Since the 20th century, the rhyme has often been associated with the Great Plague which happened in England in 1665, or with earlier outbreaks of the Black Death in England.
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· 8 years ago
Ring around the rosie means the ring of infected bumps around the neck.
pocket full of posies means the flowers they would keep in their pocket to help to attempt protect from the disease.
The onomatopoeia that comes with sneezing is a sign of the coming disease.
Ashes ashes we all fall down means the sudden death of the plague and the way to stop the disease: burning the dead until they were ashes.
'Tis true, my friend. Most fairytales and nursery rhymes have origins in some pretty grim shit. Speaking of which, try looking into the Grimm's fairytales sometime! Germans!
Nay, they thought disease was caused by bad smells. So, naturally, everyone brought around good smelling things like potpourri and flowers. Those creepy plague doctor masks? Filled with potpourri.
*underyourbed, that was the ring around the rosie part; a ring of "blisters" around the victim's neck with a "rosey" red face. Golfcartlove is correct; there is debate among whoever researches this sort of thing as to the actual origins, and we probably will never be 100 percent certain, but many nursery rhymes did originate from un-kid friendly sources, so? *shrugs*
i still say it isn't -- some say it's possible, but if a song/dance as been around for a couple hundred years before someone says 'hey, it's a song about the plague', i'll maintain my scepticism
Life is terminal
pocket full of posies means the flowers they would keep in their pocket to help to attempt protect from the disease.
The onomatopoeia that comes with sneezing is a sign of the coming disease.
Ashes ashes we all fall down means the sudden death of the plague and the way to stop the disease: burning the dead until they were ashes.