13. A Childhood Rhyme Was Inspired By The Plague
We all played Ring Around the Rosie as kids. Singing, laughing, dancing, having a good time. But did you know the rhyme was inspired by the Black Death? Ring Around the Rosie also knows as Ring a Ring o’ Roses, first appeared in print in 1881. Reports say that a version of it with the same tune was sung in the 1790s with and similar rhymes were known all across Europe. The actual meaning of the song has been argued for centuries, but most folklore believes it is about the Black Death.
“Pocket full of posies” relates to the flowers used to either help create the “good smells” like inside doctor’s masks or the strewing of flowers on dead bodies. “We all fall down” relates to the fact everyone was dying, and we’d all die eventually. “Ashes, Ashes” is debated, but most believe it was the burning of bodies, namely the Jews that were punished after forced confessions. The title “ring around the Rosie?” It’s said it refers to the buboes on an infected person’s body. So before you happily sing that old rhyme, remember what it was based on.