Origens of children's songs ..

[ramblingabout]

I discovered a while ago that 'Little Jack Horner' is about somebody getting his 'plum' job! Then some songs are just so sad when you hear about their origens(e.g. Rock-a-bye baby)!
We're listening to French nursery rhymes at the moment. Can anyone say if there is any background to the song about a green mouse which is boiled and turned into a snail or is it just random?

Origen!!!! What was that about? I don't deserve a reply, do I?!

No idea about the French one, but there's a great list of explanations of nursery rhymes here: www.rhymes.org.uk/

You might find The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes Peter & Iona Opie interesting

The OP triggered a dim and distant memory ... after much Googling I recommend searching for "Mots D'Heures: Gousses, Rames" and "N'Heures Souris Rames"

Thank you!!