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Author
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Comment
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blisslessly
Registered User
(7/14/03 4:52 am)
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Children's rhymes that sing about DEATH
I guess the one I'm thinking of is Ring Around A Rosie, which recalls the plague, or Black Death, but I'm sure there must be other sing-a-longs that are actually scary-tales rather than fairy-tales.
Ring Around A Rosie
A Pocket Full of Posies
Ashes, Ashes (or achooo, achooo)
We All Fall Down
Apparently, the reference to roses is because afflicted people had red cheeks.
Then again, I might be confusing this whole episode with tuberculosis....
Not to be too dismal, I wouldn't mind a collection of rhymes about LIFE either. My favorite is:
Row Row Row your Boat
Gently Down the Stream
Merrily Merrily Merrily Merrily
Life is But a Dream....
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...give me wings.........
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(7/14/03 9:13 am)
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Sigh
Sigh.
This must be the third or fourth time we've been around on this. Modern scholarly thought is that it's NOT about the Plague at all.
Jane
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duglis
Registered User
(7/15/03 1:32 am)
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re:
Yes, Jane is correct. This used to be the theory, but it
has recently been debunked in scholary circles.
Doug
p.s. London Bridge is Falling Down..Falling Down.....
*IS* about London Bridge's decay hehe
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blisslessly
Registered User
(7/16/03 5:22 am)
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Re: re:
Sorry for the redundant question. So what is ring around a rosie about then? Tuberculosis?
Thanks for the London Bridge tip!! What's the second verse of that song?
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...give me wings.........
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Kerrie
Moderator
(7/16/03 7:36 am)
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Past threads....
Here are the past threads I've been able to find so far:
Rhyme/folklore?...
Curious
I haven't been able to find any others yet, but will keep looking.
Dandelion wishes,
Kerrie
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duglis
Registered User
(7/16/03 9:18 am)
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London Bridge
blisslessly,
Here is the complete rhyme:
LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN:
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, Falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
Take a key and lock her up,
Lock her up, Lock her up.
Take a key and lock her up,
My fair lady.
How will we build it up,
Build it up, Build it up?
How will we build it up,
My fair lady?
Build it up with silver and gold,
Silver and gold, Silver and gold.
Build it up with silver and gold,
My fair lady.
Gold and silver I have none,
I have none, I have none.
Gold and silver I have none,
My fair lady.
Build it up with needles and pins,
Needles and pins, Needles and pins.
Build it up with needles and pins,
My fair lady.
Pins and needles bend and break,
Bend and break, Bend and break.
Pins and needles bend and break,
My fair lady.
Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, Wood and clay.
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair lady.
Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, Wash away.
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair lady.
Build it up with stone so strong,
Stone so strong, Stone so strong.
Build it up with stone so strong,
My fair lady.
Stone so strong will last so long,
Last so long, Last so long.
Stone so strong will last so long,
My fair lady.
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Midori
Unregistered User
(7/16/03 12:20 pm)
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old man
"It's raining, it's pouring
The old man is snoring
Bumped his head when he went to bed
And he couldn't get up in the morning."
As a child, I always assumed it meant that he had died in the night. But maybe that was my imagination working over time.
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Nalo
Registered User
(7/26/03 11:27 am)
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Re: old man
Solomon O' Gundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday,
This is the end of Solomon O' Gundy
(btw, there's a Jamaican spicky smoked herring pate called "solomon gundy." I've never known why)
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Nalo
Registered User
(7/26/03 11:30 am)
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Re: Children's rhymes that sing about DEATH
Then there's the final verse of "Oranges and Lemons," which I used to play as a ring game as a kid:
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head,
Chip chop chop,
Chip chop chop,
Chip chop chop,
Chip ch.....
(Those last four lines would be accompanied by the children making chopping motions on the shoulders and neck of the "victim")
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Nalo
Registered User
(7/26/03 11:36 am)
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Re: London Bridge
We used to sing a verse that went,
Off to prison you must go,
You must go,
You must go,
Off to prison you must go,
My fair lady
Wish I could remember the rest. I vaguely remember "knowing" (don't ask me how) that that verse was about a queen being locked up in the tower of London.
Hmm. Really, not all the songs of my childhood were this grim. As an antedote, I must go and sing a verse of "Sally Go Round the Sun," complete with the high kick and the swoooping change of direction.
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Valkith
Registered User
(7/26/03 1:34 pm)
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Re: London Bridge
"Three Children on the Ice"
"Three children sliding on the ice
Upon a summer's day,
As it fell out, they all fell in,
The rest they ran away.
Oh, had these children been at school,
Or sliding on dry ground,
Ten thousand pounds to one penny
They had not been drowned.
Ye parents who have children dear,
And ye, too, who have none,
If you would keep them safe abroad
Pray keep them safe at home."
"Three Wise Men of Gotham"
Three wise men of Gotham
Went to sea in a bowl;
If the bowl had been stronger
My song would have been longer."
"The Three Sons"
"There was an old woman had three sons,
Jerry and James and John,
Jerry was hanged, James was drowned,
John was lost and never found;
And there was an end of her three sons,
Jerry and James and John!"
Just to mention a few.
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Aural13
Unregistered User
(7/27/03 11:32 am)
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the ring around the rosie
last year my teacher talked about the plague, and actually, yes, ring around the rosie is based on it. the "ring around the rosie" describes the marks on the flesh of the contaminated, a ring design surrounding the rosie, or perhaps, bubo. posies, another word for flowers, means that people often carried flowers in their pockets to block the stench of death and disease surrounding them. the ashes represent the ashen color the sickened turn. the "achoo" part i don't remember precisely, but i know that they sneezed often if they had black death. as for the "we all fall down", it's rather obvious; it means they've died. trust me on this, people, im a child genious.
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Valkith
Registered User
(7/27/03 5:09 pm)
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Re: the ring around the rosie
Aural,
Thats pretty much what I have been taught, or read as well, but apparently that theory has been debunked, I just cannot find the thread or reasons behind it.
Val
And you spelled genius wrong ;) , but I think you did that on purpose.
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