Actual Dark Messages Behind Nursery Rhymes 

"London bridge is falling down" Even without any dark history this isn't what I would have liked to tell the children.

Then: poems about the plague, monarchs and human sacrifices Now: baby shark

Fun fact: the nursery rhyme "do you know the muffin man" is actually a warning about a kidnapper that uses muffins to lure kids in drury lane.

0:01 Intro 0:42 Ring Around the Rosie 1:47 London Bridge is falling down 3:23 Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary 4:32 Three Blind Mice 5:34 Old Mother Hubbard 6:41 Goosey Goosey Gander. (Goosey Gander) 7:36 Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie (Georgie Porgie) 8:28 Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill (Jack and Jill) 9:09 Rock-A-Bye Baby, in the Treetop 10:02 Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush 10:36 Outro 10:54 End Honorable mention: Do You Know the Muffin Man? (Frederic Thomas Linwood) -DU

Most of what we know as nursery rhymes were never intended for children. They were part of how news was passed between towns during an age when most people were illiterate. The rhymes made the stories easier to remember.

What did we learn today: England's history is very dark

Thank goodness that 'Twinkle Twinkle little star ' has no dark message. It is my favorite nursery rhyme.

Does anyone remember playing "The Farmer In The Dell" in nursery school. Children all in a ring until one by one they are eliminated until "the cheese stands alone". It was to teach kids how it feels to be ostracized by others with everyone staring at you being the one left cast out. It was a good lesson but felt bad if you were the cheese at the end.

Honestly you could tell some of these had a dark history by literally just reading the lyrics

Alternate title: ruining your childhood in 10 minutes and 54 seconds

This is scary yet very educational-and makes me appreciate simple Dark Origin-free nursery rhymes more than ever!

Ever heard the back story of “10 Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed”? I discovered it about 3 years ago and it started my interest in dark nursery rhyme backstories.

There’s one nursery rhyme that smacks you in the face with gore “Lizzy Borden took an axe, Gave her mother 40 wacks When she saw what she had done Gave her father 41”

Ring-a-ring-a-roses lyrics are actually: *Ring-a-ring-a-rosies* *A pocket full of posies* *A tissue, a tissue* *We all fall down* Instead of ashes, ashes, we all fall down its tissues. As people used to cough up mucus and blood into their tissues when they were close to death. Although I guess ashes works as well.

The muffin man song was actually a dark thing and its based on true story! The muffin man started in 1800s he would hide in dark alleyways and lure kids with muffin!

Ring Around The Rosie has always creeped me out. I was only a kid but I remember singing the lyrics out loud and it just felt wrong.

Honestly, “ring around a Rosie” was a game I played in my grandma’s front yard when I was young, never expected it to be so *dark.*

3:23 I’ve been taught about this in History classes. I remember some of it: The “How does your garden grow?” is a tease because Mary couldn’t give birth no matter how many attempts she made. “And pretty maids all in a row” refers to people thinking that Mary’s husband was cheating on her with maids

When I was a young child, I used to love all these nursery rhymes. Now I’m older and I listen to the again and I’m like: I’m never viewing these the same way ever

That moment when you realise Baby Shark was a song about how one day humans will become slaves of sharks, waiting to be devoured... Edit: please stop commenting. my inbox has too many emails :( also it’s been 5 months chill

You guys know that family finger song? "Mommy finger,mommy finger where are you?" What if they meant that the family died and the person is hallucinating their family on their fingers.

Love this channel. Ya learn soo much

Divorced, beheaded, died , divorced, beheaded, survived.

When you realize they never mentioned that Humpty Dumpty was an egg-

Us when a 6 year olds: funny happy and friendly nursery rhymes. Us now: where has my childhood gone

Did you know?: that the do you know the muffin man song was based on a dark story, of a serial killer named fredrick thomas Linwood, he would lure in kids in drury lane with muffins and kidnap them. He was the first documented serial killer in all. The song was made to spread awareness about him.

Woah I didn't even know that these nursery rhymes were dark. Thanks for the update ❤

The "tiptoe, through the tulips..." Nursery rhyme always sends a shiver down my spine.

"king Olaf" My 6 year old little sister: *ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT OLAF BEING A KING-*

I knew the Ring around the Rosie one about the Bubonic Plague, or "Black Death" as it is sometimes reffered, due to roses with rings on it to block the putrid smell of rotting corpses. My 8th grade World History teacher told us.

