Horrific nursery rhythms

[CrimeJunkie01]

Inspired by the sleeping bunnies thread, I'm wondering if anyone has been reminded of hideous nursery rhythms?

My favourite as a child was:

"In a cottage in a wood,
A little old man, at the window stood.
Saw a rabbit running by, knocking at the door.
Help me, help me, help me, he said.
All those guns will shoot me dead.
Come little rabbit come to me.
Happy we shall be."

All this is done with actions to go along with it, including shooting at a rabbit!!

Another is
" Rock a bye baby on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all."

Goodness me, that's without finally learning exactly which market the piggy went to!!

Why are nursery rhythms so dark? 😂

Lots of nursery rhymes are subversive commentary on historical events. Like goosey gander is about Cardinal Wolsey or something? Wouldn't say his prayers = not following church line

Mary Mary quite contrary is about Mary Queen of Scots and torture, silver bells and cockle shells are things like thumbscrews and pretty maids are iron maidens

Nursery rhymes and fairy tales weren't just for kids, they've just become known as that over time. Lots of the old fairy tales were filthy, there were old versions of red riding hood where she did a strip tease for the wolf!

And pop goes the weasel is about pawning the coat off your back to go drinking... Weasel and stoat is cockney rhyming slang for coat.

Oh I remember the 'Cottage In A Wood' song from the Brownies! We all sat around cross legged and you missed out a line/replaced with actions each verse 😂

It's weird you should start this topic - just yesterday I was trilling '3 blind mice' in my kitchen and thinking how cruel for the Farmer's wife to cut their tails off when they were already blind 😠 Nasty woman!

i have no youngsters in my life currently so anyone's guess why I was singing that

I wonder what this one was about?
Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her
Put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

And of course the old woman who lived in a shoe!

There's a cracking episode of Taskmaster in one of the early series where they make videos for nursery rhymes. Jon Richardson's version of three blind mice is terrifying.

Nursery rhymes were social commentary in a time where you were not free to express your opinion. They were catchy to make them easier to remember through the generations- an oral history.
My dad used to always sing this song.

And there was an old woman and she lived in the woods
A weila weila waila
There was an old woman and she lived in the woods
Down by the River Saile

She had a baby three months old
A weila weila waila
She had a baby three months old
Down by the River Saile

She had a penknife long and sharp
A weila weila waila
She had a penknife long and sharp
Down by the River Saile

She stuck the penknife in the baby's heart
A weila weila waila
She stuck the penknife in the baby's heart
Down by the River Saile

There was three loud knocks come a'knockin on the door
A weile weile waile
Three loud knocks come a'knockin on the door
Down by the River Saile

There was two policeman and a man
A weila weila waila
Two policeman and a man
Down by the River Saile

They took her away and they put her into jail
A weila weila waila
They took her away and they put her into jail
Down by the River Saile

They put a rope around her neck
A weila weila waila
They put a rope around her neck
Down by the River Saile

They pulled the rope she got hung
A weila weila waila
They pulled the rope she got hung
Down by the River Saile

Now that was the end of the woman in the woods
A weila weila waila
And that was the end of the baby too
Down by the River Saile

'went to bed with a bucket on his head'

@my8thMNusername

Horrified to find my 3yo watching this nursery rhyme on her Amazon fire - there was an old lady who swallowed a fly ends like this:

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’s dead
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse;
…She’s dead, of course!

Have you really never heard this before??

@mynameiscalypso

There's a cracking episode of Taskmaster in one of the early series where they make videos for nursery rhymes. Jon Richardson's version of three blind mice is terrifying.

Oh, I shall go watch that one!!?

@gonebacktoschool that makes sense. Oral history is rather brilliant isn't it

We grew up with all these rhymes, along with grimms fairy tales and they never affected us. Adults look too deeply into these things.

I never gave a second thought to the words as a kid!!

