt the onslaught of the plague

*glad-my-history-lessons-paid-off-edit*

Lleena said:

in the states we say "ashes, ashes"...

bananacologne said:

So it was originally Ashes Ashes ! I didn't know that!

It is also Ashes Ashes in the states says Dansa! I remember singing Atichoo Atichoo..and making a sneezing motion!

What are little boys made of, made of?
What are little boys made of?
"Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails;
And that's what little boys are made of, made of."

eww.

Lleena said:

Yeah, we used to say Atichoo Atichoo too, then We all fall down.

Lleena said:

I sang that when I was little 2 - guess it was just a social change thang...or something - i dunno!

bananacologne said:

Oh Yeah mos def... let me go get my car keys ready

I KNOW...
i never understood why Rock-a-bye-baby was so violent...especially for something you are supposed to sing to your baby to calm him/her down...

yet when i had my son...i followed in every sadistic mothers footsteps and sang it to him!!!

lillith said:

REDFEATHERS said:

my poor baby...i've warped him (in my image)...

I stopped reading fairytales when I read somewhere that
Hans Christian Anderson marked his diary with a red "x"
for every time he masturbated.