Nursery Rhymes and their hidden meanings

At a not so recent meditation gathering, I was asked to sing the first song that came to my mind. Though I had an early exposure to Indian classical music when young, the first song that came to my mind and felt comfortable singing was “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. This made me think about Nursery Rhymes and the sweet memories as a young child, holding hands with friends and singing happily.
Nursery rhymes may be most comfortable to sing and remember, even for a non-singer or a person with frog throat.
Earlier, rhymes may have been an easy way for commoners (does not know to read and write) to remember things and pass on tales from one generation to next. Unlike classical songs, they do not need a certain rhythm or great tune to sing. Rhymes are short with words that may or may not make sense. The rhyming and catchy tunes may have had the ability to attract young minds and give them the ability to retain them in their memories.
Many Rhymes have origins from the past and have been passed on from generations through word of mouth or repeated recitation in Preschool and Kindergarten.
Most rhymes though beautiful have hidden meanings. Some have been quoted as really gruesome, some may have references to kings and queens and are quoted indirectly and some others are truly inspirational and have a moral to pass on to next generation.  “Kidz Learn Applications” uses many rhymes in the app “Kidz Fun” under menu option “songs” and also tries to inspire young audience by providing quotes at the end.
This blog is not intended to advocate parents or adults or kids to stop singing rhymes nor is a propaganda to defame rhymes. This blog is to gain knowledge about, what may be a seemingly true origin of rhymes, as mentioned in many websites and Wikipedia. Rhymes throughout the world are popular and have their own localized origins with deeper meanings. This blog describes popular English rhymes and their meanings from extensive research on the Internet.  The below interpretation are solely from the Internet and does not make inferences from any books, so there is no guarantee of the authentic origins of the meanings. The readers are solely responsible for any effect it has directly or indirectly.​
 
1. Ring-a-round the Rosie,
    pocket full of posies,
    Ashes! Ashes!
    We all fall down. 
​
This is a very popular rhyme that has its origin in 1600’s Europe. This rhyme talks about the black plague that was prevalent in Europe during that period. When a person gets infected with the plague, the symptoms start with pink boils in fingers and rest of the body. The doctors then carried herbs in their pockets to try and cure the patients. Many fell dead to this plague and existing burial grounds were not enough to bury the dead. The dead were burned to stop the disease from spreading, with entire city covered in ashes.​

2. Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a little lamb, and its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went, and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.
 
This rhyme is based on a true story, and its origin is in Sudbury, Massachusetts, USA. A young schoolgirl had a pet lamb. She took the lamb to school. A young man was assisting a minister and visited the school. He saw the lamb and its devotion to Mary. He was touched and wrote the first two lines of the rhyme.

3. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses, And all the King's men
couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again!
 
Every kid assumes "Humpty Dumpty" to be a cute little egg, which falls off the wall and breaks. One cannot fix a broken egg even if he/she is a King/ Queen of the land. Though many theories exist on the Internet, the most relevant is mentioned below.
"Humpty Dumpty" is the name of a siege engine (device to break strong walls and it shoots canon.). This siege engine, "Humpty Dumpty," was placed on top of the city wall, which was covering churches and castle during 1648.
A shot from the enemy succeeded in breaking the base of the wall, which caused "Humpty Dumpty" to fall. The kings or Royal men attempted to raise "Humpty Dumpty" to another part of the wall but were unsuccessful as it was too heavy. Ultimately they lost the war to the parliament.

4. The Itsy Bitsy Spider climbed up the waterspout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.

The above is popular American folklore, which talks about a spider trying to climb a water sprout or (open-air reservoir), and the spider is unable to do so in the first attempt but works again and again until it reaches the top. This teaches kids always to try and never give up on their dreams and have a strong will.

5. London Bridge is falling down,
falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
my fair lady.

This rhyme states the origins of “London Bridge”, the monument. The first London Bridge was made from wood but the Vikings invaded and destroyed the bridge. Then a stone bridge was made, and it took 33 years to build, and it had many arches, towers, and gates. There were many shops on the bridge, which traded on gold and silver. A great fire in 1666 weakened the arches and the foundations. A new bridge built in 1800 and the old bridge demolished.​
 
6. Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
​
There are many theories, but the most popular one on the Internet is that of “King Charles 1” from France raising taxes on liquid measures. This was opposed by the parliament and rejected. Hence King Charles-1 ordered that the volume of Jack (1/2 pint) be reduced while keeping the same tax. So Jill (Gill ¼th pint) also went down following Jack. Even today, many Pint glasses have ½ pint mark with the image of the crown on top.

7. Rain, rain go away, come again another day. Little Johnny wants to play. Rain, rain go away.
​
England was always under attack by Spanish legion during the rule of Queen Elizabeth 1. Spanish army waged war against England by bringing many big boats.
England had smaller and swifter boats and, even though few, defeated Spanish armies. The stormy weather also favored England and scattered the Spanish army, which led to the rhyme, “Rain rain go away.” Some versions of the song also include two additional lines:-
​
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!

8. Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
how I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
like a diamond in the sky.
​
The Authors "Ann Taylor" and "Jane Taylor" immortalized the poem by comparing the stars to diamonds. This rhyme encourages children to use their imagination and paint a mental picture of things and associate them with objects that they can relate to.

9. Mary Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids in a row.

The above rhyme refers to Queen Mary of England, the daughter of King Henry VIII. The garden refers to the endless graveyards that were increasing as she beheaded and tortured many people who were practicing a different religion. "Silver Bells" and "Cockleshells" were the two main tools used for torture. "Maids" are a row of devices (also referred to as The Maiden) used for beheading people.​​