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Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada
My virtue is that I say what I think, my vice that what I think doesn't amount to much.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

The dark side of nursery rhymes ...

"Religious persecution, prostitution, medieval taxes, and the plague: these are not the topics that you would anticipate being familiar with as a new parent. Yet right now, mothers of tiny children around the world are senselessly singing along to nursery rhymes that appear innocent. If you dig deeper, some of these songs unveil an appallingly sinister back story."


“Ring a Ring o’ Roses” originated during the Great Plague of 1665 in London. The “rosie” was the foul rash that formed on the skin of the bubonic plague victim, the stink of which then required concealment with a “pocket full of posies.” The bubonic plague killed 15% of Britain’s population, a fact which is referenced in the song: “atishoo, atishoo, we all fall down.”
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