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Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes
Ride a cock
horse - English history origins
The lyrics of this nursery rhyme relate to Queen Elizabeth I of England (the
fine lady) who travelled to Banbury (a town in England) to see the
new huge stone cross which had just been erected. The lyrics 'With
rings on her fingers' obviously relates to the fine jewellery
which would adorn a Queen. The words 'And bells on her toes'
refers to the fashion of attaching bells to the end of the pointed
toes of each shoe! Banbury was
situated at the top of a steep hill and in order to help carriages
up the steep incline a white cock horse (a large stallion) was
made available to help with this task. When the Queen's carriage
attempted to go up the hill a wheel broke and the Queen chose to
mount the cock horse to reach the Banbury cross. Her visit was so
important that the people of the town had decorated the cock
horse with ribbons and bells and provided minstrels to accompany
her - "she shall have music wherever she goes". The big
cross at Banbury was later destroyed by anti - Catholics.
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