Who Actually Were Jack and Jill?

This might be titled, everything I need to know about history I learned in kindergarten.  Last time I wrote about the significance of numbers in carols and songs.  This time I am following up with the significance behind nursery rhymes that some people (of a certain age) learned when they/we were young.  I don’t know if the newer generations, i.e. millennials, x, y - and whatever comes after that are still appreciative audiences for such things today.

So, with that let’s explore what lies behind some of the nursery rhymes that I remember.  One that is well known and people may know the backstory is Ring Around the Rosie.  One site on the web gives a good, succinct explanation of this happy little verse.   

the most popular contention is that the sing-songy verse refers to the 1665 Great Plague of London. “The rosie” is the rash that covered the afflicted, the smell from which they attempted to cover up with “a pocket full of posies.” The plague killed nearly 15 percent of the country’s population, which makes the final verse—“Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down”—rather self-explanatory.

The version I knew had hush-a, hush-a, rather than Ashes, Ashes, but that goes to show how this genre adapted and developed over many years.  Hush-a is much gentler than ashes, as it could be a lullaby encouraging children to go to sleep.

With that exploration of the great plague, let’s turn to Jack and Jill noted in the title of this exposition.  One possibility is that Jack and Jill are the rhyming representation of King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette of France.   Louis (Jack) certainly lost his crown by guillotine and Marie (Jill) came tumbling after.  Another possibility is that it is a reference to 17th-century king of England, Charles I. He attempted to increase taxes on alcohol, which were generally measured in units known as jacks and gills.  This did not turn out well for him as he shared the fate of Louis and Marie and lost his head. 

Let’s look at another favourite Baa, Baa Black Sheep.  You might have jumped to the conclusion that there was a racial connotation to this little ditty.  However, likely it refers to the Great Custom, a tax on wool that was introduced in 1275 in England. 

Okay, how about London Bridge is Falling Down.  That looks to be a flight of imagination about the famous bridge – or any bridge – falling down due to perhaps old age and disrepair.  Well, that’s not far from the truth.  It quite likely refers to the destruction of London Bridge at the hands of Olaf II of Norway in the early 1000s.  However, there is a question as to whether this actually took place so it could be anti-Norwegian propaganda or indoctrination of the young.

Let’s look at one more example in our exploration of history through nursery rhymes.  How many know the rhyme, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary (how does your garden grow).  How many of us have known a ‘Mary’ or perhaps anyone who was hard to get along with and perhaps took excessive pride in their gardening skills?  However, the rhyme does refer to another member of English royalty – Mary Queen of England – or Bloody Mary as she was (un)affectionately nicknamed.  Mary – a fervent Roman Catholic earned that nickname by her execution of Protestants in counter reformation fervor.  As one source noted “silver bells and cockle shells, in this understanding, are actually torture devices, not garden accouterments.” Contrary indeed. 

I hope you have enjoyed this little side trip into history via the vehicle of the lowly nursery rhyme.  If you are interested in exploring this in greater detail, there is lots of information available from our friend Google – but perhaps that friend is not always all it seems either.  Perhaps someone could write a modern nursery rhyme about Google or AI or any variation of social media – lots of juicy material there.  I hope I haven’t spoiled your favourite nursery rhyme but rather enriched it.