Well said, Andrew
Steve Roud
-----Original Message-----
From: A.Davis <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 11 October 1999 14:22
Subject: Re: plague and lesbians in county tyrone


>Dear All,
>
>At 01:52 11/10/99 -0600, Mike Preston wrote:
>
>>There seems to be no textual support for this "reading" [of "Ringel,
>ringel Rosen, >schöne Aprikosen" - the German >equivalent of: "Ring aound
>the Rosie"] being a song about plague before the 20th century. That's
>considerably >removed from the 1300's.
>
>- the idea that "Ring a ring of roses" (aka 'Ring around the Rosie' and
>similar) is or was about plague was comprehensively demolished by P & I
>Opie (though they stated that '... the idea seems now so ingrained that it
>is probably useless to oppose it...").  Taking all British and continental
>varients together points to it being originally a sung accompaniment to a
>dance.
>
>However, if it were about plague, it would not be necessary to contemplate
>a jump of 500 years since, of course, there was a major plague epidemic in
>England in 1665 and several minor outbreaks up to the 1800s.
>
>Incidentely, there is no evidence of lesbianism in the Betsy Bell & Mary
>Gray ballad fragment itself - though it is a possible interpretation.
>
>
>Andrew Davis
>
>
>
>
>Michelle Wilbraham (BA, DiJ, IoL, PGCE) & Andrew Davis (PhD, FRES, CBiol)
>
>email: [log in to unmask]
>
>English Experience Language Services
>76 Montagu Crescent
>Oakwood, Leeds, West Yorkshire
>LS8 2RE    UK
>



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