Pop Goes the Weasel by Albert Jack

August 6th 2008

Introduction

I first had the idea of studying the history of nursery rhymes about ten years ago now. But at that time, the idea of trawling through history to try and discover the origins of many of our favourite little children's nursery rhymes and their meanings, obvious or hidden, was one I didn't relish to begin with, to be honest. After all, what could possibly be interesting about a short, fat boy who must have been called either humpty, or dumpty, who lived a long, long time ago and who fell off his wall? Or, for that matter, how much fun can you have with three blind mice being chased around the kitchen by a farmer's wife? Surely that has happened on farms across the land since knives were first carved from flint stone. And why would anybody, in this case me, want to create a book full of stories like the one about a little boy called Jack Horner who shoved his hand into a pie and stole some plumbs. Even I have done that, and I was a good lad. But, instead, this has turned out to be the most rewarding piece of work I have done so far. Because once it becomes obvious that many nursery rhymes have been written about, or evolved from, particular historic events and then used as a way to pass important news around the countryside, during an age when modern communication was limited simply to word of mouth, then the research becomes a fascinating study into the English way of life. For example, would you expect Humpty Dumpty to be the name of one of King Charles I's cannons located at Colchester Castle, scene of the Siege of Colchester during the summer of 1648 as the English Civil War exploded into violence? It was operated by a gunner called One Eyed Thompson who successfully kept Cromwell's forces at bay until they managed to blow it off the wall, allowing the Parliamentarians to approach the town.

The Kings Cavalry (the horses) and the King's Infantry (the men) then faced a race against time to repair the cannon but failed. An important battle was lost and a turning point in history then marked by a rhyme, soon repeated in every hamlet and village across the land as news spread.

Or would you imagine for a moment that the three blind mice could be the Oxford Martyrs Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer, all burned at the stake after some believe they were blinded, for their faith, by the Bloody Queen Mary. Or my personal favourite story about the steward to the Dean of Glastonbury, Thomas Horner, who was sent with a bowl full of property deeds to King Henry VIII that appeared to form part of a bribe. On the way to London Horner, it is said, reached in a stole a plum piece of real estate for himself at Mells Manor. Fascinating stuff and whilst some of the other stories may well have been elaborated, embellished or even re-written to suit events, in the case of Little Jack Horner there really was a Thomas Horner at Glastonbury who took ownership of Mells Manor during the reign of Henry VIII and his descendents still live in the house to this day. Innocent little children's rhymes my foot, some of them are true…!

The research was the best part of the process as it took me through stories about the 16th century spider expert Dr Thomas Muffet and his daughter Little Miss Muffet and onto Cardinal Wolsey Old Mother Hubbard. And not many of us have a chance to write about those two in the same week. A London prostitute in the shape of Lucy Locket made an appearance once, just after the great historic military blunder of the Grand Old Duke of York. Yet another week gave me the chance to tell you about some wonderful old London churches for Oranges and Lemons and the tale of jealousy and infidelity at the court of Queen Elizabeth I in Hey Diddle Diddle.

The historical significance of children's rhymes is often lost on most adults, let alone the children who learn them word by word, verse by verse, almost as soon as they learn to say anything at all. For all of us the first things we are taught, after learning how to talk, are nursery rhymes and by the time we become adults we will know the words to hundreds of them without ever being aware of their meaning or real importance. Important because many of them tell the true tale of perhaps one of history's darkest or most tragic events and knowing this will help to preserve that history and provide an insight into how news travelled, a time long before the telephone, radio, 24 hour news broadcasts and the internet.

Undoubtedly the most famous collection of nursery rhymes ever published is the Mother Goose collection, originally finding its way into print as part of a French book of tales by Charles Perrault in 1697 called 'Contes de ma mere l'Oye (Tales of Mother Goose) This was first translated into English in 1729 but is more a book of fairy tales including popular stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Puss in Boots. So it wasn't until John Newbery produced a collection of verses called Mother Goose Melodies in 1791 that nursery rhymes as we recognise them established a place in the hearts and minds of the English people. As for proving the origins of each rhyme I have searched high and low, near and far, in an attempt to root out the definitive answer. Sometimes I have agreed with previous researchers and other times feel they have missed vital information but, by and large, where I have arrived at two or more possible conclusions I have presented them all and ask the reader to make up their own mind, given the evidence available. After all, this book has not been written to start arguments in the pub about nursery rhymes. It is simply meant to be a bit of fun and give you something to talk about. And buy for distant relatives at Christmas like my friends do.

Along the way I have learned some wonderful stories but I have also suffered personally for this book and made some mistakes I can help you avoid. To begin with I found researching the origins to the rhymes My Little Pussy and Little Betty Blue (I was sure they must have something to do with Queen Elizabeth I), through the tried and tested methods of libraries and history volumes was leading me nowhere. So one day I tried the internet instead, but when my girlfriend later checked the browser history she packed my bags.

Such are the sacrifices I have made this time for you, dear reader. So the least you can do now is join me on a journey through history and find out who Old King Cole was and make some sense of the other rhymes we have all been enjoying since we first learned how to communicate without pointing and shouting.

Albert Jack
Cape Town
May 2008