Was "Ring Around the Rosie" About The Plague?

When I was a kid, the version of "Ring Around the Rosie" I learned was:

Ring around the rosie,
A pocketful of posies,
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

I also heard that this rhyme was a sort of childish commemoration of the Plague, and being a freak about the Middle Ages by the time I was five, I assume it meant the Black Death of the 1340s and later. The references pointed were:

- a rosy rash characteristic of the onset of plague
- posies carried at the nose to prevent contagion
- ashes as a symbol of death
- everyone falling down, i.e., dying

I have accepted this theory for my entire life, at least until this very evening I looked up what the prevailing thought of folklorists is. And they say "Not likely."

They give several convincing reasons. For one, the theory itself did not even arise until 1951, although many versions of the nursery rhyme appeared in print starting with a possible 1790 example. In addition:

- a rosy rash is, in fact, not a very common symptom of either the 14th century or the 17th century plagues,
- there are numerous version s of the rhyme that do not contain these and other perceived allusions to plague,
- the fact that "falling" was a common element in play of many kinds and always meant "curtsying" not literally falling, and
- the very fact that the interpretation of the rhyme as being about the plague only emerged in the second half of the 20th century.

So, it seems, the childhood game with its rhyme is not nearly as macabre as we all thought.

Here are a few other bersions of the rhyme.

1881

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We’re all tumbled down.

United Kingdom, Ireland

Ring a-ring o' roses,
A pocketful of posies.
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!.
We all fall down.

Australia and New Zealand

Ring a ring a rosie
A pocketful of posies
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!. (or a tissue, a tissue)
We all fall down.

India

Ring-a Ring-a roses,
Pocket full of poses.
Husha, Busha.
We all fall down.

There are several versions in use in the United States. For example, in Louisiana and Southeast Texas:

Ring around the rosey,
Pocket full of posies.
Upstairs, downstairs.
We all fall down.

See more versions on Wikipedia and The Phrase Finder.

And enjoy a video version.



What version did you learn and where did you live? Use "POst a Comment" to reply.