The nursery rhyme ringa ringa roses talks about which disease?

Answer 1

It is rumored that "ring around the rosey" (as it is also known) was written about the Bubonic Plauge. Peter and Iona Opie remark: "The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, posies of herbs were carried as protection, sneezing was a final fatal symptom , and 'all fall down' was exactly what happened." The line Ashes, Ashes in alternative versions of the rhyme is claimed to refer variously to cremation of the bodies, the burning of victims' houses, or blackening of their skin, and the theory has been adapted to be applied to other versions of the rhyme, or other plagues. In its various forms, the interpretation has entered into popular culture and has been used elsewhere to make oblique reference to the plague.

Folklore scholars regard the theory as baseless for several reasons:

1. the late appearance of the explanation
2. the symptoms described do not fit especially well with the Great Plague
3. the great variety of forms make it unlikely that the modern form is the most ancient one, and the words on which the interpretation are based are not found in many of the earliest records of the rhyme
4. European and 19th-century versions of the rhyme suggest that this "fall" was not a literal falling down, but a curtsy or other form of bending movement that was common in other dramatic singing games.

Answer 2

The nursery rhyme "Ring-a-ring-a-roses" is often associated with the Great Plague of London in 1665, though this connection is debated among scholars. The rhyme's lyrics describe symptoms and actions associated with the disease, such as sneezing, falling down, and posies to mask the smell of death.