Where did Ring Around the Rosie s originate?

Answer 1

The first recorded version of Ring A Ring Of Roses dates to 1881, when it appeared in Kate Greenaway's edition of Mother Goose:

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,

A pocket full of posies;

Hush! hush! hush! hush!

We're all tumbled down.

It was however, referred to twenty six years prior to that in Ann S Stephen's novel The Old Homestead, which describes children playing 'Ring Ring A Rosy' in New York.

In 1883 William Newell reported two versions in America, and claimed that one version was current in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1790:

Ring a ring a Rosie,

A bottle full of posie,

All the girls in our town

Ring for little Josie.

Also in 1883, versions were recorded in England which included the now familiar sneezing motif, for example:

A ring, a ring o' roses,

A pocket full o'posies-

Atch chew! atch chew!

In 1892 Alice Gomme listed twelve versions, including one like the version currently sung in Britain:

Ring a-ring o' roses,

A pocketful of posies.

a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!.

We all fall down.

After World War II, historians began to claim that there was a connection between the rhyme and the outbreak of Bubonic Plague in 1665, or possibly even the outbreak of the 1300s. However, these claims are generally regarded to be incorrect because of the lateness of this explanation arising, the fact that the symptoms of plague do not actually match the words of the song, and that earlier and foreign language variations of the song do not match up to the theory.

There are however, many people who still subscribe to this theory, despite the fact that it is highly improbable that it's correct. For more, please use the link below.

Answer 2

Created during the black plague in the middle ages. Each verse describes a symptom or some thing pertaining to it.

Ring around the rosy = The skin would have red oils or red dots

Pocket full of posies = said to mask the scent of the dead and used to help with the headaches coming from the plague

ashes ashes (ahh choo) = no more room in cemetery for bodies so they were burned and from the ashes everyone would sneeze

we all fall down = ultimately the death of the person(s)

Answer 3

This nursery rhyme was originally composed about the Black Death. The posey in your pocket was an ineffective protection used in the middle ages. Ashes, because corpses were burned. We all fall down, meaning we all die. A very gloomy rhyme.

Ring Around The Roses, A pocket full of posies, Tisha! Tisha! We all fall down.

It is probably from the 1600's and is a reference to the bubonic plague.

The "ring" was the rash typical of having the plague. The "posies" were herbs and spices carried to freshen the air from the stench of death. Tisha (later Ashes) is the "tissue" that you held across your mouth to breathe through, although it could be "sneezing".

"All fall down" is dying from the plague.

Answer 4

Dates back to the pestilence in ole England. From a song that kids used to sing referring to symptoms of the disease.