I'm sure they never affected us, I'm more kind of "wow, who thought that was a good story to tell a child", but it makes sense with the background of oral history people like to sing to their kids and nursery rhythms clearly "flow" with the cadence and rhythm

I remember doing The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly with infant classes years ago and they loved it, shouting that last line with relish "She's dead - OF COURSE! !"

Georgie pordgy pudding and pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys came out to play
Georgie pordgy ran away

Pretty bad one

We have just taught our 6 year weila weila wails

Are you even Irish if you don't know this

And you have knock on the table 3 times. It's on our car journey play list
Along with city of Chicago, and a few other come ye'alls
Great craic

@my8thMNusername

Horrified to find my 3yo watching this nursery rhyme on her Amazon fire - there was an old lady who swallowed a fly ends like this:

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – Perhaps she’s dead
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse;
…She’s dead, of course!

It's much much longer than that! Are there not other animals involved too; cats and dogs, etc?

allnurseryrhymes.com/there-was-an-old-lady-who-swallowed-a-fly/

The kids love this with all the actions. Pretending to be dead etc.

Old Roger is dead and laid in his grave,
Laid in his grave, laid in his grave;
Old Roger is dead and laid in his grave,
Hey ho, laid in his grave,

They planted an apple tree over his head,
Over his head, over his head;
They planted an apple tree over his head,
Hey ho over his head

The apples grew ripe and they all tumbled down,
All tumbled down, all tumbled down
The apples grew ripe and they all tumbled down,
Hey ho all tumbled down,

There came an old woman a picking them up,
Picking them up, picking them up;
There came an old woman a picking them up,
Hey ho picking them up,

Old Roger got up and he gave her a poke
Gave her a poke gave her a poke
Old Roger got up and he gave her a poke
Hey ho, gave her a poke

This made the old woman go hippity-hop,
Hippity-hop, hippity-hop;
This made the old woman go hippity-hop,
Hey ho, hippity-hop,

@Tabbypawpaw

Some of them are very old. Isn’t Mary Mary quite contrary about Mary queen of scots? Her silver bells and cockle shells refer to her Catholicism.

I thought this was about a prostitute?

This one was in a book I had as a child. I loved the book so much though I bought it for DD. It's not all like this though

'A peanut sat on a railway line
His heart was all-a-flutter
Along came the 9.15
Toot-toot. Peanut butter!'

I also remember reading dd a version of jemima puddle-duck and had to stop halfway through and make up a quick ending as the real ending was so horrific. I think she ate her babies or something.

Nursery Rhymes are old...And often political satire/comment on the day.

Goosey Goosey gander is about the civil war and Cromwells men.
It's urban myth that ring a ring of roses is plague - but Mary Mary quite contrary is about Mary Tudor ((bloody Mary) and is cruelly mocking her...how does your garden grow is mocking her inability to carry a child. Silver bells and cockleshells refer to Mass and possibly the fact that Philip is cuckolding her (cheating on her). Pretty maids all in a row refers to rumours of dead, stillbirth and miscarriages. A really nasty things to sing about the tow n.

Grimms fairy tale are horrific!

I'm a professor of History.

This little piggy - horrific. It’s all about slaughtering / fattening up pigs

Rock a bye Baby

Ring a ring roses

Humpty Dumpty

Jack and Jill

Wind the Bobbin up - is about a child working in a cotton factory. The meanings behind the pointing is heartbreaking.

Nellie the Elephant

@SkyeSkye

This one pops up on Alexa if I ask her to play nursery rhymes...

Goosey goosey gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs.

most of them are actually rhymes made up around political events.

This one is about catholic priests hiding in priest holes.

The old man is the priest, the first lines are someone searching for him. Th priest hole is in the lady's chamber.

The priest won't say his prayers according to the protestants, so he is thrown down the stairs (imprisoned)

There's some significance to the left leg (as opposed to the right) but I can't remember what it is.

@GrrrlPwr

Georgie pordgy pudding and pie Kissed the girls and made them cry When the boys came out to play Georgie pordgy ran away

Pretty bad one

It’s about George Villier’s rumoured love affair with Charles I and one very masculine looking Anne of Austria the French Queen.