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There was an old woman
who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children
she didn't know what to do!
So she gave them some broth
without any bread,
And she whipped them all soundly
and sent them to bed!
Origins
of the nursery rhyme
At first glance this would appear to be a purely nonsense rhyme
but in fact it has origins in history! There are two choices
of
origin ! The first relates to Queen Caroline (the old woman) wife
of George II who had eight children. The shoe refers to the
British Isles. The second version refers to King George who began
the fashion of wearing white powdered wigs and was consequently
referred to as the old woman! The children were the members of
parliament and the bed was the Houses of Parliament which he
required them to have sessions in - even today the term 'whip' is
used in the English Parliament to describe a member of Parliament
who is tasked to ensure that all members 'toe the party line'. |