I already know the ring around the Rosie by the way I love your videos!😇😊

0:20 Mother and her daughter just singing nursery rhymes. Dad: shows them the infographics show's intro *screaming*

My father told me that the jack and Jill rhyme was talking about jacking breaking his head when he fell down and Jill followed and then they died-

"Old mother Hubbard went to the cubboard to fetch Rover a Bone.....and when Granny bentover....Rover tookover and Rover had a 'bone' of his own! Ooooo!" --Andrew Dice Clay

the shade that is thrown every time Henry’s SIX wives is mentioned is so funny

Next their gonna tell us "Mary had a little lamb" is actually about a girl with a disease that makes you laugh and when she went to school she gave the disease to her friends

Seriously. When covid ends, he's gonna be remembered by another nursery rhyme like ring-a-ring-a-rosie. In the future those who were in lockdown in covid are gonna hate it when the next generation learns it....

Not my six obsession making me excited in every nursery rhyme that mentioned one of the characters or historical figures I know-

london bridge is falling down queen elizabeth….

Imagine people singing the original versions to your kids.

honestly, how can he say those nursery rhymes so casually, without even singing it? impressive.

Hi I love your vids!

Ring around the roses sounds very grim if you sing it in a room that has a very good echo. Just try it. Slowly and if you hear the child's voice singing it, it sends cold shivers down your spine. In my language it goes "ringe, ringe raja". But the melody is the same.

Scary song backstories: *exists* The infographics show: "I'll take your whole stock"

I was expecting “It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man was snoring,” in here. It’s literally about a man who looses his life due to him apparently cracking his head open.

Did u know that the muffin man nursery rhyme also has a dark back story The song was about the 1st documented killer This part of the song 🎵 do u know the muffin on dary lane🎵 that how's he lures kids he will lures kids to the dary lane/ally way with muffins

Fun fact: the original lyrics and the version the other side of the world sings (at least in the UK) is “Ring around the Rosie, pocket full of posies, a tissue, a tissue, we all fall down.” Or another version that actually makes sense is “a-choo, a-choo”. During the plague they were actually not allowed to cremate bodies so there is speculation that is isn’t about the plague but it is.

"Here's a candle to light you to bed, And here's a chopper to chop if your head. Chip, chop, chip, chop The last man is dead" - Oranges and Lemons

My mom already told me everything when i was 7yrs old now im 13 im not suprised at all bc my mom loves history and she tells me everything

I was traumatized by my 4th grade creative writing teacher because she told the whole grade what some nursery rhymes ment including ring around the rosy and now when i see kids singing it i tell then to stop

Ring a ring of roses, a pocket full of posies. Atishoo atishoo, we all fall down. Ashes in the water, ashes in the sea we all jump up with a one, two, three. We sang atishoo as though we were sneezing and knew it meant being ill and dying but then your soul lives on - we all jump up with a one, two, three. I think people mixed up where in the song 'ashes' is. It doesn't follow for the second part of the song (I believe added later) if the first part is ashes too! Also tissues were not used yet, and therefore the word tissue wasn't in existence when the rhyme was made. Posies had been used for years even before the plague to help mask the smell of the air in unsanitary towns and they often caused a sneeze. They were also used as such even into the victorian period. I believe over the years the words changed to reflect different cultures, even down to some singing 'sweet bread, rye bread' and other variations - even as early as late 1800's. Your explanation for London Bridge is incorrect. There are no bodies in the foundations but there was a time when people were bricked in as you suggest. Immurement was a form of punishment also throughout human history as a form of sacrifice but was not used during the building of London Bridge and has no baring on the nursery rhyme.

Talking about London bridge and picturing tower bridge is way too common in America.

The infographis show: explaining me about the horrors of Nursery Rhymes Me: I am gonna regret signing the Nursery Rhymes when I was a kid

I think london bridge reffers to operation london bridge, which basically means “ the queen (or king) has died” Which is actually going on rn

Oh. I still remember doing the ring around the Rosie's thing with my friends as a small kid

Soo... Whenever we sing ring around the rosie when we say "we all fall down" does that mean we're all gonna die ?

Me never joined In ring around a Rosies bc I thought It was suspicious Me now:I WAS RIGHT

I cannot wait to teach my nephew about these nursery rhymes

i really enjoy your videos

Y’all did the muffin man right, it was made to stop kids from being Murdered by the muffin man

The Jack and Jill rhyme is wrong, I was actually told ‘Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pale of water, I don’t know what they did up there but now they have a daughter’

Ring around the rosie A pocketful of posies Ashes, ashes We all fall down!

the knights sword in the animation for "the three blind mice" is literally the master sword but without the Tri force symbol

When i was a kid, i’d play a game called “georgie porgie” which i got from the nursery rhyme. The game went where one of us would jog and repeatedly say “Georgie Porgie” until they caught someone and the kid who was Georgie Porgie would “steal” the kid they caught, which we didn’t know was represented later as killing.

