We all remember the much loved nursery rhymes of our childhood. They were passed down from generation to generation.
My own children loved them and knew them off by heart, I had to read at least 1 or 2 to them each night.
I was saddened the other day when I was having a conversation with as 2 year old, and recited some rhymes by way of entertainment. I was given a strange look and asked him if he knew them. "No. What are those," asked my intellectual companion in astonishment. When I had collected my scattered thoughts, I said "You know who Jack and Jill are, don't you?" he gazed at me as though I were speaking another language, then replied "Can't I listen to my Blackeyed Peas cd?" I asked him if he wanted to go that route, could't we rather listen to Cliff Richard, at least I understand THAT.
Someone asked me once why nursery rhymes were so violent, ogres, witches often having endings rooted in bloodshed.
Soooo.....I went on a digging and delving spree and came up with this....
I found an article on the origins of nursery rhymes. They were not intended to ever be rhymes for children.
Researchers found that composers were forced to disguise their commentary on current affairs in the form of childrens' rhymes - or risk a nasty death.
Many are directly related to British Politics of the time, and some were cunningly invented to spread gossip about royalty, and many nursery rhymes are blatant reference to violence, war and politics in Europe. Blackeyed Peas don't sound so bad now!
JACK AND JILL
The clumsy Jack referred to is France's King Louis XVI, who was beheaded in 1793. "Jack fell down and broke his crown" ..... His wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, met the same unfortunate fate... and Jill came tumbling after. The rhymes ending was made a little more child friendly by concluding that Jack didn't actually die, but mended his head with vinegar and brown paper.
MARY, MARY QUITE CONTRARY
Most rhymes about Mary refer to the English Queen Mary Tudor, nick named "Bloody Mary", who was the daughter of Henry VIII, a catholic who flushed out protestants in England. The clumsy Jack referred to is France's King Louis XVI, who was beheaded in 1793. "Jack fell down and broke his crown" ..... His wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, met the same unfortunate fate... and Jill came tumbling after. The rhymes ending was made a little more child friendly by concluding that Jack didn't actually die, but mended his head with vinegar and brown paper.
MARY, MARY QUITE CONTRARY
Mary's garden was apparently an illusion to graveyards full of protestants who met untimely deaths because of their religious beliefs. The silver bells and cockle shells growing in her garden were subtle colloquialisms of torture, while "maids" were supposed machines that beheaded people in a similar fashion to the guillotine.
THREE BLIND MICE
The "Heroine" of this simple verse is once again Mary Tudor who allegedly had three noblemen (the mice) burnt at the stake for plotting against her. The reference to the "farmers wife" alludes to the vast estates owned by Mary and her husband, King Phillip of Spain. Scholars, however, are stumped as to why the violent words suggest that Mary cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Probably the worst fairy tale I can think off is Hansel and Grettel.
Imagine having parents who purposely lost you in the woods because food was scarce at home, not enough for the kids, you then found yourself at the mercy of an evil witch whose culinary tastes favoured little children.
Imagine having parents who purposely lost you in the woods because food was scarce at home, not enough for the kids, you then found yourself at the mercy of an evil witch whose culinary tastes favoured little children.
