Trivia: Nursery Rhymes

The Really Meaning of Baa Baa Black Sheep

The Story Behind Baa Baa Black Sheep
So many nursery rhymes appear to be quite innocent and carry moral meanings with messages of good
citienship! behind them we often hear of "ings and #ueens of $ngland! bloodshed and tears% Baa Baa Black
Sheep is no e&ception%
The real story behind Baa Baa Black Sheep is based on the British wool industry and involve "ing $dward ' with
a later addition when "ing $dward '' became ruler of $ngland%
Real Meaning of Baa Baa Black Sheep%
"ing $dward ' was the (lantagenet "ing )*+ ,une *-./ 0 + ,uly *.1+2! also known as $dward The 3ongshanks
and The 4ammer of the Scots%
3ike many of his forefathers he spent a lot of his time defending and developing his kingdom! being involved in
battles! sieges and even hostage situations% $dward didn5t fight wars from a desk and it certainly wasn5t a quiet life
by any means%
6uring a long battle torn return 7ourney to $ngland! from the crusades in *-+- he was informed of the news that
his father had died! as a consequence he was crowned "ing at 8estminster 9bbey on the */th 9ugust of that year%
The crusades had accomplished very little in reality but cost vast amounts of money and $dward was now "ing of
$ngland with a very big bill and needed to pay for his part in the crusades%
"ings had a way of raising quick money in those days
They ta&ed the poor:
The $gyptian (haraohs ta&ed the use of cooking oil
$mperor ;espasian of Rome levied a <rine Ta&
Tsar of Russia! (eter the =reat! put a ta& on 5souls5 and another on beards among many others%
"ing 8illiam ''' created window ta&
(rime Minister of Britain 8illiam (itt the >ounger ta&ed hats
Not to mention the Boston Tea (arty
8hat can the "ing of $ngland ta&?
9t the time of "ing $dward5s reign when he surveyed his kingdom he saw more than more sheep than people%
$ven a poor farmer might have a flock of @111 spread over tenanted land and would need over a doen shepherds
to to heard the flock%
There5s the answer! ta& sheep 0 actually! there is a better method of collecting even more money! simply ta& their
wool! then the king will pull in revenue every time the sheep are shorn%
So what5s all this got to do with Baa Baa Black Sheep?
Aontrary to modern popular belief Baa Baa Black Sheep is not a racist poem! it has nothing to do with slavery but
is a genuine nursery rhyme intended to teach babies the sound that sheep make%Bnomatopoeia are words that
sound e&actly like their meaning and baa baa in CBaa! baa black sheepC is a perfect e&ample%
So! the nursery rhyme itself is fairly innocent until we look at the original line at the end%
The original Baa Baa Black Sheep reads like this:
Baa Baa Black Sheep 4ave >ou 9ny 8ool?
>es Sir! >es Sir! Three Bags Dull
Bne Dor The Master
Bne Dor The 6ame
9nd Bne Dor The 3ittle Boy
8ho Aries 6own The 3ane
The last line was changed to make it more appealingE it now reads F8ho 3ives 6own The 3aneG%
8ho was the little boy and why did he cry down the lane?
The little boy represents the poor farmer who wasn5t happy at paying the king5s HHI ta& on his wool%
The three bags of wool represented the three lots of one third%
Bne for the master 0 "ing $dward '
Bne for the 6ame 0 The Ahurch
9nd one for the little boy who cries down the lane%
http:JJtheghostwriter%hubpages%comJhubJTheKReallyKMeaningKofKBaaKBaaKBlackKSheep
Nursery rhymes rely on meter and rhyme to stick into our memories% 8hen we remember them! we do not
remember 7ust the wordsE we remember them in time! sometimes even with their pitch%
Before children acquire words and synta&! parents naturally talk to them in a particular style% 'n the late */@1s!
psychologist 6eborah "emlerKNelson proved that mothers all over the world speak to their children differently
