Nearly every mother has sung nursery rhymes to her little one since time immemorial, be it during playtime or as a lullaby. But did you know that some of the most well-known rhymes are anything but innocent? 

You probably would never equate Mother Goose with the likes of horror writers Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, or Mary Shelley, but after this post, you might be willing to rethink your position! 

8 Dark Nursery Rhymes 

Here are some of the best known nursery rhymes and their most plausible less-than-child-friendly origins:

1. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep 

Baa baa black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.

One for the Master, 
One for the Dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

This innocent-sounding rhyme about a sheep and its wool comes with a set of actions that toddlers and preschoolers can easily imitate. But the rhyme actually came about because of the Great Custom, when King Edward I imposed a heavy tax on wool in 1275.

Apparently, the harsh tax resulted in one-third of the wool being given to the king (or the Master), another third for the church (or the Dame), and the remaining third for the farmers. 

An older version of the rhyme actually doesn’t attribute a third part to the boy, as the lyrics goes, “And none for the little boy who cries down the lane,” a possible reference to the poverty of farmers during that time. 

Some people also wonder if its choice of the color black has any racial undertones, although of course, it’s quite possible that it was only because of the B sound that the rhyme used the word black instead of white. Who knows? 

2. London Bridge Is Falling Down 

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

Build it up with iron bars, 
Iron bars, iron bars
Build it up with iron bars, 
My fair lady.

Iron bars will bend and break 
Bend and break, bend and break 
Iron bars will bend and break 
My fair lady.

(The lyrics of this nursery rhyme have been changed so often that it’s almost impossible to find the original version. The above is an excerpt from one of the more popular versions.) 

Several theories abound on the origin of this popular nursery rhyme, used widely in a children’s game where we sing the tune while going under the arch formed by two friends, with the arch falling down when the song ends. 

The most commonly accepted one is perhaps the supposed attack of Olaf II of Norway, which destroyed London Bridge in the early 1000s. However, historians cannot agree as to whether this was a true event or not. 

Another theory is that it’s related to the superstition that human sacrifice has to be made in order to keep the bridge upright.

Legend has it that when London Bridge was finally taken down in 1831, they found bodies inside its moorings, possibly linked to a form of medieval punishment where a person is locked in a room and left there to die—and possibly serving as the said human sacrifice. Could this be why part of the rhyme goes, “take the key and lock her up?” 

3. Mary Mary Quite Contrary 

Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow
With silver bells and cockleshells
And pretty maids all in a row.

While we think of contrariness as a tiny character flaw and the nursery rhyme full of flowering plants, this is actually a reference to Queen Mary I of England, also known as Bloody Mary. Because of her firm belief in Catholicism, she heavily persecuted—and executed!—hundreds of Protestants. 

Do you know that silver bells and cockleshells are not things that you use in a garden, bu are rather devices for torture? 

4. Goosey Goosey Gander 

Goosey, goosey, gander,
Whither dost thou wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady’s chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn’t say his prayers;
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him down the stairs

During the days of intense religious persecution, Catholic priests were not allowed to say Latin-based prayers, even in their own homes.

This inspired the original version of this nursery rhyme, which includes a verse that describes a man “who wouldn’t say his prayers. So I took him by his left leg, and threw him down the stairs.” Talk about cruel! 

5. Jack and Jill 

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after

If you ever wondered why this nursery rhyme ends with Jack breaking his crown and Jill coming tumbling after him, it’s probably because it has less than sunshiny origins in the first place. 

One theory is that it talks about the French Revolution, when Louis XVI of France and his wife Marie Antoinette were convicted of treason and consequently beheaded—the reference to Jack’s losing his “crown,” and Jill tumbling after him. 

However, the rhyme is said to have been in existence at least thirty years before that event. An alternative origin story is that it’s a parody on the reformation of tax laws on liquid measures during the reign of King Charles I. Parliament turned down his proposal, so King Charles I pushed to reduce the volume to half- and quarter-pints, which were then known as jacks and gills! 

6. Three Blind Mice 

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Although mice are about as innocent as it gets, this nursery rhyme may have gotten its origins in the conspiracy of three Protestant bishops (among many) who aimed to overthrow Queen Bloody Mary’s tyranny.

Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Radley were unsuccessful and burned at the stake for heresy. The reference to blindness may be an allusion to their firm adherence to their religious convictions. 

7. Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush 

Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning.

What preschooler hasn’t sung the rhyme “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”? But the origins of this nursery rhyme probably aren’t something you would want your six-year-old to learn about: it’s believed to have originated in Wakefield Prison in England, whose female prisoners were made to exercise around a mulberry tree! 

8. Ring Around the Rosy 

Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down!

Again, what child hasn’t locked hands with their playmates, sung this nursery rhyme, and flopped onto their bottom, giggling and laughing at “Ashes, ashes, we all fall down”? But it’s widely believed this rhyme is related to the time when thousands died during the Great Plague of London in 1665. 

An estimated 15% of England’s population died in the plague, which caused a rosy rash, and they used “a pocketful of posies” to cover the awful smell from the rash! No wonder there’s a reference to “ashes, ashes” at the end.

However, other historians believe this to be erroneous, and instead attribute the rhyme to the 19th century religious ban placed on dancing among many Protestants. To get around the ban, adolescents invented the play-party, where they would have ring games instead of square dancing. 

Somehow, the first theory seems to have more similarity to the lyrics, though, wouldn’t you say? 

Singing Nursery Rhymes 

Singing nursery rhymes is a fun activity for parents to do with children. But now that you know the possibly dark origins of some of these rhymes, would you still want to sing them? 

Of course, one reasoning is that turning dark events into innocent-sounding rhymes is one way that humans learn to cope with difficulty, so maybe it’s not such a bad idea after all.

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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