Every child has happily joined hands with friends and recited the familiar nursery rhyme, "Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down." Few people realize to what this seemingly happy little nursery rhyme actually refers.
This nursery rhyme began about 1347 and derives from the not-so-delightful Black Plague, which killed ofer 25 million people in the 14th century.
The "ring around the rosie" refers to the round, red rash that is the first symptom of the disease.
The practice of carrying flowers and placing them around the infected person for protection is described in the phrase "a pocket full of posies".
"Ashes" is a corruption or imitation of the sneezing or imitation of the sneezing sounds made by the infected person.
Finally, "we all fall down" describes the many dead resulting from the disease.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=11856.0
Topic: Ring Around The Rosie (Read 2093 times)