NationStates Jolt Archive

In some nursery rhymes it can be rather goresome:


"Rock a bye baby in the tree top; when the wind blows The Baby Will Drop "
What do you think?

I mean, A baby that just hit the ground during a rainstorm while everyone is inside. Kind Of... absurd to be sung to young children (3-4 yrs)

Feh. Pointless terror is an essential element of a happy childhood.

Ok.....

Basically, it's nothing to worry yourself about. Children don't look for any deep meaning in these; they're just collections of syllables to them.

Basically, it's nothing to worry yourself about. Children don't look for any deep meaning in these; they're just collections of syllables to them.

But I DO!!! :D

Cursed wind!!!

And heck, ring around the rosie was based on the plague or something like that.

Ring Around the Rosie: the plague

London Bridge is Falling Down: the Great London Fire (lotta people died)

Humpty Dumpty: NOT an egg, folks

And there are probably a few others, but I just got up ten minutes ago, so the brain is still dead matter. I do know, however, that the Grimm's Fairy Tales were rather gruesome and depressing in their original forms.

Little Miss Muffet is about masturbation and voyerism. "Along came one who spied her," not spider.

Little Miss Muffet is about masturbation and voyerism. "Along came one who spied her," not spider.

ANd let's not even get into Hickory Dickory Dock! :eek:

ANd let's not even get into Hickory Dickory Dock! :eek:

Hickory dickory dock,
The mice ran up the clock,
The clock struck one,
And the rest got away with minor injuries...

Cow jumped over the moon is a political satire of queen Elizabeth's court.

A lot of the old ones that they don't publish anymore are even more gruesome, particularly the dutch and german ones. That one with the guy with scissors who cuts off kids thumbs, for example.

In the original Grimm's Brother's version of Cinderella, the evil stepmother hacks off bits of the stepsister's feet (the heel of the first and the baby toe of the second, I believe) to make their feet fit the glass slipper.

Each time, the prince sees the blood dripping out of the slipper worn by the respective sister and realises that they are not the right girl. Cinderella is chosen because her feet aren't bleeding.

I could probably think of more, but I only got two hours of sleep last night.

Damn it, I thought this going to be about nursery rhymes featuring Al Gore. I am bitterly disappointed.

Hickory dickory dock,
The mice ran up the clock,
The clock struck one,
And the rest got away with minor injuries...
LOL :D

You should read Struwwelpeter or Shockheaded Peter. That was a good children's book.

All those morals, and children burning up in flames, and getting stabbed to death by forks and knives... It truly was magnificent.

Amazon link (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0486284697/ref=pd_ecs_b_m_a/002-5299773-3095262?v=glance&s=books&n=)

Damn it, I thought this going to be about nursery rhymes featuring Al Gore. I am bitterly disappointed.

Yeah me too. Hehehe.

Three Blind Mice must be about castration - surely?

"Who cut off their tails with a carving knife" - surely?

London Bridge is Falling Down: the Great London Fire (lotta people died)



No, it killed about a dozen people. In the long run, it saved lives, by killing the plague bearing fleas and rats.

Jack and Jill is about the political duel between a king and a bishop. (Jack and Jill was in their names)

Little red Riding hood contains murder. (duh)

Sing a song of six pence (http://www.snopes.com/lost/sixpence.htm) was a coded reqruiting message for pirates.

Sing a song of sixpence / A pocket full of rye

Blackbeard's standard payment of sixpence a day was considered good money in the 1700s,

Four and twenty blackbirds / Baked in a pie

As Henry Betts points out in his book on the origins and history of nursery rhymes, "It was a favourite trick in the sixteenth century to conceal all sorts of surprises in a pie." Buccaneers, too, were fond of surprises, and one of Blackbeard's favorite ruses to lure a ship within boarding range was to make his own vessel (or crew) appear to be in distress.......Thus the four and twenty "blackbirds" (i.e., Blackbeard's crewmen) "baked in a pie" (i.e., concealed in anticipation of springing a trap).


When the pie was opened / The birds began to sing

This follows from the previous line. Once the victim's ship was lured in for the kill, the "blackbirds" came out of hiding and attacked with a fearsome din.

Was that not a tasty dish / To set before a king?

This line is commonly misinterpreted. The King is not a reference to any real king, but rather to Blackbeard himself, the king of pirates. And the tasty dish is the plundered ship that was so easily captured.

The King was in his counting house / Counting out his money

Again, the King is Blackbeard.This line of the message signals that Blackbeard had the cash on hand to pay a crew on salary rather than strictly on divided spoils.

The Queen was in the parlor / Eating bread and honey

Blackbeard's main vessel was a French merchant ship named "Le Concorde de Nantes" that was jointly captured by Blackbeard and Captain Hornigold....Hornigold presented the ship to Blackbeard, who renamed it "The Queen Anne's Revenge". Thus the "Queen" referred to here is Blackbeard's ship, and "eating bread and honey" meant that it was in port taking on supplies in preparation for a cruise.

The Maid was in the garden / Hanging out the clothes

The use of the word "maid" indicated that the location/route of one or more prize ships was known, and they were going to be specific targets of the upcoming cruise (this greatly enhancing the probability of the crew's collecting prize money). The waters around the Carolinas down to the Caribbean were referred to as the garden, as this was an area where pirates would often cruise for easy pickings. "Hanging out the clothes" meant the targeted ship was already at sea or just about to leave port (thus its sails — or "clothes" — have been hung).

When down came a blackbird / And snapped off her nose!

There is some scholarly debate in literary and maritime circles as to whether the last part was originally "and snapped off her nose" or "and snapped off a rose." Either way, the passage is taken to be a Blackbeard's bragging about his plans to swoop in and have his way with the targeted ship.


now,who wants to be a pirate?

Me! Me!

now,who wants to be a pirate?

the real question is, who doesn't?

Ahh OOh, dont ask, but pirates bring up many, many fond memoires

Scary, violent fairy tales and nursery rhymes have always been around. They're job is too slowly introduce to the harshness of reality.

the real question is, who doesn't?

that guy*points at no1 and runs away*

that guy*points at no1 and runs away*

Arrr'll teach you!