The origins of individual nursery rhymes often reflect events in history and where available we have included both the meanings and
origins . Two examples of these type of nursery rhymes are 'Ring a Ring o
Rosies' which refers to the Bubonic plague and 'Remember
Remember' which alludes to Guy Fawkes' attempt to blow up the English Houses of Parliament!
Many of the words and lyrics were used to parody the royalty and politicians of the day, direct dissent could be punishable by death! Strange how these events
in history are now remembered through children's nursery rhymes!
Every child loves being told nursery rhymes. All of the most popular nursery rhymes are listed here - perhaps they will bring back fond memories
of your childhood! Can you remember the tunes to the nursery rhymes? The most requested nursery rhymes are
Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Sing a song of sixpence and
last but not least Hey diddle diddle!As I was born and bred in London my favourite nursery rhymes have to be 'Oranges and Lemons'
which recreate the sound of the chimes of many old churches once in London, however if you look at the origins of the lyrics for
this nursery rhyme the meaning of the last sentences are quite sinister.
The other - 'Pussycat Pussycat'-
every child's dream - must be 'to go up to London to visit the Queen'. Believe it or not the origins of 'Hey Diddle Diddle'
have been found and at last I now know what a runcible spoon is - check out the 'Owl and the Pussycat'
poem for the definition...
Knowledge of English History and the English language undoubtedly assisted in the analysis of the lyrics and origins of nursery rhymes however there is little definitive proof available other than author names and dates of the first publications.
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