“Ring around the rosie, a pocketful of posies.
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!” I’ve heard this nursery rhyme thousands of
times and never thought twice about it but has anyone very wondered if these
fun little rhymes actually had a meaning? Of course, nursery rhymes have a nice
flowing rhythm that makes them easy to read and appealing to the ears and minds
of younger children; however, is that the true purpose of nursery rhymes? Are they just enjoyable rhymes with no
purpose? Nursery rhymes although thought to be just for fun might actually
serve as a tool to remember occurrences, events, and people throughout history.
The nursery rhyme “Ring around the rosie,” is said to have derived from the England’s
Great Plague where the “ring” describes the rash one would get with the plague,
the “pocketful of posies” symbolizes the herbs that would dispel the smell of
the disease, and the “we all fall down” part symbolizes the people succumbing
to the plague. Also, there might be a hidden meaning in the fun little rhyme, “Jack
and Jill.” When it says “Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came
tumbling after” it might actually be referring to actual people in history not
just a couple who slipped getting water. The rhyme actually might represent King
Louis XVI who actually lost his crown and his Queen, Mary Antoinette, who fell
with him during the French Revolution. Nursery rhymes are perfect tools to
remember historical events because of their rhythm and rhyme which appeals to
the reader or listener. These rhymes have such a catchy rhythm that remembering
the words are easy, so using these enjoyable rhymes to pass on an event
throughout history would make so much sense. So are nursery rhymes really just pointless
rhymes we tell children for fun or is there actually a historical meaning to
it?
