Witches Ring
Did the song ring around the rosie originate from witches?
Funny thing this...
In James Leasor's 1961 book, The Plague and the Fire, it was first purported that this rhyme was about the Black Death. (first ever claim for this in print)
His "evidence" was only that, "it seems so" - I mean, sure, just look at the words, right?
Well, no. This is a poor reason to accept any claim outright; we need to delve a little deeper into the history behind the plague connections:
1) The [assosiated] plague occured in the mid 1300s
The rhyme was first seen in print in the 1881 (Kate Greenway's "Mother Goose")
This means that for over 500 years children passed down a tale (of events not pertaining to them) supposedly unchanged. Though it is possible for this to happen, it seems very unlikely as all other known tales evolve through time (even more so if you've ever played "telephone" with but a dozen kids).
2) The word "posy" was not even around in the 1300s
"Posy" originates from 1533. This places the origin of the rhyme AFTER 1533 (over 200 years past the claimed origin)
3) The rhyme written down in the 1880s is not the same one we know today. Nor is it the same in several other regions today.
This goes back to the evolution of tales: In less than 120 years of being first in print, the rhyme changed in verse several times as it traveled to different countries. But BEFORE it was in print it didn't change at all for over 500 years?
Original rhyme:
Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We're all tumbled down
4) Most nursery rhymes are just rhymes: In most cases of historical review these turn out to be nothing more than a "play on words" for fun and rarely have a "deeper" meaning.
Any one of these is probably insufficient to argue against the plague connection, but together they make for one impressive case.
All in all, this is one of those things that many take for face value (because it seems plausible?) and don't bother to check the facts about it (another one is the "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" relating to rope beds - it doesn't).
Edit:
A great example of just how rhymes can be misconstrued is below with "London Bridge".
The London Bridge rhyme is of uncertain origin. It most certainly is NOT about any particular bridge's troubles (though possibly about the difficulty of building bridges in medieval London in general).
Again, as in "Ring Around the Rosie", the ORIGINAL is not what we sing today. Our error in assosiation, though plausible, is based upon a MODERN version, therefore, this reasoning is flawed (and the History Channel has made mistakes in the past).
Winx Club Season 1 Episode 5: Bloom gives Stella's ring to the witches!
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