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Information about Nursery Rhyme

A nursery rhyme is a traditional song or poem taught to young children, originally in the nursery. Learning such verse assists in the development of vocabulary, and several examples deal with rudimentary counting skills. It also encourages children to enjoy music. In addition, specific actions, motions, or dances are often associated with particular songs.
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"Hey Diddle Diddle" is a popular nursery rhyme.
Many cultures (though not all; see below) feature children's songs and verses that are passed down by oral tradition from one generation to the next (either from parent to child or from older children to younger children). In the English language, the term nursery rhyme generally refers to those of European origin, and the best known examples are English and originated in or since the 17th century. Their origins were possibly a form of oral political cartoon from an era when free speech could get the speaker imprisoned. Nursery rhymes, however, are often violent in nature; for example, in "Jack and Jill", Jack fell down and "broke his crown" i.e., injuring his head so that it bled.

Some nursery rhymes, however, are substantially older. "Sing a Song of Sixpence" exists in written records as far back as the Middle Ages. Some well-known nursery rhymes originated in the United States, such as "Mary had a little lamb".

Mother Goose

Main article: Mother Goose
No doubt the most famous collection of nursery rhymes is that of Mother Goose, a name still "applied in the United States as a generic title for collections of nursery rhymes. In seventeenth-century France, a conte de ma mère l'oie was a familiar phrase for an unlikely countrified yarn; Mother Goose got her real start with Charles Perrault's collection of fairy tales Histoires ou contes du temps passés, avec des moralités,[1] which grew to become better known under its subtitle, Contes de ma mère l'Oye or Tales of Mother Goose. An English translation appeared in 1700, and a version published by John Newbery, ca. 1760-65, was pirated in Massachusetts about 1785.

Some exegeses

The nursery rhyme "Ring a Ring o' Roses", also known as "Ring Around The Rosie", is mistakenly referred to as a metaphorical reference to the Great Plague of London. According to this theory, first symptoms of plague were ring-like sores. People didn't understand the illness and would place flowers in the pocket in the belief that illness came from bad smells, so to have something smell sweet would possibly kill the sickness. Also, there is a strong and ancient belief in plants and flowers having spiritual abilities.

A credible interpretation of "Pop Goes the Weasel" is that it is about silk weavers working with their shuttle or bobbin (known as a "weasel"). Another interpretation derives from the need for the poor working class to have to take their coats (weasels and stoats in Cockney Rhyming Slang) to pawnbrokers to obtain money for drinking. It is possible that the "eagle" mentioned in the song's third verse refers to The Eagle freehold pub along Shepherdess Walk in London, which was established as a music hall in 1825 and was rebuilt as a public house in 1901. This public house bears a plaque with this interpretation of the nursery rhyme and the pub's history. Shepherdess Walk is just off the City Road mentioned in the same verse ("Up and down the City Road, in and out The Eagle"). Alternatively, the term weasel might be Cockney rhyming slang for a coat ("weasel and stoat" = "coat"), and the coat itself was pawned.

An amusing rhyme, "Sing a Song of Sixpence", is a song that has obscure origins made even more so by the hoax that it was used by Blackbeard to attract pirates.[2]

It is possible, even likely, that some nursery rhymes have been lost, as nursery rhymes are mainly an oral tradition passed down for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years. Because of the lack of education throughout much of history, no written records of them would have been made.

Nursery rhyme revisionism

There have been several movements, across the world, to make nursery rhymes (along with fairy tales and popular songs) "politically correct". Psychoanalysts such as Bruno Bettelheim, strongly criticized this revisionism, on the grounds that it weakened their usefulness to both children and adults as ways of symbolically resolving issues.[3] Such revised versions may not perform the functions of catharsis for children, or allow them to imaginatively deal with violence and danger. Also, a society as a whole may be the poorer for it, because it loses opportunities to discuss obsolete values, even repulsive ones (like racism). A recent Garfield cartoon shows the characters trying to impress a pig with Mother Goose nursey rhymes, but all were dropped down by the pig because they were thought to be "too unwholesome".

