Zealous Mom

Parenting & Life

Seriously, what’s up with nursery rhymes?

 

Seriously, what's up with nursery rhymes? #nurseryrhymes @zealousmom.com

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Each time I read nursery rhymes to my boys, I chuckle at how strange some of them are. Don’t get me wrong, a few nursery rhymes offer great vocabulary and most, if not all, teach children about rhyme, but the content of many is rather…bizarre.

Robin and Richard

Robin and Richard were two fine men;

They laid in bed till the clock truck ten;

Then up starts Robin and looks at the sky,

“Oh! Brother Richard, the sun’s very high!

You go before, with the bottle and bag,

And I will come after on little Jack Hag.”

*Huh? I’m so curious. Are they biological brothers, fraternity brothers, friends? What’s in the bottle and the bag? And who is Jack Hag? A horse, a donkey, a person? Whoever he is, I feel sorry for him.

Michael Finnegan

There was an old man called Michael Finnegan,

He grew whiskers on his chinnegan.

The wind came out and blew them in again,

Poor old Michael Finnegan.

*This one makes absolutely no sense and words are conjured  just so it will rhyme.

Polly, Put the Kettle On

Polly, put the kettle on,

Polly, put the kettle on,

Polly, put the kettle on,

We’ll all have tea.

Sukey, take it off again.

Sukey, take it off again.

Sukey, take it off again.

They’ve all gone away.

*Poor Polly and Sukey. Their friends couldn’t even stay long enough to drink the tea these two sweet girls made for them?

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.

Then up Jack got, and home did trot,

As fast as he could caper;

He went to bed, to mend his head,

With vinegar and brown paper.

*Though it’s slightly traumatic that they both end up falling down the hill and Jack gets injured, this one at least has some great vocabulary words (i.e. fetch, crown, trot, caper, mend).

There Was an Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,

She had so many children she didn’t know what to do;

She gave them some broth without any bread;

then whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.

*This lady is terrible! She doesn’t need to be raising all of these children. Even my five-year old gets a furrowed brow when we read this one.
Tinker, Tailor
Tinker, tailor,
Soldier, sailor,
Rich man, poor man,
Beggarman, thief!
*So random. What is up with this one? It did stimulate some good conversation between my five-year old and me. He had never heard of a tinker, tailor or a beggarman, so it wasn’t a total wash.
Then there’s poor Humpty who falls to a traumatic death and the knave of hearts who steals all the tarts, though ‘knave’ is a great word to teach. Oh, I could go on, but I won’t. Though nursery rhymes can be a little quirky, I still love them. What would childhood or motherhood be without the inclusion of these silly and mindless tales?

 

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. 1

    Robin (Masshole Mommy) says

    I have never heard the Robin and Richard one, but I agree that is rather strange. I remember singing Michael Finnegan in music class. There are many, many more verses to that one.

  2. 2

    Janel C. says

    Your post reminds me of one of the most popular nursery rhymes – Rock A Bye Baby. I always thought it was a bit violent with the baby possibly falling with the cradle when the bough breaks….LOL. Great analysis – thanks for sharing!

  7. 11

    Kecia says

    I feel the same way when I sing “Rock a Bye Baby” to my 3 month old. Seriously, how morbid is it to sing about a baby falling from a treetop?!

  10. 15

    tee mccluskey says

    I have never heard a few of these. But my daughters don’t like nursery rhymes I just stick with some simple stories 🙂

  11. 16

    louidam1 says

    I remember a few of these when I was younger. I’m glad I don’t use any of these nursery rhymes with my daughters.

  13. 18

    keikilanij says

    I agree with you that many of them are so non-sensical. I have heard some background stories on some familiar rhymes and they are quite disturbing! LOL

  20. 27

    Chelsea says

    Hahah I never actually put this much thought into the nursery rhymes I know, but it’s so true- some of them are just WEIRD.

  24. 32

    Autumn says

    Some of these are pretty crazy. I didn’t realize it until I started reading them to my daughter. I do love the beautiful words in nursery rhymes, though. We’ve lost so many wonderful words from the English language, haven’t we?

  26. 34

    Jenny says

    The things you realize when you get older and really think about them. Happens with more than just nursery rhymes and then you wonder how you turned out so well adjusted growing up with the things we grew up on xD

  27. 35

    Debbie L. says

    Yep – they can be odd! So many of the classic has some serious issues. I am sure if they were printed today they would be banned! 🙂 But I do like them! LOL

  30. 38

    Jennifer says

    I’ve honestly never liked nursery rhymes. I listen to the words much more closely than most people probably. Once you break them down the words really are crazy!