To add on to this: Yankee Doodle is actually about tar and feathering someone.

We used to sing '' Ringa Ringa Roses , Packet full of roses , Hasha Busha , All fall down '' 😂😂🤣🤣

i remember being younger and hearing about the london bridge story my uncle told me and my brother about it he said people kidnapped kids sometimes adults to and cut their heads off and put those dead bodies in some kind of bridge and me and my brother not believing it

I always told my family that ring around the roses was dark, this is how I saw it, ring around the rosey = they’re dancing around roseys dead body, Pockets full of posey = they have pockets full of their dead friend poseys body parts Ashes ashes = fire burning down stuff or the ashes of someone dead We all fall down = they all fall down and die

Nursery rhymes are said, verses in my head Into my childhood they're spoon fed Hidden violence revealed, darkness that seems real Look at the pages that cause all this evil

2:18 Are all those cartoons saying, "Blah, blah, blah....?"

My friend: "Hey do know what's creepy about Humpty Dumpty?" Me: "No?" My friend: "they never said he was an egg" Me: "wait WHA--"

Wow, does anyone else remember playing ring around the Rosie?

All Children stories: *IM SCARIER THAN YOU THINK* Edit: AYO! THANKS FOR THE LIKES :00

I am so surprised about this! THANKS FOR TELLING ME ❤😊

what about "its raining its pouring the old man is snoring, he hit his head, and bumped his head, and never woke up in the morning"

i learnt that the mary mary quiete contrary one is about her having multiple miscarriages & the how does ur garden grow refers to her burying their bodies in the garden

“These nursery rhymes are more than child’s play” Me: wait child’s play is a horror movie lol

😊😊😊😊I love your videos❤

Congrats on ruining my childhood memories with your theories on nursery rhymes

I never realized how dark my childhood was.. wow..

Childhood wasn't ruined when every kid knew. At least in my school an eon ago. So I was surprised when I found out that most people didn't know about this. I'm sure in some parts world today, kids are singing their own nursery rhyimes with equaly dark origins.

FUN FACT: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is the exact same tune as "Baa Baa Black Sheep" which in turn is the same tune as "The Alphabet Song".

I grew up in UK and we always said atchoo atchoo we all fall down. Sneezing was a symptom

We're talking about nursery rhymes, but some fairy tales (such as the original Grimm Brothers ones, for example), are pretty dark and brutal, too.

As a Brit, it’s upsetting when they talk about London Bridge but use an animation of Tower Bridge... the rhyme about London Bridge also actually comes from the royal family around the time of Henry 8th who took funds to maintain the bridge to buy dresses. Consequently the bridge fell down and the public then decided to keep the funds under a private company so the royals wouldn’t take them and this company still exists today and maintains all of London’s Bridges.

For the Ring Around the Rosie one, the posie's also represent the posie's that were put in the dead bodies pockets when they were buried (some were buried)

This is how me and my family sing ring around the rosie: Ring around the rosie, A pocket full of posies, Atishoo, atishoo We all fall down! Fishes in the water, Fishes in the sea, We all jump up in a 1 2 3!

6:43 even without dark history, i still wouldn’t want to tell that rhyme to small children

Just a fun fact: Pinnochio (idk how to spell it) got hung in the original story he appeared in, he didn't die, because he was made of wood...so he just...hanged there (Edit) I couldve told much worse here, yall are lucky

I search this kind of video after hearing the song "it's raining it's pouring" this morning while playing with my niece i'm so bothered by the lyrics in the last part where it says the old man went to bed and bumped his head and couldnt wake up in the morning, i was like what? he died?

This got me thinking ok a nursery rhyme that went "it's raining it's pouring The old man is snoring he went to bed and bumped his head *and couldn't get up in the morning* when I heard that for the first time I thought it was pretty weird and now it basically disturbing😭

The lyrics of nursery rhymes always creeped me out as a kid so I never wanted to sing them, seems like I was right lol

this gives me disney x grimm brothers vibes like how nemo was never real and marlin was actually sick and swam around looking for his son ... o.o

So that’s why they say “a tissue a tissue we all fall down” .

1:56: The bridge shown as actually called Tower Bridge and was built much later than London Bridge, opening in 1894 (though built in a gothic revival style to look much older)

3:38 Incorrect. She was the 2nd woman to rule England. The queen before her only ruled for 9 days though

Well that settles it, I'm never singing a nursery rhyme to MY child.

I’ve been lied to my whole life 💀

I get why my teachers wouldn't let us sing Ring Around now.. always knew that song sounded a bit weird anyway.

Fun Fact: That’s not London Bridge, that’s Tower Bridge..