Humpty Who?

Okay, been reading some more useless information LOL, the origins of nursery rhymes. It seems that the composers were forced to disguise their commentary on current affairs in the form of children’s rhymes or risk swift imprisonment or a nasty death, so these rhymes were written as cleverly coded comments on society.  Many of the well known rhymes refer to British politics of the time or where used to spread gossip about royalty – (mmmmh Ladies watch your tongues LOL) which was punishable by beheading or being burnt at the stake……… NICE!

Mary Mary Quite Contrary…. This Mary refers to the English Queen Mary Tudor – nicknamed Bloody Mary, a catholic who wanted to rid England of Protestants. Mary’s “garden” was apparently an allusion to graveyards full of Protestants who met untimely deaths because of their religious beliefs. The “silver bells and cockle shells” growing in her garden were instruments of torture while the “maids” were the machines that beheaded people in a similar fashion to the guillotine.

Jack and Jill…………clumsy jack is France’s King Louis XVI who was beheaded in 1793 – Jack fell down and broke his crown… His wife Queen Marie Antoinette met the same unfortunate fate….and Jill came tumbling after. This rhyme was made a little more child-friendly by indicating that Jack didn’t die but mended his head with vinegar and brown paper……… now we also have the origins of Zombies!

Humpty Dumpty………Contrary to popular belief, the giant “egg” depicted in illustrations of this rhyme was probably a large cannon used during the English Civil War. It toppled off a tower and could not be repaired. The words “Humpty Dumpty” was also slang for a short, stout person and some academics are convinced that the unfortunate hero is King Richard 111 of England who was hunchbacked. Mmmm guess who had scrambled eggs for breakfast.

and a lot less bloody……. Baa Baa Black Sheep.  A sharp comment on tax implications for citizens in the 13th century. One third of the tax went to the local lord……”one for the master”, another third to the church…….”the dame” and the last cut to the farmer…….”the little boy who lives down the lane.”

What are we teaching our kids LOL!

I had a little bit of fun yesterday and ended up with something to share with you all, was running around like a mad thing collecting all the last bit of green left in our garden LOL!! so here’s a CLUSTER LEAF FRAME FREEBIE for you.

You can grab it here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/94648629/13f076eb/gs_clusterleafframe.html

Off to try and get more work done, Caden’s day nanny hasn’t been to work now in a week and she’s down for a nap…… playtime for me.