Katydid
02-26-2005, 11:53 AM
NURSERY RHYMES. In every country and in every time there have been rhymes and jingles sung or said to children to amuse or quiet them. Yet most of what are now called nursery hymes had their origin in subject matter intended for adults. The young, however, have a way of taking to themselves what pleases them; and thus they have preserved the parodies, lampoons, bits of homely wisdom, and folk ballads that have long lost their social significance.
In past times when few people could read or even before the printed word, the use of rhymes was a way of safely satirizing those in power. Some people believe the lady in "Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Crosss" to have been Queen Elizabeth I. Others suggest that the rider may have been Lady Godiva.
The original "Little Jack Horner" may have been steward to Richard Whiting, the last of the abbots of Glastonbury at the time the monasteries wre being broken up. The abbot, hoping to appease Henry VIII, sent his steward to London with a "Christmas pie," in which was hidden title deeds to 12 manors. On the journey Jack Horner is said to have opened the pie and taken out for himself a "plum." The plum was the deed to the Manor of Mells. Whether or not this story is true, it is a fact that shortly after the dissolution of the monasteries a man named Thomas Horner went to live at Mells and his descendants live there this day. The descendants claim that the rhyme has nothing to do with their ancestor but was part of a long poem called 'The History of Jack Horner..Being Pleasant for Winter Evenings'.
The rhyme "Jack Sprat" seems to have ridiculed a small, unpopular clergyman. In the 16th and 17th centuries Jack Sprat was one name for a dwarf.
"Old King Cole"
There is some controversay over the origin of "Old King Cole." Some believe that merry monarch was a prince of the 3rd. century, during the Roman occupation. Others say he was a clothier of Reading named Cole-brook, but Sir Walter Scott thought he was the fabled "Auld King Coul," father of the giant Fin M'Coule. Whomever he was, he is a part of childhood even now, for the rhyme about him lives on.
and on through several verses, ending with a supper of poisonous eels.
There are many rhymes concerning huntsmen and hunting, such as "There were three jovial Welshmen"; "There was a little man, and he had a big gun"; and "A carrion crow sat on an oak." Many verses, such as "There was a jolly miller" an innumerable ones beginng "There was an old woman," old woman, shall we go a-shearing?" has implicit in it the wise acknowledgment that people are all much alike in hearing what they want to hear. ( THE SHEEP PEN SHOULD LIKE THAT ONE). "Hannah Bantry, in the pantry, Gnawing at a mutton bone" illustrates the truism that people are themselves when they are alone.
"Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" is thought to be based upon the sad tale of two girls of noble family. To escape the plague which broke out in Perth about the middle of the 17th century, the girls built a bower outside the city. Here they lived for some itme. They caught the plague from a young man who brought them provisions and who was in love with both of them. The girls died of the infection and according to law could not be buried in the church yard. They were interred under a tree at the foot of a "brae" (hillside) near the river Almond.
Rhymes from Courting Songs and Ballads
Many of the songs or rhymes published or known for generations, if not for centuries, have to do with maids and courting. Examples are "Where are you going to, my pretty maid?" ; "It's once I courted as pretty a lass, as ever your eyes did see."; and Lavender's blue, diddle, diddle, Lavender's green; When I am king, diddle diddle, you shall be queen."
Certain of the rhymes have derived from ancient ballads. For instance, "Oh, where have you been Billy Boy, Billy Boy?" Surely had its beginning in a ballad known in many forms and throughout Eastern Europe but always with the same sinister hint of tragedy. In Italy there is a ballad so close in form and content as to almost certainly be the same story as 'O where hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son?' even to end with a "supper of eels." This is the way the Scottish ballad goes:
O where hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son?
O where hae ye been, my handsome young man?
I hae been to the wildwood; Mother make my bed soon,
For I'm weary wi' hunting and fain would lie doon
Primitive Orgins
Some rhymes have evolved from the myths of prehistoric people, who, not understanding the phenomena of nature, such as thunder and lightning, snow and rain, dawn and darkness, and the changing seasons, invented tales to account for them. Some authrities believe that the story of Jonah swallowed by the whale is a variant of the legends concerning the swallowing up of darkness by the light of dawn.
