7 Nursery Rhymes With Very Dark Origins

From Humpty Dumpty to Baa Baa Black Sheep, did you know that certain nursery rhymes we grew up with have some very dark origin stories to begin with.

1. Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall, Had a Great Fall

Most associate Humpty Dumpty with a egg shaped character but the reality is very different.

Humpty Dumpty was actually a gigantic siege cannon that the Royalist employed during the English Civil War. It was placed at the top of St. Mary-at-the-Walls church tower, where it remained until the infamous fall.

2. London Bridge is Falling Down

Author Alice Bertha Gomme suggested that the poem referenced a medieval punishment/sacrifice called immurement (when a person’s encased into a room with no openings to die).

people during those times believed that the bridge would collapse if there wasn’t a body buried inside, Alice observed. However, this theory was never proven.

3. Do You Know The Muffin Man?

The poem was composed to warn children to stay away from the muffin man.

It is believed that a baker lured the children away using muffins and then killed them but not before torturing them. some tales even suggests taht he hated the competition in his area and even killed other bakers.

4. Ring around the Rosie/ Ring a Ring O’ Roses

It is believed that the poem was written about the 1665 Great Plague of London.

The “rosie” here refers to the painful rash that developed on the skin of sufferers of the plague, while the “posies” refer to the sweet- smelling flowers that were used to cover the stench.

5. Jack And Jill went up the Hill

There are various theories related to this rhyme, the most common one being about France’s Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, who were both found guilty of treason and subsequently beheaded.

However, the rhyme predates the historical event.

Then what is the story behind the rhyme’s origin?

6. It was about Alcohol?

A theory attributes the poem to Charles I, the 17th-century king of England. He apparently tried to increase the tax on alcohol but was unsuccessful as the Parliament rejected his proposal.

It is believed that he then retaliated by reducing the volume of half pints, known as Jacks, and quarter pints, called Gills.

7. Baa Baa Black Sheep

It is apparently about the medieval wool tax imposed in the 13th century. Under the tax rules, a third of the cost of wool went to the king, another went to the church and the last to the farmer.

Use of words like “Master” and “Black” also makes some question if the poem also had a racial theme.