No
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.