than they speak to adults% She called this speaking style Fmotherese%G 8hen speaking to babies! we speak slowly
in a higher pitched voice and tend to repeat phrases% Similarly many nursery rhymes slow down the speaking
process and include repetition to help children learn% 8hen children learn to speak and later to read! they acquire
what linguists call Fphonemeawareness%G 8hat does that mean? 8ell! we arenLt born with the sounds of language
in our heads! but rather we learn what the discreet! separate parts of sounds are as we learn language% Ahildren do
not automatically know when one word starts and another begins%
)8ould you believe an error is probably responsible for the name Mother =oose? Dind out! here%2
Some child psychologists claim that nursery rhymes help children learn these discrete units sound in a language%
Ahildren between the ages of two and three are 7ust learning how to form sentences% Since they do not always
understand when one word ends and another begins! the meter of nursery rhymes helps them learn the dynamics
of what will be their mother tongue% Think about FTwinkle Twinkle 3ittle Star%G $ach syllable is separated and
enunciated because of how the meter and tune work% Speech therapists also recommend reciting nursery rhymes
to help children with speech delays accelerate their language acquisition%
$nglish nursery rhymes! like The Aat and the Diddle! (attycake! and Solomon =rundy! date back to the early
*H11s% Bthers! like Bld Mcdonald! 'tsy Bitsy Spider! and This Bld Man! originated in the early */11s% Bf course!
nursery rhymes are not limited to the $nglish language% Drench! Russian! Ahinese: most languages have some sort
of rhyming songs for children% 'n fact! Brother ,ohn! the $nglish nursery rhyme made famous by Aharlie Brown!
was translated from the Drench original! DrMre ,acques%
)8hy do so many fairy tales contain a character named F,ack?G 8e can clear that up for you! here%
(eople have speculated that nursery rhymes contain codes or were veiled political messages% 9 few of them! such
as FBld "ing AoleG and FMary had a 3ittle 3amb!G may have been connected to realKlife events! but for the most
part! they are completely fictional! nonKallegorical stories% FMary had a 3ittle 3ambG is based on a poem by Sarah
,ospeha 4ale about her neighbor Mary who had a pet lamb%
6o you remember the nursery rhymes of your childhood? 8hat are your favorites?
http:JJblog%dictionary%comJnurseryKrhymesJ
)8hy do so many fairy tales contain a character named F,ack?G 8e can clear that up for you! here%
Since ,ack went up the hill with ,ill! ,ack 7umped over the candlestick! and climbed the beanstalk )to name 7ust a
few of his e&ploits!2 he must be wiped out% Think about the classic fairy tales! folktales! and childrenLs stories%
6oesnLt it seem like a disproportionate number of them contain a hero named ,ack? 's this 7ust a coincidence?
'n fact! many of these stories come from a collection of $nglish folk tales about a character named ,ack% These
stories are called the ,ack tales%
The name ,ack has a comple& origin% 8hile it is used as a diminutive of ,acob! it also derives from the Bld
$nglish ,an )F,ohnG2 and the =ermanic ,ankin )Fkin of ,ohn%G2 The F,anG names e&ist independently of the
Drench ,acques% 9ll of these paths combine to make ,ack such a common name that $nglish speakers once used it
to refer any male )not necessarily in a complimentary manner%2 ,ack remains one of the most popular first names
in the $nglish speaking world%
$ssentially! F,ackG in tales serves as kind of shorthand for Fguy%G FThe 6udeG from FThe Big 3ebowskiG could
probably relate to ,ack%
)9nother prominent ,ack is the ,ack BL 3antern% 3earn the identity of this ,ack! as well as the creepy story behind
the custom! here%2
The two most well known of the ,ack tales are probably F,ack and the BeanstalkG and F,ack the =iant "iller%G

