Fuse #8

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Mother Goose Unplugged


Just got a heads-up on this rather interesting website. The site says that it has been set up to tell the truth behind those Mother Goose rhymes we all know so well. I'd be interested in the opinion y'all have about it. The first rhyme I looked at was the oh-so-familiar "Ring Around the Rosies". I've often heard that the whole Black Death connection with that rhyme was a myth. If so, this site perpetuates it into perpetuity. What thinketh you wiser-than-me's out there?

4 Comments:

At 12:12 PM , Blogger Dan McCoy said...

Snopes says it's BS:

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.htm

 
At 12:52 PM , Blogger fusenumber8 said...

Thank you, Dan. See THIS is exactly what I was talking about. Ipso facto, I can't really trust this website. Good thinking with the Snopes, by the way. I should've considered checking it first.

 
At 1:27 PM , Blogger Bill said...

I've checked Snopes on this before as well (I suppose I have a lot of time on my hands). But in this case, just looking at the sheer number of alternative explanations that the commenters have left makes it clear that the site author has no special claim on historical authority.

Still, it's interesting as a little sociological study. The omnipresent quest for larger answers, deeper explanations, darker conspiracies... and maybe just the willingness to accept things without independent verification.

 
At 8:57 PM , Blogger Kerri Wall said...

I was told the "Ring Around The Rosies" rhyme was about the plague years ago...as a little girl. In a really weird coincidence, I told my husband the story as we were driving home from work on Monday night...strange.

As for Bookseller Chick, I'm one of her hoardes...nice blog. I'm a middle school reading teacher and had to deal with some very puzzled muggles too.

...Fiona...

 

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