We all know “Ring A Ring O’ Roses” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” which are very classic anthems of your average British nursery experience. Maybe that’s an overstatement. However the chances are, you’ve heard at least one at some point in your life. These rhymes seem harmless. They must be, they’re made for kids. But are you aware of the dark secrets that lie underneath them? 

I’m sure you remember being forced by your teachers to gather in a circle, hold hands and sing “Ring a Ring O’ Roses.” No? Maybe that’s just me. Either way, it sounds innocent enough, but some believe there is something much darker to the childish tune.  

Ring a ring o’roses 

A pocket full of poses 

A tissue! A tissue 

We all fall down 

The popular theory claims that the nursery rhyme is actually a grim reflection of the Great Plague of London in 1665. The opening line “ring of roses” is meant to symbolise the first sign of the plague, the red rash on your body. The final line “we all fall down” is interpreted as a horrific reference to those infected who dropped dead in the streets. 

When you pair children spinning round in circles, laughing and singing with their friends to a song about a deadly disease, it seems very morbid, especially when they have no idea. 

Folklorist Philip Hiscock believes that the rhyme is actually not about the plague but based on the religious ban of dancing for Protestants in England that occurred in the eighteen hundreds. The skipping round in a ring was a way around the ban, so the children would sing while “dancing.”

Another classic nursery rhyme is Humpty Dumpty, one of my personal favourites is rumoured to be based on Richard III who was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. It is a symbol of failure and defeat, but then again this is all just a theory. 

Historians have suggested that Humpty Dumpty was just a symbol for breakable things, and there is nothing sinister about it. But we will never know. 

The darkest nursery rhyme of all has to be Three Blind Mice. Its origin is centered around a knife wielding farmer’s wife and how she cut off their “tails.” The three blind mice are Protestants who were accused of plotting against Queen Mary I and they were burned at the stake. Very morbid. The farmer’s wife is supposed to be Queen Mary, who chases the mice round with a knife. 

The question is, why are nursery rhymes so dark? 

Well they were originally not meant for children, they date back to the 16th to the 18th century and were written for adult entertainment. The main themes surrounding the tunes were: death, persecution and prostitution. I would say not very PG rated. 

The fact that children may still sing them today is pure proof of how deep our history embeds itself in our everyday lives. They are short and sweet and sung with smiles but if you listen closely you will find that many of them aren’t just rhymes, they are warnings.