Ring a ring a rosie, which I used to chant as a child, goes a-tishoo!
(not ashes) - at least in the version I knew. Kids don't sing these
things any more, which is a significant shift in children's culture..
One thing I truly regret is that in the past two decades traditional
nursery rhymes have all but disappeared.
xA
On Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 5:04 PM, Stephen Vincent <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> It's ironic how - the flip side of these gothic rhyme accounts (and let's not forge the crematory one it is said that originates in the plague, 'Ring around the rosies...ashes, ashes all fall down') is the soothing character of children's lullabies, 'Row row your boat...", "Rock a bye baby in the tree top'. or 'There was an old woman who lived in a shoe...' My aged mother who now lives at the anguished edges of consciousness usually lightens up with these pieces that we sing/say together. A linguistic form of lyric anchorage or, at least, a welcome buoy or lighthouse on a darkened bay.
>
> Stephen V
> http://stephenvincent.net/blog/
>
> --- On Fri, 12/19/08, Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Some child lore poems
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Friday, December 19, 2008, 8:47 PM
>
> The Opies tracked children's lore in that famous book (the name of
> which escapes me). I have a lovely edition of the rhymes they
> collected, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. And there was an Australian
> version, Cinderella Dressed In Yeller, the title inspired by
>
> Cinderella
> Dressed in yeller
> Went upstairs
> To meet her fella
>
> On the way
> Her panties busted
> All the guys
> Were disgusted
>
> Which of course was screamingly funny in grade 3.
>
> xA
> --
> Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au
> Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
> Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com
>
--
Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com
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