History of nursery rhyme origins
Posted on 11 September 2014
One of the main reasons behind nursery rhyme origins was their capability of expressing opinions. Europe is said to be the birth place of these rhymes and England has made great contribution to the history and development of rhymes. Most of the nursery rhymes are inspired from important events and historical situations. There were different reasons behind every rhyme; some of the rhymes were written to honor local events whereas others were written to express the feeling of love. Rhymes were also used to show discontent towards the government mainly because of their ability of conveying messages. Rhymes are easy to remember and because of this quality they were also used for spreading important messages. We are going to discuss some of these rhymes and the origin of their history.
Important Nursery Rhyme Origins
These are some of the most popular nursery rhymes and their origin stories. Let us discuss them in detail.
Three Blind Mice: The origin of Three Blind Mice goes back to 1609 when its first variation was written. It represents three protestant loyalists who were accused for plotting against Queen Marry I. All three of these loyalists were burnt at stakes and important figures in this rhyme include Queen, her husband, and King of Spain who owned large estate properties.
Ring Around the Rosie: This rhyme was written to signify the terror caused by the Great Plague back in the year 1665. This plagues resulted into high fever and horrible rash spread in form of a ring which was the reason for this name. Some important symbolization used in this rhyme include 'pocket full of posies' which indicated the habit of putting spices or similar herbs in pockets for freshening up the air.
London Bridge: The origin of London Bridge rhyme is around the year 1659 and this rhyme was further translated into different forms by other countries including France, Italy, and Germany. Watch the video on YouTube.
These meanings and history of nursery rhyme origins may or may not be true but it is an important way to remember important events in British history. Most of the forms have their modern versions replacing words that are sensitive and may convey sensitive information. You can get your hands on resources and books with nursery rhyme origins and find out everything about the interesting rhymes.