Nursery Rhyme Research

Theories behind Nursery Rhymes:

• Ring around the Rosy - Dates back to the great plague of London in 1665. The symptoms being A rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin.
• Jack & Jill - Most popular explanation being that its about the beheading of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in the French Revolution. Also, King Charles decreased the half pint (jack) to a quarter pint (Jill) but kept the tax the same. Lastly, people believe it originated from Shakespeare as it is mentioned in his 'Midsummer Night's Dream'.
• Mary, Mary - Supposed to be about Queen Mary, who was notorious for torturing protestants.
• Baa Baa Black Sheep - Based on King Edward I imposition of taxes on the wool trade in 1272.
• Humpty Dumpty - Based around a cannon called Humpty Dumpty which was placed on a tower at St Mary-at-the-walls in the battle of Colchester in 1648 and the tower was blown up and the cannon could not be brought back up as it was buried in marshland.
• Jack Be Nimble - Based on how hard it was to catch pirates.
• Old Mother Hubbard - Based on Cardinal Wolsey, who failed to faciliate King Henry's divorce to Queen Katherine of Aragon.
• Rock a bye baby - Based on Native Americans who would suspend their children on branches and the wind would sway them to sleep.
• Three Blind Mice - Based on three loyalists who were protestant and plotted against Bloody Mary, they were burned at the stake.
• Georgie Porgie - Based om George Villiers, rumored to be the lover of Anne of Austria and then started dating King Charles I, and through him became very powerful, he was even knighted as 'Gentleman of the bed chamber'. Parliament ended the relationship.
• The Grand Old Duke Of York - Based on Richard, Duke of York who at the Battle of Wakefield marched his army from the top of the hill and then down and then back up, confusing his army which ended in him loosing the battle and his life.
• Jack Sprat - About King Charles I and Henrietta Maria when Charles declared war with Spain, parliament refused to finance the war so his wife imposed an illegal war tax after the king dissolved parliament.