See also

Notes

1. ^ "Histories or tales of past times, with moral mottoes".
2. ^ "[1]
3. ^ Jack Zipes, The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World, p. 48, ISBN 0-312-29380-1.

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A song is a relatively short musical composition. Songs contain vocal parts that are performed with the human voice and generally feature words (lyrics), commonly accompanied by other musical instruments (exceptions would be a cappella and scat songs).
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Poetry (from the Greek "ποίησις", poiesis, a "making" or "creating") is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible
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A nursery is usually, in American connotations, a bedroom within a house or other dwelling set aside for an infant or toddler. A typical nursery would contain a crib (or similar type of bed), a table or platform for the purpose of changing diapers, as well as various items required
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Oral tradition or oral culture is a way for a society to transmit history, literature, law or other knowledge across generations without a writing system. An example that combined aspects of oral literature and oral history, before eventually being set down in writing, is
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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Motto
Dieu et mon droit   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th Century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700 in the Gregorian calendar.

The 17th Century falls into the Early Modern period of Europe and was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement and the beginning of
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Sing a Song of Sixpence is a well known English nursery rhyme, coming at least from the 18th century.

Lyrics

Sing a song of sixpence,
a pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
baked in a pie.

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Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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"Mary Had a Little Lamb" is a nursery rhyme of 19th-century American origin.

Original text

Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.
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Mother Goose is a well-known figure in the literature of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Mother Goose is best known in the United States; in the United Kingdom and other English speaking nations the designation "nursery rhymes" is more common.[1].
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Mother Goose is a well-known figure in the literature of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Mother Goose is best known in the United States; in the United Kingdom and other English speaking nations the designation "nursery rhymes" is more common.[1].
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Charles Perrault (January 12, 1628 – May 16, 1703) was a French author who laid foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, and whose best known tales include Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), La Belle au bois dormant (
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John Newbery (baptized 9 July 1713 – 22 December 1767) was a British publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market.
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"Ring a Ring o' Roses" or "Ring Around the Rosie" is a nursery rhyme or folksong and playground game that first appeared in print in 1881 but was recited to the current tune at least as early as the 1790s.
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Great Plague (1665-1666) was a massive outbreak of disease in England that killed 75,000 to 100,000 people, up to a fifth of London's population. The disease was historically identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis
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"Pop Goes the Weasel" is a jig, often sung as a nursery rhyme, that dates back to 17th century England, and was spread across the Empire by colonists. The tune or melody is as follows, or a variation:

Lyrics


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Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture).
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Weaving is an ancient textile art and craft that involves placing two sets of threads or yarn called the warp and weft of the loom and turning them into cloth. This cloth can be plain (in one color or a simple pattern), or it can be woven in decorative or artistic designs,
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Cockney rhyming slang is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London.

Overview

Traditional Cockney rhyming slang works by taking two words that are related through a short phrase and using the first word to stand for a word that rhymes with the
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pawnbroker offers monetary loans in exchange for an item of value to the given pawn broker. The word pawn is derived from the Latin pignus, for pledge, and the items having been pawned to the broker are themselves called pledges or pawns
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London
Canary Wharf is the centre of London's modern office towers
London shown within England
Coordinates:
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
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Music hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to
  1. A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts.

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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1790s  1800s  1810s  - 1820s -  1830s  1840s  1850s
1822 1823 1824 - 1825 - 1826 1827 1828

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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public house, usually known as a pub, is an establishment which serves alcoholic drinks — especially beer — for consumption on the premises, usually in a cozy setting.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1870s  1880s  1890s  - 1900s -  1910s  1920s  1930s
1898 1899 1900 - 1901 - 1902 1903 1904

Year 1901 (MCMI
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For the road in Sydney, see City Road, Sydney.


Often referred to by Londoners as "The City Road", the western extremity of the road is at the Angel, Islington where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road.
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Cockney rhyming slang is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London.

Overview

Traditional Cockney rhyming slang works by taking two words that are related through a short phrase and using the first word to stand for a word that rhymes with the
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