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[rebness]

For various tedious writing reasons, I was thinking about school playground rhymes today and variations thereof in international circles. Actually, I wonder if playground rhymes vary throughout even Britain-- a lot of rhymes I knew as a child came from Victorian rhymes and many focused on aspects of Maritime life. I can't remember much from the papers I read this morning, but I can recite the verses of my favourite childhood rhymes, such as:

The Big Ships Sails on the Alley-Alley-oh
On the Mountain There Stands a Lady
The Farmer Wants a Wife
Oranges and Lemons
Ring-a-ring-o'-Rosies

If Ring-a-ring-o'-Rosies does reference the Black Death as suggested, it's strange how such a sinister and dark rhyme is still celebrated by children in the twenty-first century. The Big Ship is, well, obviously about LILIO shipping. It's a really interesting oral tradition in an age where if things are not written down, they tend to be forgotten. As a child, they're nothing more than something to skip to or to pass the lunch break, but it's interesting to look back on them now and see how something as seemingly nonsensical as Goosey Goosey Gander turns out to be about religious intolerance.

One of the most sinister things for me in Nineteen Eighty-Four was the use of the old rhyme Oranges and Lemons. Orwell references it again and again with the same sense of nostalgia an adult may remember childhood rhymes that seemed so innocent. I couldn't for the life of me remember the last couple of lines of the rhyme that Orwell kept back throughout the narrative, but when they're revealed as here comes the candle to light you to bed/here comes the chopper, to chop off your head the singular horror that Smith faces was inextricably bound up in that momentary sense of panic I remember experiencing as a child when the rhyme ended in the playground and we were chased. I think the twisting of something so bound up with childhood imagery to illustrate that horrible moment in the book is extremely effective.

So, for the purpose of both research for a Super Sekrit Project, but also for a good read, please to tell me about childhood rhymes you remember from your part of the world, or even this island for you fellow UKers. If you know of the history/social ramifications behind any, do let me know. It's interesting, innit?

Comments

[zhonghua2000.livejournal.com]

Interesting it is... that you have me here thinking about this. :D

The first thing I notice is that we here (at least me and the ones I know) say: "Ring AROUND the Rosie..." etc. Jess of course is reciting these sorts of rhymes now so a couple I hear/see from her:

The itsy bitsy spider..
Ring around the Rosie..
London bridge is falling down.. I guess kids like to fall down.

*I* quickly recalled:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall..
Ladybug, ladybug fly away..
Ding dong bell. Pussy's in the well..

I have NO idea what they mean. Well, except that I knew about Ring around the Rosie & the Black Death thing.

[rebness.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to note that the songs continue in America today, even if they may be subject to cultural/regional change. I don't know if Ring around the Rosie is an American change or maybe it has been imported by people who may have said the rhyme differently in another region of the UK. That said, I do know that "Ladybird" is a translation of "Ladybug."

No idea if the Pussycat rhyme means anything, though I did hear a rumour that Humpty Dumpty is about mad King George. "All the king's horses and all the king's men" is supposed to represent the courtiers who tried every means of "curing" him, to no avail. Well, so I heard. The Grand Old Duke of York was about another madman. English history! Full of crazy people!

[ladydaydream.livejournal.com]

I thought that "London Bridge is falling down" was actually about a bridge that fell down but I've also found this about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_is_falling_down

I think that Ring-a-ring-a-roses does probably originate from the Black Death. My uni dissertation was about the economic and social effects of Black Death and lots of books I read went into the meaning of the rhyme:

Ring-a-ring-a-roses = spots/boils that appeared on the face of the victim

A pocket full of poses = literally a bag containing herbs etc, which had a dual purpose; firstly it was believed that the herbs could act as an antidote and secondly it was also believed to be used to disguise the smell of the boils and pustules.

Attishoo, Attishoo - sneezing was the first sign that you had the most virulent strain of Black Death

We all fall down - if you were struck down by the most virulent strain, you were likely to die with 24-48 hours.

You probably didn't want me to share this with you, did you?

[rebness.livejournal.com]

Mummy. :(