"One misty, moisty, morning" is a verse of a ballad called 'The Wiltshire Wedding', which dates from about 1680. It is much older than that, however, and is believed to be one of the oldest nursery rhymes. It may go back to the 7th century. When bodies of that period were discovered in the peat bogs of Jutland, perfectly preserved even to their clothing. It seemed as if that of one man was the very man of the rhyme, for he was "clothed all in leather, with a strap beneath his chin" just as the rhyme says.
One misty, moisty, morning,
When cloudy was the weather,
I chanced to meet an old man
Clothed all in leather;
Clothed all in leather,
With a strap beneath his chin.
How do you do, and how do you do,
And how do you do again?
One riddle rhyme is about the snow and the sun:
White brid featherless
Flew from Paradise,
Pitched on the castle wall;
Along came Lord Landless,
Took it up handless.
And rode away horseless to the King's white hall.
This rhyme is known in Germany and Sweden. It is thought to have orginated in the 9th century, since there was a Latin translation in a manuscript of the 10th century.
"London Bridge" is reminiscent of the dark rite of entombing a living person in the supports of a bridge to appease the evil spirits and to keep the bridge from falling down. (WHERE IS SAMMY HAGAR WHEN YOU NEED HIM). This relic of ancient superstition is comon to peoples all over the world. Skeltons have been found in the pillars of ruined bridges, proving that the rite was practiced.
There are at least two places in the Bible that attest to children's singing games which were probably in rhyme. One is in Matt. xi, 17. The other, in Luke vii, 32, says "We have piped unto you and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you and ye have not wept." Although for centuries song and story were not recorded, they were preserved by word of mouth as were the stories and commandments of the Old Testament, the sacred teachings of the Druids, the NOrse sagas, and even teh folk tales of African Bushmen, who are the remnant of some of the earliest people on earth. The Bushmen have a song of rain with a rhythmic cadence that is pure poetry, and the women play a game like children's games of today.
There are many counting-out or number, rhymes, such as "One, two, three, four, and five, I caught a hare alive." These show definate traces of the stages through which man has passed in learning to count.
Perhaps one reason for the preservation of folk tales, rhymes, and ballads through the centuries, with scarcely a word changed, is that a child demands the same tale over and over again. In addition, he insists on its being told each time in the same way. No matter how often he has heard "Over the hills and far away" he always, "Tell it again."
In past times when few people could read or even before the printed word, the use of rhymes was a way of safely satirizing those in power. Some people believe the lady in "Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Crosss" to have been Queen Elizabeth I. Others suggest that the rider may have been Lady Godiva.
The original "Little Jack Horner" may have been steward to Richard Whiting, the last of the abbots of Glastonbury at the time the monasteries wre being broken up. The abbot, hoping to appease Henry VIII, sent his steward to London with a "Christmas pie," in which was hidden title deeds to 12 manors. On the journey Jack Horner is said to have opened the pie and taken out for himself a "plum." The plum was the deed to the Manor of Mells. Whether or not this story is true, it is a fact that shortly after the dissolution of the monasteries a man named Thomas Horner went to live at Mells and his descendants live there this day. The descendants claim that the rhyme has nothing to do with their ancestor but was part of a long poem called 'The History of Jack Horner..Being Pleasant for Winter Evenings'.
The rhyme "Jack Sprat" seems to have ridiculed a small, unpopular clergyman. In the 16th and 17th centuries Jack Sprat was one name for a dwarf.
"Old King Cole"
There is some controversay over the origin of "Old King Cole." Some believe that merry monarch was a prince of the 3rd. century, during the Roman occupation. Others say he was a clothier of Reading named Cole-brook, but Sir Walter Scott thought he was the fabled "Auld King Coul," father of the giant Fin M'Coule. Whomever he was, he is a part of childhood even now, for the rhyme about him lives on.
and on through several verses, ending with a supper of poisonous eels.
There are many rhymes concerning huntsmen and hunting, such as "There were three jovial Welshmen"; "There was a little man, and he had a big gun"; and "A carrion crow sat on an oak." Many verses, such as "There was a jolly miller" an innumerable ones beginng "There was an old woman," old woman, shall we go a-shearing?" has implicit in it the wise acknowledgment that people are all much alike in hearing what they want to hear. ( THE SHEEP PEN SHOULD LIKE THAT ONE). "Hannah Bantry, in the pantry, Gnawing at a mutton bone" illustrates the truism that people are themselves when they are alone.
"Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" is thought to be based upon the sad tale of two girls of noble family. To escape the plague which broke out in Perth about the middle of the 17th century, the girls built a bower outside the city. Here they lived for some itme. They caught the plague from a young man who brought them provisions and who was in love with both of them. The girls died of the infection and according to law could not be buried in the church yard. They were interred under a tree at the foot of a "brae" (hillside) near the river Almond.
Rhymes from Courting Songs and Ballads
Many of the songs or rhymes published or known for generations, if not for centuries, have to do with maids and courting. Examples are "Where are you going to, my pretty maid?" ; "It's once I courted as pretty a lass, as ever your eyes did see."; and Lavender's blue, diddle, diddle, Lavender's green; When I am king, diddle diddle, you shall be queen."
Certain of the rhymes have derived from ancient ballads. For instance, "Oh, where have you been Billy Boy, Billy Boy?" Surely had its beginning in a ballad known in many forms and throughout Eastern Europe but always with the same sinister hint of tragedy. In Italy there is a ballad so close in form and content as to almost certainly be the same story as 'O where hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son?' even to end with a "supper of eels." This is the way the Scottish ballad goes:
O where hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son?
O where hae ye been, my handsome young man?
I hae been to the wildwood; Mother make my bed soon,
For I'm weary wi' hunting and fain would lie doon
Primitive Orgins
Some rhymes have evolved from the myths of prehistoric people, who, not understanding the phenomena of nature, such as thunder and lightning, snow and rain, dawn and darkness, and the changing seasons, invented tales to account for them. Some authrities believe that the story of Jonah swallowed by the whale is a variant of the legends concerning the swallowing up of darkness by the light of dawn.
"One misty, moisty, morning" is a verse of a ballad called 'The Wiltshire Wedding', which dates from about 1680. It is much older than that, however, and is believed to be one of the oldest nursery rhymes. It may go back to the 7th century. When bodies of that period were discovered in the peat bogs of Jutland, perfectly preserved even to their clothing. It seemed as if that of one man was the very man of the rhyme, for he was "clothed all in leather, with a strap beneath his chin" just as the rhyme says.
One misty, moisty, morning,
When cloudy was the weather,
I chanced to meet an old man
Clothed all in leather;
Clothed all in leather,
With a strap beneath his chin.
How do you do, and how do you do,
And how do you do again?
One riddle rhyme is about the snow and the sun:
White brid featherless
Flew from Paradise,
Pitched on the castle wall;
Along came Lord Landless,
Took it up handless.
And rode away horseless to the King's white hall.
This rhyme is known in Germany and Sweden. It is thought to have orginated in the 9th century, since there was a Latin translation in a manuscript of the 10th century.
"London Bridge" is reminiscent of the dark rite of entombing a living person in the supports of a bridge to appease the evil spirits and to keep the bridge from falling down. (WHERE IS SAMMY HAGAR WHEN YOU NEED HIM). This relic of ancient superstition is comon to peoples all over the world. Skeltons have been found in the pillars of ruined bridges, proving that the rite was practiced.
There are at least two places in the Bible that attest to children's singing games which were probably in rhyme. One is in Matt. xi, 17. The other, in Luke vii, 32, says "We have piped unto you and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you and ye have not wept." Although for centuries song and story were not recorded, they were preserved by word of mouth as were the stories and commandments of the Old Testament, the sacred teachings of the Druids, the NOrse sagas, and even teh folk tales of African Bushmen, who are the remnant of some of the earliest people on earth. The Bushmen have a song of rain with a rhythmic cadence that is pure poetry, and the women play a game like children's games of today.
There are many counting-out or number, rhymes, such as "One, two, three, four, and five, I caught a hare alive." These show definate traces of the stages through which man has passed in learning to count.
Perhaps one reason for the preservation of folk tales, rhymes, and ballads through the centuries, with scarcely a word changed, is that a child demands the same tale over and over again. In addition, he insists on its being told each time in the same way. No matter how often he has heard "Over the hills and far away" he always, "Tell it again."