
JACK AND JILL (1765)

Admit it, you fooled around with the lyrics to âJack and Jillâ a bit yourself when you were younger, turning what you thought was an innocent poem into something a little bit naughty. But its origins arenât as clean-cut as you probably imagined. One of the most common theories surrounding the storyâs origin is that itâs about Franceâs Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, who were both found guilty of treason and subsequently beheaded. The only problem is that those events occurred nearly 30 years after âJack and Jillâ was first written. The more likely possibility is that itâs an account of King Charles Iâs attempt to reform the tax on liquid measures. When Parliament rejected his suggestion, he instead made sure that the volume was reduced on half- and quarter-pints, known as jacks and gills, respectively.
LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN (1744)

In 2006, Fergie got saucy with some of this classic kid tuneâs lyrics. But the original song wasnât much better. Depending on whom you ask, âLondon Bridge is Falling Downâ could be about a 1014 Viking attack, child sacrifice, or the normal deterioration of an old bridge. But the most popular theory seems to be that first one. More specifically: the alleged destruction of London Bridge at the hands of Olaf II of Norway some time in the early 1000s. (âAllegedâ because some historians donât believe that attack ever took place.) The songâs popularity around the world is often cited as further proof that it was the Vikings who created it, believing that they brought the tune to the many places they traveled. Oh, and that whole child sacrifice thing? Thatâs an idea that is also often debated (thereâs no archaeological evidence to support it), but the theory goes that in order to keep London Bridge upright, its builders believed that it must be built on a foundation of human sacrifice, and that those same humansâmostly childrenâwould help to watch over the bridge and maintain its sturdiness. Which weâre pretty sure isnât a practice they teach you in architecture school.
MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY (1744)

âContraryâ is one way to describe a murderous psychopath. This popular English nursery rhyme, which reads like a solicitation for gardening advice, is actually a recounting of the homicidal nature of Queen Mary I of England, a.k.a. Bloody Mary. A fierce believer in Catholicism, her reign as queenâfrom 1553 to 1558âwas marked by the execution of hundreds of Protestants. (Silver bells and cockle shells are torture devices, not garden accouterments.)
THREE BLIND MICE (1805)

âThree Blind Miceâ is supposedly yet another ode to Bloody Maryâs reign, with the trio in question believed to be a group of Protestant bishopsâHugh Latimer, Nicholas Radley, and The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmerâwho (unsuccessfully) conspired to overthrow the queen and were burned at the stake for their heresy. Critics suggest that the blindness in the title refers to their religious beliefs.
ROCK-A-BYE BABY (1765)

One interpretation of this famous lullaby is that it is about the son of King James II of England and Mary of Modena. It is widely believed that the boy was not their son at all, but a child who was brought into the birthing room and passed off as their own in order to ensure a Roman Catholic heir to the throne.
RING AROUND THE ROSIE (1881)

Considering that some of todayâs classic nursery rhymes are more than two centuries old, there are often several theories surrounding their originsâand not a lot of sound proof about which argument is correct. But of all the alleged nursery rhyme backstories, âRing Around the Rosieâ is probably the most infamous. Though its lyrics and even its title have gone through some changes over the years, the most popular contention is that the sing-songy verse refers to the 1665 Great Plague of London.âThe rosieâ is the rash that covered the afflicted, the smell from which they attempted to cover up with âa pocket full of posies.â The plague killed nearly 15 percent of the countryâs population, which makes the final verseââAshes! Ashes! We all fall downâârather self-explanatory.
But Snopes labels this reading false, and quotes folklorist Philip Hiscock with a more likely suggestion: That the nursery rhyme probably has its origins “in the religious ban on dancing among many Protestants in the nineteenth century, in Britain as well as here in North America. Adolescents found a way around the dancing ban with what was called in the United States the ‘play-party.’ Play-parties consisted of ring games which differed from square dances only in their name and their lack of musical accompaniment. They were hugely popular, and younger children got into the act, too.”
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