Hello and welcome back to the Most Amazing channel on the internet.
I am your host, Rebecca Felgate and today we are talking about the Top 10 Nursery Rhyme
Scary Origins Part TWO YES TWO.
You guys loved part one so much that part two is here!
Hurrah.
A few things – 1 – stick around to the end of the video where I will be reading some
comments out from a previous video….also why don’t you guys leave me a comment on
this one letting me know your favourite nursery rhyme!
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10 - Jack and Jill 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.
– So apparently Jack and Jill is actually an allegorical poem originating from France
about the reign of terror – the end of the French Monarchy.
Jack refers to King Louis the 16th, the Last King of France.
He fell down, and broke his crown – well Louis met his end at the guillotine, shortly
followed by his Queen Marie Antoinette, who like Jill….
Made her fall from grace shortly after.
The reign of terror was complete in 1793, when Antionette was chopped.
9 - Goosey Goosey Gander This is another one of those secretly about
religion things….and back in the day religion often meant death.
Oh…did I say back in the day…
So the rhyme goes Goosey, goosey, gander, Whither dost thou wander?
Upstairs and downstairs And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man who wouldn't say his prayers; I took him by the left leg and threw
him down the stairs.
Sooo basically this is protestant Catholic thing.
The story goes that when King Henry VIII created the Anglican church, a lot of catholic priests
were understandably not that happy.
Many refused to follow the protestant faith and made secret rooms to pray in latin in.
If they were found, they were often thrown down the stairs or put to death.
So when Goosey gander is thrown down the stairs in this rhyme, it is likely he was sent off
to be murdered horribly.
Cheery.
8 - Lucy Locket Nothing scarier than your loved one leaving
you for another person….especially when that person is a courtesan….
Which is the nicer name for a prostitute.
The little Lucy locket rhyme goes Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; not
a penny was there in it, only ribbon round it.
So yeah, the story goes that Lucy’s beau left her and spent his money on buying Kitty
for a few noghts.
Back in the day, in the 1700s, it seems that locket was a word for….well… you have
a guess.
7 - There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Okay, actually the nursery rhyme is dark and scary in itself when you stop and think about
it, regardless of its origin.
The story is total chaos – it is about a woman who swallows a fly but then ends up
swallowing loads of other ridiculous things to try and catch the thing that came before.
First she swallows a fly – we don’t know why and perhaps she will die, but in a bid
for saviour she swallows a spider to catch the fly, then a bird to catch the spider,
then a cat to catch the bird, then a dog to catch the cat….
Then she swallows a horse and dies, of course.
This is a whole lot of death and mindless consumption for one kids rhyme.
A cautionary tale, sure, but is this appropriate.
6 - Ladybug, Ladybug The content of this one is super scary as
is… have a listen…..
Ladybug, ladybug fly away home, Your house is on fire, your children will
burn.
Except for the little one whose name is Ann, who hid away in a frying pan.
Pretty dark anyway, right?
Well it should be, as it seems the rhyme originated from the Great Fire of London in 1666, in
which much of the British capital burned.
Only 6 people died but a lot of people were injured.
Who Anne is, I have no idea, but I would never advise hiding in a frying pan.
5 - Three Blind Mice Three blind mice.
Three blind mice.
See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife, who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
did you ever see such a sight in your life, as three blind mice.
So this little ditty is said to refer to Queen Mary the first, AKA Bloody Mary.
The three blind mice are said to be protestant bishops – blind because of their religion.
Mary famously went on a brutal murdering spree of Protestants…although she didn’t cut
off tails, she burned most at the stake.
Although some reports say that Mary was partial to a bit of dismembering when it came to her
enemies….so…maybe!
4 - Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry
bush, the mulberry bush….here we go round the mulberry bush….so early in the morning.
I would never have guess the origins of this one….
People having a nice little dance around a bush?
Cool?
Well apparently the rhyme comes from a women’s prison in Wakefield, England.
The rhyme comes from the mid 19th century and is said to depict how female prisoners
were made to exercise by running around a Mulberry bush in the moonlight.
Doesn’t sound scary?
Try being a female prisoner in the 19th century.
3 - Sing a Song of Sixpence This is one of my favourite nursery rhymes
and it is very popular in the UK!
It goes Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened The birds began to sing; Wasn't that a dainty dish,To set before
the king.
The king was in his counting house, counting out his money; the queen was in the parlour,
eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes, When down came a blackbird And pecked
off her nose.
SO apparently this little ditty was about the divorce of Henry the 8th to his first
wife Catherine of Aragon and his dissolution of the church as a result of the Catholic
Church’s stringent rules on separation.
The blackbirds are said to be the bishops of the Catholic Church, who didn’t like
Anne Boleyn.
The king was in his counting house counting out his money refers to the money the King
made off stealing the catholic church’s assets.
We all know how it ended between horny henry and Anne Boleyn…… chopped.
2 - Little Miss Muffet Little miss Muffet Sat on a Tuffet eating
her curds and whey, along came a spider who sat down beside her and frightened Miss Muffet
away.
Sooooooo apparently during the 16th Century – some physicians – including Thomas Muffett
– believed that eating spiders would cure certain illnesses… so the rhyme is about
the fear patients felt when they were presented with arachnids to eat.
Understandably!!!!!
Ewww.
1 - Humpty Dumpty So Humpty Dumpty is kind of a dark anyway
– Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, humpty dumpty had a great fall, all of the kings horses
and all the kings men couldn’t put humpty together again.
Sounds pretty grim for old humpty… it turns out Historians think that Humpty Dumpty was
actually the name for a cannon used during the English Civil War.
CLASSIC English dark humour, giving a weapon of war a cutesy name.
We are dark dark beasts.
The story goes that King Charles the 1st had a big old cannon, the aforementioned humpty.
He put it high up on a wall and it was used to bombard and kill the enemy.
Sadly for old humpty – he was knocked off the wall thanks to a nasty retaliating cannon.
The wall beneath humpty collapsed and – like the rhyme goes – all the kings horses and
all the kings men couldn’t put humpty together again.
In the end, Charles lost the war and was executed.
Soo….
Sucks to be Charles, really!
WELL THERE we go that was the top 10 scary nursery rhymes dark origins Part 2!
What did you think?
What else should we create dark origins for?
Comments from scary wedding stories: Jordan Graham said:
I really don't know if I wanna get married or not at this point in my life, I just kinda
feel like it would be a lot easier to prove you love someone by staying with them normally
as either a boyfriend or girlfriend forever if you want instead if trying to do all that
fancy wedding stuff and everything?.
You know what….
I feel you ……. It’s an expensive way to say I like you.
Know the Truth – the Truth Shall Set You Free said:
I hate weddings!
Is that unusual?!? ?? they are long, and boring.
The only thing I like about weddings are seeing the wedding dress, brides maid dresses and
the cute flower girl and ring carrier.
Laura Anderson said: Unfortunately I'll always be the owner of a lonely heart.
Laura I don’t believe that for a second.
I believe there is someone out there for everyone… you just need to be open to receiving it and
let go of your expectations of how it will come to you.
You know what – I guess it is how it is done…..
I have been to great weddings and I have been to boring ones!
The best are the most genuine.
You guys all had nice things to say about my outfit in that video – so thank you!