'n F,ack and the Beanstalk!G ,ack sells his poor motherLs cow for a handful of magical beans% This infuriates her!
and she tosses the beans into the garden% They grow into a thick stalk that climbs into the sky% ,ack proceeds to
climb the stalk! find the land of a giant! and steal from him% The giant pursues ,ack% But the boy is able to scurry
down the stalk fast enough to chop it down and send the giant to his death%

Then thereLs F,ack! the =iant "iller!G which tells the story of a brave and clever farmerLs son who kills several
giants with names like Aormoran and Blunderbore%

The ,ack tales were first put into print in the *@th century%

The tales eventually made their way from $ngland to the 9ppalachian region in the <nited States where they
were adopted to fit the culture and became part of a rich oral tradition% 8hile the setting may have changed! the
stories remain remarkably the same! candlesticks! beanstalks and all%
Bn the topic of names in strange places! who is the ,oe in the coffee phrase Fcup BL ,oe?G 8e tackle that one!
here%
10 Creepy truths behind Nursery Rhymes
' always let Bella listen to nursery rhymes ever since she was still months old% This way! she will be able to
familiarie them until she grows% But as ' listen to these nursery rhymes! there are some which seems to send a
double meaningK mean and sinister thoughts! that is% ,ust like the =oosey =ander who took an old man by the left
leg because he didn5t say his prayers and many others% ' 7ust found out that there are really some nursery rhymes
whose roots are not very good for our little loves to learn% 3et us look into what these nursery rhymes are and their
creepy history%
4umpty 6umpty
4umpty 6umpty sat on a wall!
4umpty 6umpty had a great fall!
9ll the "ing5s 4orses and all the "ing5s men
Aouldn5t put 4umpty together again%
4umpty 6umpty is not an egg at all% 4e is a drunk person or is
associated with being drunk% 8hen one Cfalls down drunkC!
it would be hard to fi& him% 9lso! it is said to be huge a cannon
placed on top of a tower during the $nglish Aivil 8ar% 't was hit
by the enemy and couldn5t be fi&ed at all%
=eorgie (orgie
=eorgie (orgie pudding and pie
"issed the girls and made them cry
8hen the boys came out to play
=eorgie (orgie ran away
This is about a gay se& scandal between "ing Aharles ' and =eorge
;illiers! the *st 6uke of Buckingham% ;illiers was a lover of 9nne of
9ustria! the #ueen Aonsort of Drance but of course he chose
"ing Aharles ' instead% This e&plains why CgirlsC cry% But then! the relationship of "ing Aharles and ;illiers were
cut off and he would run away when people who are against their relationship come to chase him%
Mary! Mary! #uite Aontrary
Mary Mary quite contrary!
4ow does your garden grow?
8ith silver bells and cockle shells
9nd pretty maids all in a row
This is #ueen Bloody Mary who killed (rotestants% The garden actually
refers to growing cemeteries filled with dead (rotestants% Silver bells
refer to a device that crush the thumb and cockle shells were torture
devices attached to the genitals% The maiden is the other name of the
guillotine used to behead people%
3ondon Bridge is Dalling 6own
3ondon Bridge bridge is falling down! down
Dalling down down! falling down! down
3ondon Bridge bridge is falling down! down
My fair lady%
This refers the second wife of "ing 4enry ;''' of $ngland! 9nne Boleyn
who was accused of adultery! incest and treason% That is why the fair
lady is falling down%
Ring 9round the Rosey
Ring around the rosyE 9 pocketful of posies
C9shes! 9shesCE 8e all fall down:
8ell! this is not fun at all: 't is about the bubonic plaque with rosy
red ringKshaped rash during the =reat (lague of 3ondon in *HHN%
The posies refer to the herbs inside the pockets of the sick% 9nd when
they die! they are crematedK ashes! ashes:
,ack and ,ill
,ack and ,ill went up the hill!
To fetch a pail of water%
,ack fell down and broke his crownE
9nd ,ill came tumbling after%
,ack is "ing 3ouis O;' and ,ill was #ueen Marie 9ntoinette who
were both beheaded% Bnly that the "ing was beheaded or Cbroke
his crownC first before the #ueen% Bther stories say that it is about
two lovers who goes to the hill to make love )pail of water is an idiom
for se&2% ,ack got killed with a rock that fell on his head that happened before ,ill gave birth% Meanwhile! ,ill died
in childbirth%
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Baa baa black sheep! have you any wool?
>es sir! yes sir! three bags full:
Bne for the master! one for the dame
9nd one for the little boy who lives down the lane%
This is about the wool ta& imposed in the *+th century% The master
is the king while the dame refers to the monasteries who both
claim their proceeds% This rhyme is about corruption%
Three Blind Mice
Three blind mice% Three blind mice%
See how they run% See how they run%
They all ran after the farmer5s wife!
8ho cut off their tails with a carving knife!
6id you ever see such a sight in your life!
9s three blind mice
9gain! this is about Bloody Mary who liked to kill (rotestants%
The three blind mice refers to three (rotestant bishops who
plotted a plan against her% She found out and burned the three
in the stake% The cutting or tails represents the burning%
(op =oes the 8easel
4alf a pound of tuppenny riceE 4alf a pound of treacle%
ThatLs the way the money goesE (op: goes the weasel%
<p and down the Aity roadE 'n and out the $agle!
ThatLs the way the money goesE (op: goes the weasel%
This one refers to the Aockney community% (op means to
CpawnC while weasel refers to a coat% 'n their time! one needs
to own a suit no matter how poor he is so he have something to
wear on a Sunday% They5ll pawn their suits on a Monday and get
it back on a Sunday% There is also heavy drinking
and repression during that time%
(eter! (eter! (umpkin $ater
(eter ! (eter ! pumpkinKeater!
4ad a wife and couldn5t keep herE
4e put her in a pumpkin shell!
9nd there he kept her very well
(eter5s wife was said to be a harlot% 'n order to keep his wife! he did not 7ust hide her but killed her first and then
hid her body inside a pumpkin% The rhyme has its roots in 9merica which also warns women about infidelity%
Surprised? Maybe you are if you did not have any idea that the above nursery rhymes have those notKsoKgood
roots: So! will you still let them listen to these nursery rhymes? This means that moms should always sift
everything for our little loves even when it comes to nursery rhymes% 8ell! goes you5d stick to Twinkle Twinkle
3ittle Star% 6on5t worry! we will also share to your the good history of other nursery rhymes% 8hat are your
comments about the above nursery rhymes?
http:JJwww%pinkheartstring%comJ-1*.J1.JtruthKbehindKnurseryKrhymes%html