Ring a Ring O'Roses
Encyclopedia
"Ring a Ring o' Roses" or "Ring Around the Rosie" is a nursery rhyme
or folksong
and playground singing game
. It first appeared in print in 1881; but it is reported that a version was already being sung to the current tune in the 1790s. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
number of 7925. Urban legend
says the song originally described the plague, but folklorists reject this idea.
The first printing of the rhyme was in Kate Greenaway
’s 1881 edition of Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes:
The rhyme must already have been widely distributed. A novel of 1855, The Old Homestead by Ann S. Stephens
, describes children playing "Ring, ring a rosy" in New York. William Wells Newell
reports two versions in America a short time later (1883) and says that another was known in New Bedford, Massachusetts
around 1790:
There are also versions in Shropshire, collected in 1883, and a manuscript of rhymes collected in Lancashire at the same period gives three closely related versions, with the now familiar sneezing, for instance:
In 1892, Alice Gomme
could give twelve versions.
Loosely translated this says: ‘Ringed, ringed row. We are three of the children, sitting under an elder bush. We all call: Hush, hush, hush! Sit down.’ The rhyme is well known in Germany with the first line ‘Ringel, Ringel, Reihe’ (as the popular collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn
gave it); it has many local variants, often with ‘Husch, husch, husch’ (which in German could mean "quick, quick") in the fourth line, comparable to the ‘Hush! hush! hush! hush!’ of the first printed English version. Swiss versions have the children dancing round a rosebush. Other European singing games with a strong resemblance include "Roze, roze, meie" (‘Rose, rose, May’) from Holland with a similar tune to "Ring a ring o’ roses" and "Gira, gira rosa" (‘Circle, circle, rose’), recorded in Venice in 1874, in which girls danced around the girl in the middle who skipped and curtsied as demanded by the verses and at the end kissed the one she liked best, so choosing her for the middle.
The current Italian version of the rhyme, still used widely among children, is sung to the same tune but has substantially different lyrics:
which translates as "Spin, spin around / The world is falling / The earth is falling / Everyone down on the ground".
which happened in England in 1665, or with earlier outbreaks of the Black Death
in England. Interpreters of the rhyme before the Second World War make no mention of this; by 1951, however, it seems to have become well established as an explanation for the form of the rhyme that had become standard in the United Kingdom. Peter and Iona Opie
remark: "The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, posies
of herbs were carried as protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and 'all fall down' was exactly what happened." The line Ashes, Ashes in alternative versions of the rhyme is claimed to refer variously to cremation
of the bodies, the burning of victims' houses, or blackening of their skin, and the theory has been adapted to be applied to other versions of the rhyme. In its various forms, the interpretation has entered into popular culture and has been used elsewhere to make oblique reference to the plague. (For "hidden meaning" in other nursery rhymes see Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
, Humpty Dumpty
, Jack Be Nimble
, Little Jack Horner
, Cock Robin
, and meanings of nursery rhymes.)
Many folklore scholars regard the theory as baseless for several reasons:
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
or folksong
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
and playground singing game
Singing game
A singing game is an activity based around a particular verse or rhyme, usually associated with a set of actions and movements. They have been studied by folklorists, ethnologists and psychologists and are seen as important part of childhood culture...
. It first appeared in print in 1881; but it is reported that a version was already being sung to the current tune in the 1790s. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
Roud Folk Song Index
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...
number of 7925. Urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
says the song originally described the plague, but folklorists reject this idea.
Early attestation
Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway , known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer, who spent much of her childhood at Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. She studied at what is now the Royal College of Art in London, which at that time had a separate section for women, and was headed by...
’s 1881 edition of Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes:
Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posiesNosegayA nosegay, tussie-mussie, or posy/posey/posie is a small flower bouquet, typically given as a gift. They have existed in some form since at least medieval times, when they were carried or worn around the head or bodice....
;
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We’re all tumbled down.
The rhyme must already have been widely distributed. A novel of 1855, The Old Homestead by Ann S. Stephens
Ann S. Stephens
Ann Sophia Stephens was an American novelist and magazine editor. She was the author of dime novels and is credited as the progenitor of that genre.- Early life :...
, describes children playing "Ring, ring a rosy" in New York. William Wells Newell
William Wells Newell
William Wells Newell was an American folklorist, school teacher, minister and philosophy professor.Newell was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After trying his hand at ministry, he was a faculty member at the new philosophy department at Harvard University for a few years. However, the bulk of...
reports two versions in America a short time later (1883) and says that another was known in New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
around 1790:
Ring a ring a Rosie,
A bottle full of posie,
All the girls in our town
Ring for little Josie.
