Have you ever read the original version of the Grimms fairy tales - definitely not bedtime readings what with feet cut off to fit shoes or evil stepmothers being make to dance in red hot iron shoes til she falls down dead. It must have been the olden day equivalent of Grand Thief Auto. That’s how people got their fix of violence
We used sing and to act out Oranges & Lemons in the playground when I was little. It never bothered me. When we got to the great bells of bow we’d pretend we were holding a candle and on our way to bed and form a little line. Two children would stand opposite each other and link arms and make chopping motions around us as we passed between them and say chop, chop, chop and eventually catch one of us little ones then we’d be dead! We thought it was a great game.
Think most were depicting some horrible event…ring a ring a roses was great plague I think, guess it was a way to teach the younguns of events and not to steal etc…
wee willy winky? All children in beds by eight was it? Mine need to learn that one
No, over thinking good. I agree that they are all kind of gruesome, we live in a pretty sanitised world sometimes especially for kids. Life and the world are hard, I don’t suppose it’s too healthy to pretend otherwise. Still love nursery rhymes xx
What about Goosey Goosey Gander - he threw an old man down the stairs because he wouldn’t say his prayers … Another violent ending. I used to love all the nursery rhymes though and sang them all to my son.
His favourite was Rock a Bye Baby because I sang it with a bit of a rock twist and made him giggle whilst rocking him none too gently! He told me that he was at a pub quiz recently and one of the questions was who were the three men in the tub from Rub a Dub Dub - he remembered that one too because I never sang that one seriously either … I’m glad I made such a lasting impression when he was pre-school