Playful, as usual, but now the joy shall spread across the net. Ever reflected on the horrific meanings of casual nursery rhymes? If not, then be forewarned ye Mother Goose fans. I bring you my Tilly Putty Thought for today, Thursday January 19th. Enjoy.
It is absurd to think that one of the most popular rhymes out there, “Ring around the rosie” probably traces its roots to the 1300’s Black Plague that killed millions of people. Ashes, Ashes.
Ring around the rosie
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down
Not to forget the three blind, bleeding mice, who run around the kitchen. That’s entertainment for the young and innocent, oh yeah, the kids love this one. My personal favourite is line four, that’s right, the one with the carving knife.
Three blind mice, Three blind mice.
See how they run!See how they run!
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
She cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a sight in your life?
As three blind mice!
Then there was the poor egg, Humpty Dumpty, who fell and shattered his head and was beyond repair.
Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall;
Threescore men and threescore more
Cannot place Humpty-Dumpty as he was before.
In Arabic, the nursey rhyme about slaughtering the pigeons is most delightful. It is used to put children to sleep, and made part of one of Fairouz’s songs.
??? ???? ??? ????
? ?????? ??? ??????
??? ?? ???? ?? ????
???? ?? (?????) ?????Rough Translation:
Sleep, sleep
And I will slaughter the pigeons for you
Go away, you pigeons,
I was bluffing to put (name of child) to sleep
The pigeons are not slaughtered after all, that has to be a good thing, no?
Accurate, ladies and gentlemen. This is what you teach your children, those are the images you plant in their heads, and then, what’s the easiest way out? Blame it on Manson, Satanists, the government, the media, or a black sheep of your own choice. This was my Tilly Putty Thought, now let’s all fall down.
Tololy ,I always thought the nursery rhyme goes something like atish atisho(sneezing)we all go down..but the three blind mice and the carving knife have always intrigued me..let alone the pigeon slaughter,and are you familiar with ghool stories?bedtime stories for us arabs?sweet dreams kids before the one eyed ogre arrives!
several months ago, i listened to an interview with the author of “Heavy Words Lightly Thrown : The Reason Behind the Rhyme”. you may find the book interesting. in any case the audio for the interview can be found here
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/05/09/12.php
very enlighting thought. never crossed my mind.
Now i know why i hate roses, want to make all rats blind and love cracking eggs!
OHH!! n i have always been wondering why im possessed by the devil!
very nice design…
but today i have a msg to all people who take life too seriously… to know it make sure to stop by my blog… its http://reflectupon.blogspot.com/
you know what rhyme also is quite controversial to me?
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice,
And everything nice,
That’s what little girls are made of.
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails,
And puppy dog tails,
That’s what little boys are made of.
i read it to my daughter(5)and she felto soooo much superior to her nearly 2 years old brother..my God she was smiling wickedly when she heard the boys digusting ingredients..so I wondered what would he feel if he understood it?
i suggest you read this little lovely story: the smorfs are communists
Never heard these before.
Does it have an influence once we’re grown up ?
Hi, when call on my niece, i just warn her that if she doesn’t come then I will have to go play with Rita instead.
Rita : http://image10.webshots.com/10/0/16/11/180401611iQOYXz_ph.jpg
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!!!!!!!
Salam, my dad used to add another line to the sugar and spice song “and they melt away in the rain”. Put me in my place with my brothers.
Tololy, don’t forget “Rock a Bye Baby”, yuck.
Hence, all my babies were sung “Jesus Loves Me”. The 2nd one loved it sung to the tune of the theme song from “The Flintstones” for a little variety. :)
so much fun reading all this
Hiya Tololy,
Love your new look!
Ring a roses does refer to the plague
The ring being the rash that developed, it’s Atishoo! Atishoo! which refers to the flu like symptoms, in days when very few people were literate every one would need to know the symptoms so a patient could be isolated.
Humpty dumpty says
“All the kings horses and all the kings men” I’m not sure to what it refers.I found an explanation here:
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/humpty_dumpty.htm
Three blind mice:
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/three_blind_mice.htm
There is much wisdom in these old rhymes :>)In days before history was documented as it is today people could remember deeds and misdeeds.
I blogged “Oranges and Lemons” which is a map so lost children could find their way home by the bells in old London
http://motherdamnable.blogspot.com/2005/11/oranges-and-lemons.html
http://motherdamnable.blogspot.com/2005/11/map.html
More rhymes here
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/index.htm
There are many, many problems in the world today but it is not due to the stories told to children or pop songs, I believe it’s due to the awful way children are treated in and by society at large.
Mother Damnable,
I appreciate the efforts you took to bring us all those links. I realize that there are many troubles with this world, and not all of them are caused by nursery rhymes. This was a Tilly Putty Thought, and it was not intended to be taken literally, although I tried to pose a situation that has been in my mind for some time now.
Salam,
Indeed I am familiar with Ghoul stories. There are also stories about a man with a skinned leg. Very entertaining.
Jameed,
Your feedback is always to the point, kinda sorta :P Thanks for the link and the title, I should make some time to check those out.
Sabri Hakim,
Rats and mice are nice. I like them, please do not blind any.
Devil’s Mind,
Now you know! Thanks for the story!
Super Devoika,
Welcome to Tololy’s Box. I am gald you dropped by and I hope you enjoyed your stay. I figured your comment does not contradict my Commenting Policy by being “irrelevant”, therefore it was published. I am guessing you thought my entry takes life “too seriously”, I beg to differ.
Tunisiano,
I think nursery rhymes could influence a child’s behaviour.
Fadi K,
I am speechless.
Black Cats,
I do not know that nursery rhyme or song. I am afraid I cannot help you with that one.
Kinzi,
I think your choice of “jesus loves me” is a wise one, and your father’s addition quite practical too! That’s what I call smart ;)
Dotone,
Hello and welcome to Tololy’s Box. I sincerely hope you would drop by again!
My son loves “Ring Around the Rosies”! He grabs my hands and pulls me off the sofa saying, “ring ring ring”, and I sing it as we dance in circles until I have to put a stop to it because I’ve become dizzy.
Like Kinzi, “Rock a bye Baby” is what came directly to my mind. “When the wind blows the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks the cradle will fall. Down will come baby, cradle and all.” Eeuu! Who writes this stuff?! Not terribly soothing!
Hiya Tololy, hope I didn’t seem like a school teacher :>)
I can understand your reservations about some of the nursey rhymes, but they were written by simple folk to help others learn and remember, in some ways they are as beautiful and as wise as any classical myth.
[...] In my childish mind then and up until today I can’t get over how tragic that story is, how morbid and heartbreaking. This is a cute character for children who is first seen smiling and then falls off a wall and shatters into pieces, it dies right there in the rhyme and nobody can help it. I have always found nursery rhymes to be generally inappropriate under the excuse of achieving music… [...]