There are also versions in Shropshire, collected in 1883, and a manuscript of rhymes collected in Lancashire at the same period gives three closely related versions, with the now familiar sneezing, for instance:
A ring, a ring o' roses,
A pocket full o’posies-
Atishoo atishoo we all fall down.
In 1892, Alice Gomme
Alice Gomme
Alice Bertha Gomme, Lady Gomme, born Merck was a leading British folklorist, and a pioneer in the study of children's games.-Life:...
could give twelve versions.
Other languages
A German rhyme first printed in 1796 closely resembles "Ring a ring o’roses" in its first stanza and accompanies the same actions (with sitting rather than falling as the concluding action):
Ringelringelreihen,
Wir sind der Kinder dreien,
sitzen unter'm Hollerbusch
Und machen alle Huschhuschhusch!
[sometimes spoken after the sung stanza] Setzt euch nieder.
Loosely translated this says: ‘Ringed, ringed row. We are three of the children, sitting under an elder bush. We all call: Hush, hush, hush! Sit down.’ The rhyme is well known in Germany with the first line ‘Ringel, Ringel, Reihe’ (as the popular collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Des Knaben Wunderhorn is a collection of German folk poems edited by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, and published in Heidelberg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, between 1805 and 1808...
gave it); it has many local variants, often with ‘Husch, husch, husch’ (which in German could mean "quick, quick") in the fourth line, comparable to the ‘Hush! hush! hush! hush!’ of the first printed English version. Swiss versions have the children dancing round a rosebush. Other European singing games with a strong resemblance include "Roze, roze, meie" (‘Rose, rose, May’) from Holland with a similar tune to "Ring a ring o’ roses" and "Gira, gira rosa" (‘Circle, circle, rose’), recorded in Venice in 1874, in which girls danced around the girl in the middle who skipped and curtsied as demanded by the verses and at the end kissed the one she liked best, so choosing her for the middle.
The current Italian version of the rhyme, still used widely among children, is sung to the same tune but has substantially different lyrics:
Giro giro tondo,
Casca il mondo,
Casca la terra,
Tutti giu' per terra
which translates as "Spin, spin around / The world is falling / The earth is falling / Everyone down on the ground".
Plague interpretation
Many have associated the poem with the Great PlagueGreat Plague of London
The Great Plague was a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England that killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20% of London's population. The disease is identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through a flea vector...
which happened in England in 1665, or with earlier outbreaks of the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
in England. Interpreters of the rhyme before the Second World War make no mention of this; by 1951, however, it seems to have become well established as an explanation for the form of the rhyme that had become standard in the United Kingdom. Peter and Iona Opie
Peter and Iona Opie
Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Mason Opie were a husband-and-wife team of folklorists, who applied modern techniques to children's literature, summarized in their studies, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes and The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren...
remark: "The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, posies
Nosegay
A nosegay, tussie-mussie, or posy/posey/posie is a small flower bouquet, typically given as a gift. They have existed in some form since at least medieval times, when they were carried or worn around the head or bodice....
of herbs were carried as protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and 'all fall down' was exactly what happened." The line Ashes, Ashes in alternative versions of the rhyme is claimed to refer variously to cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
of the bodies, the burning of victims' houses, or blackening of their skin, and the theory has been adapted to be applied to other versions of the rhyme. In its various forms, the interpretation has entered into popular culture and has been used elsewhere to make oblique reference to the plague. (For "hidden meaning" in other nursery rhymes see Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" is a popular English nursery rhyme. The rhyme has been seen as having religious and historical significance, but its origins and meaning are disputed...
, Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture...
, Jack Be Nimble
Jack Be Nimble
Jack Be Nimble is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902.-Lyrics:The most common version of the rhyme is:-References in popular culture:...
, Little Jack Horner
Little Jack Horner
"Little Jack Horner" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has the Roud Folk Song Index number of 13027.-Lyrics:The most common modern lyrics are:Little Jack HornerSat in the corner,Eating a Christmas pie;He put in his thumb,...
, Cock Robin
Cock Robin
"Who Killed Cock Robin" is an English nursery rhyme, which has been much used as a murder archetype in world culture. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 494.-Lyrics:...
, and meanings of nursery rhymes.)
Many folklore scholars regard the theory as baseless for several reasons:
- The late appearance of the explanation;
- The symptoms described do not fit especially well with the Great Plague;
- The great variety of forms makes it unlikely that the modern form is the most ancient one, and the words on which the interpretation are based are not found in many of the earliest records of the rhyme (see above);
- European and 19th-century versions of the rhyme suggest that this "fall" was not a literal falling down, but a curtsy or other form of bending movement that was common in other dramatic singing games.