Nursery Rhymes and Their Meanings

Ring o Rosies:

Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tisshoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.

Connections to the Bubonic Plaque in London in 1665, or even before when the first Plaque hit England in the 1300's.
A rosy red rash on the skin in the shape of a ring was one of the symptoms of the Plaque.
Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs or posies, which were carried due to the belief that the Plaque was transmitted by bad smells.
Violent sneezing was another symptom.
In ignoring the above, this rhyme was/and still is sung by little children who dance in a circle and have fun.
It seems so wrong!

Humpty Dumpty:

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 together again.

Used in the fifteenth Century England, for describing someone who was obese.
Humpty Dumpty was a large cannon. It was used during the English Civil War (1642-1649) in the Siege of Colchestor (13 Jun 1648 - 27 Aug 1648).
Placed on the wall next to St Mary's Church.
The royalist fort within the walls of St Mary's Church was blown to pieces, leaving their main cannon- Humpty Dumpty -destroyed with it.
They tried to move the cannon to another part of the wall, but it was just too heavy.
As a child, I always thought it was just about an egg that had fallen and cracked, and it couldn't be fixed. This just shows how imagery has a strong impact on a story line and can change it's point of view very easily.

Little Miss Muffet:

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey
Along cam a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

There are a few different theories of this rhyme, but this one seems a little bit more real.
The little girl, Little Miss Muffet, is said to be based around the Roman Catholic Mary, Queen of Scott, and the spider was the Scottish Religious informer John Knox who frightened her away.

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.

Jack and Jill refer to King Louis XVI - Jack -who was beheaded (lost his crown) followed by his Queen Marie Antoinette - Jill - (who came tumbling after).The words and lyrics to the Jack and Jill rhyme were made more acceptable as a story for children by providing a happy ending. The actual beheading occurred during the Reign of Terror in 1793.

Oranges and Lemons:

Oranges and Lemons,
Say the bells of St Clement's.
You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St Martin's.

This rhyme is about a prison for both criminals and debtors, hence the part "You owe me". Executions were the in thing to watch. Everyone gathered to watch criminals being slaughtered. The bells tolled each morning of the executions.