What is the dark meaning of Mary Mary quite contrary?

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary may be about Bloody Mary, daughter of King Henry VIII and concerns the torture and murder of Protestants. Queen Mary was a staunch Catholic and her “garden” here is an allusion to the graveyards which were filling with Protestant martyrs.

What is the dark meaning of rub a dub dub?

“Rub a Dub Dub”

Okay, so originally this rhyme was about sexual entertainment. It was about “three maids” in a tub. The limerick was about a popular attraction at traveling fairs: a peep show where people could watch women bathe and, ahem, enjoy one another's company.

What is Jack and Jill dark meaning?

“Jack and Jill”, which used to seem like an innocent frolic, is actually about France's Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. In 1793, they were guillotined. These dark origins seem to be so for other rhymes too.

What is the dark meaning behind rock a bye baby?

The lyrics refer to the new heir to the throne, born to King James II of England, and actually, express the hope that the infant prince would die so that the reign of King James II could be overthrown.

What is the dark meaning of Little Miss Muffet?

The story of a little girl scared of a spider is based on an incident that would now involve social services. Dr Thomas Muffet, who died in 1604, is believed to have crushed up spiders and fed them to patients, including step-daughter Patience, to cure their aliments.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary - Nursery Rhyme Origin

What is the meaning of hickory Dickory dock?

Other written accounts of the rhyme from the nineteenth century suggest that children used 'Hickory, dickory, dock' as a way of deciding which of them would start a game: it was a way of selecting who was to go first.

What is the meaning behind Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater?

Common Interpretations

One interpretation of this nursery rhyme states that Peter had a wife who was very sexually active, and he couldn't keep her from running off. He decided to do the unthinkable and murdered her, and he then stuffed her body into a pumpkin. And it is there that he kept her very well.

What is the darkest nursery rhyme?

Goosey Goosey Gander

Well one version of this popular rhyme had some very disturbing lines in it, reflecting a time when Catholic priests had to say their forbidden Latin prayers in secret: 'There I met an old man, who wouldn't say his prayers, so I took him by his left leg and threw him down the stairs. '

What is the dark meaning of the nursery rhyme oranges and lemons?

The chopping off of the head at the end of the rhyme in this version, is taken to mean the loss of the wife's virginity. Whichever of these explanations you think is most convincing, we're sure you'll agree Oranges and Lemons is a lot less suitable for children than it first appears!

What do the lyrics of goosey goosey gander mean?

Goosey Goosey Gander

The most popular interpretation of this nursery rhyme is that it's a reference to religious persecution. Specifically, anti-Catholic sentiment in England forced Catholic families to hide their priests (the “old man” of the rhyme) in their houses in special rooms called priest holes.

What is the true meaning of Humpty Dumpty?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in the 17th century, the term "humpty dumpty" referred to a drink of brandy boiled with ale. The riddle probably exploited, for misdirection, the fact that "humpty dumpty" was also eighteenth-century reduplicative slang for a short and clumsy person.

What does row row your boat mean?

The positive messages of rowing on determinedly, the gentleness of the stream, the merriment of it all, and the dreaminess of life lend themselves irresistibly to revealing a deeper meaning in 'Row Row Row Your Boat' – a meaning that revolves around keeping going, staying focused, having a positive outlook and keeping ...

What is the real meaning of Mary had a little lamb?

The Bible tells us that Mary's little Lamb “will save His people from their sins” and “they will call Him Immanuel” which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:21, 23). The Bible declares that Jesus Christ was a Special Lamb, a Sacrificial Lamb and a Saving Lamb.

What does 3 men in a tub mean?

Dating back to the 14th century, the original rhyme makes reference to maids in a "tub" – a fairground attraction similar to a modern peep show. The rhyme is of a type calling out otherwise respectable people for disrespectable actions, in this case, ogling naked ladies – the maids.

What does here comes a candle to light you to bed mean?

The unfortunate victim would await execution on 'Death Row' and was informed by the warder, the night before the execution "here comes the candle to light you to bed" of their imminent fate and to make their peace with God! The executions commenced when the bells started chiming at nine o'clock in the morning.

Why does Orange have no rhyme?

The word orange is notorious for being un-rhymable. The rhyming sound of a word is determined by its sound from the vowel in the last stressed syllable to the word's end. Orange can be pronounced either as a two-syllable word (\AR-inj\ or \OR-inj\) or a dialectal one-syllable word (\ARNJ\ or \ORNJ\).

What do the bells of St Clements say 1984?

Oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clement's, You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St Martin's! It was curious, but when you said it to yourself you had the illusion of actually hearing bells, the bells of a lost London that still existed somewhere or other, disguised and forgotten.

What does little pig went to market mean?

If the first pig went to the market to get slaughtered, then the “little piggy staying home” refers to a pig not yet ready to eat, and that must stay home to mature. The “little piggy having roast beef” is about fattening a pig up, while the fourth “piggy that gets none” is too small to go to the market.

What does the nursery rhyme it's raining it's pouring mean?

Interpretation. It has been suggested that the verse is a "classic description" of a head injury ("bumped his head"), followed by a lucid interval and an inability to resume normal activity ("didn't get up in the morning").

Why couldn t Peter Pumpkin Eater keep his wife?

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

What It's Really About: Murder. The wife that "couldn't be kept" in this rhyme, which the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes notes first appeared in the 1790s, didn't keep running away or anything — rather, she was supposedly a prostitute.

What is the dark meaning of old woman who lived in a shoe?

There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

The first, is about how it alludes to child abuse. Many people had too many children back in those days. Beating them or making them go to bed hungry wasn't a big deal.

What did Little Miss Muffet eat while sitting on a Tuffet?

Sat on a tuffet, Eating her curds and whey; There came a big spider, Who sat down beside her.

What does Tuesdays child mean?

“Tuesday's child is full of grace.” Children born on a Tuesday are typically associated with good manners, grace, refinement and elegance. They are considered courteous and full of good will.

What is the dark historical meaning behind Georgie Porgie?

It is thought that the 'Georgie Porgie' in question was actually the Prince Regent, later George IV. A tad on the tubby side, George weighed in at more than 17½ stone with a waist of 50 inches (Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie), and as such, he became a constant source of ridicule in the popular press of the time.