Childhood, revisited

So the other day, while we were discussing boy bands and the current trend in today’s coass, my friend and I suddenly found ourselves discussing nursery rhymes. Yes, our discussions do tend to move in rather random tangents. It’s awesome. Once, we started talking about volcanoes and somehow ended up discussing how Hans Christian Anderson is a depressing person.

So, anyway, we were discussing the origins of various nursery rhymes. How many of you know of the rhyme “Ring around a rosy”? Pretty much everyone would have heard of this rhyme. There are several versions to this rhyme but mainly, it goes like this;

Ring around a rosy

A pocket full of posies

Atishoo atishoo

We all fall down

There is also a version where the line “Atishoo – atishoo” is replaced with “Ashes ashes”.  Rather innocuous yes? Nothing sinister there mister. I even remember playing this in the school playground in primary where we linked hands and turned in a circle and at the last line, everyone fell down (regardless of clean pinafores). So, who would believe that apparently, this rhyme has origins in the Black Plague?

A short history + medical lesson, The Black Plague or the Bubonic Plague is a highly infectious disease caused by the pathogen Yersinea pestis. It has caused at least three pandemics and multiple epidemics throughout the course of history, for example the plague in Europe (1348 – 1350) and the Third Plague Pandemic (1855 -1959) that started in China and spread to various continents. The bacteria is most commonly transmitted by the Rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis. Persons bitten by the flea would be inoculated with the pathogen and develop the plague. The Bubonic plague, a type of plague, is known as such because the inoculated pathogen invades nearby lymphoid tissue resulting in inflamed, necrotic, hemorrhaging lymph nodes or Bubo. There are several theories regarding why it was named the Black Plague, the first being a reference to a symptom observed in infected patients where the skin turns black and necrotic (which is actually due to DIC). The second theory is that the term “Black” was used to describe the current atmosphere during the plague which was said to be bleak and depressing (because, really whole towns were wiped out).

Also, interestingly, there are still reports of the plague cropping up every now and again. And then, you think about all those dead rats you see on the roads on your way to work.  But this is another discussion for another time.

So, the question is, how is this related to a children’s rhyme? I’ll go by lines;

“Ring around a rosy” apparently is a reference to a rosy red rash that would appear on the skin of the infected person.

“A pocket full of posies” is a reference to the custom of carrying sweet smelling herbs and flowers in pockets due to the belief that the disease was transferred through bad smells (gives a new meaning to body odour).

“Atishoo – atishoo” signifies sneezing, which is another symptom shown by the infected person. The other version “Ashes ashes” also has a meaning in which it is a reference to the custom of burning the dead bodies. Whether it was already custom to burn dead bodies or rather an effort to control spread, I don’t really know, but you have to agree, that was smart.

The last line “We all fall down” of course, refers to everyone dying.

Interestingly if you read it as “Atishoo – atishoo, We all fall down”, it basically means, you sneeze, you die. Which is kind off awesome. Because the plague, can also be spread through aerogens and the Pneumonic plague, one type of plague, is the most lethal form, causing 100% deaths in infected individuals if they do not receive treatment during the first 24 hours.  

So, as interesting as this is, my friend and I already knew of it. We had read about it before though our sources may have differed. What we were discussing about was the rhyme “Jack and Jill”. I know, that *points above*, was just an introduction. LOL.

So, what is it about “Jack and Jill”? The rhyme goes:

Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water

Jack fell down and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after

The rhyme has another verse but what confused my friend and I was the fact that Jack fell down and apparently broke his crown. And we were saying, that’s head injury, right there. He had a cranial fracture for sure and kids are actually singing this! And Jill came tumbling after! And who knows what kind of injury she sustained! It was a rather heated discussion whether he was really in danger and did he really have a cranial fracture, and was there a possibility of an epidural hemorrhage. We agreed that prompt action and ATLS would have helped.

So, because this piqued my interest, I decided to Google it. And surprise, surprise.

I actually found several theories as to the origin of this particular rhyme, but I’m going to be talking about the one that I liked the most. Apparently, the rhyme Jack and Jill has roots in French History! Jack, actually refers to King Louis the XVI and Jill, refers to Queen Marie Antoinette. King Louis the XVI during the French Revolution was deposed, accused of treason and beheaded, hence Jack breaking his crown. Jack breaking his crown also implies the loss of King Louis’ status as the King. And Jill came tumbling after because Queen Marie Antoinette was also beheaded.

Talk about head injuries.

The other theories in decreasing order of what interest I found in them are:

·         King Charles I of England, tried to impose tax on liquids but was barred by his parliament leading him to order the reduction of the volume of a ‘Jack’ which is a half pint while the tax remains the same. This actually, means he still gets more tax. As a result of the reduction of a half pint, consequently there was a decrease in the volume of a quarter pint, a Jill (actually spelled Gill). Thus, Jill came tumbling after. Fetching a pail of water actually means the act of watering the liquor which they resorted to because the tax was expensive.

·         Jack and Jill refer to dollars and cents respectively, and going up the hill means a rise in value. But due to the plague (hey, another plague reference!), there was a lack of water and thus a drop in currency (tumbling down the hill).

So there you are two nursery rhymes and their origins. I read a few other awesome ones too of course. Like my favorite, “Oranges and Lemons” (also execution related). And contrary to what my friend and I believed, the lullaby “Rock a bye Baby” did not mean baby dying. But you have to look that up yourself because this is getting rather long.

Still here?

Congratulations on making it this far. Give yourself a pat on the back. Now go Google nursery rhymes. ;)

Incidentally, did you know that in one version of Cinderella, one of the step sisters actually cut off part of her feet in order to fit into Cinderella’s glass slippers? She ended up marrying the prince.

Go learn some stuff

akunona

Take note that all of this should be taken with a grain of salt. Most of it is just speculation and there are various versions flying about that even the most persistent researcher, which is not me, would take some time to explain.  Good, cited sources are also hard to come by and if you believe everything they told you on the net, you probably also believe that some of the world leaders are shape shifting reptilians (which is a different story, here's a link if you want to know more about that)

So, hey. It's just fun stuff to know :)