What does ring around the rosy have to do with the black death?

Answer 1

"Ring-a-ring of roses,
A pocketful of posies'
Attischo, Attischo,
We all fall down."

This song was referred to in 1961 by James Leasor in his book, "The plague and the fire". Before then the words were different and unrelated to the black death; but the following is James Leasor's re-writen insinuations:

The roses are describing the large red swelling of the lymph nodes.

The posies refer to the fact that many people believed that there was a large cloud of miasmas, infected air that would make you sick if you breathed it in; the posies had a pleasant smell that was supposed to hold the infected air away.

Before death, a person would experience a violent coughing fit after which death moved in to claim his victim.

Many people were too weak to get to the coughing part and they would suffer a much quicker and more merciful death.

This is an urban myth, or an old wives tale that refuses to die.

Ring a Ring o' Roses is a nursery rhyme or folksong and playground singing game. It first appeared in print in 1881, but it is reported that a version was already being sung to the current tune in the 1790s.
Many have associated the poem with the Great Plague of London in 1665, or with earlier outbreaks of Bubonic Plague in England. Interpreters of the rhyme before World War II make no mention of this, by 1951, however, it seems to have become well established as a theory for the form of the rhyme that had become standard in Britain.

But folklore scholars regard the theory as baseless for several reasons,

1. the late appearance of the explanation means that it has no tradition, only the value of its content,
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

Ring around the Rosy (One of the first signs of the black death was a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring)

Pocket full of Posy (They believed that carrying flowers in their pocket would help keep the air clean, and them safe.)

ashes ashes (cremation of the dead body)

We all Fall Down (your dead)

In the United Kingdom,[6] Republic of Ireland, South Africa, and Australia,

it is usually sung

Ring a-ring o' roses,

A pocketful of posies.

a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!.

We all fall down.

Many have associated the poem with the Great Plague of London in 1665, or with earlier outbreaks of the Black Death in England. Interpreters of the rhyme before World War II make no mention of this;[14] by 1951, however, it seems to have become well established as an explanation for the form of the rhyme that had become standard in the United Kingdom. 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 and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and 'all fall down' was exactly what happened."[15][16] 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.[17] In its various forms, the interpretation has entered into popular culture and has been used elsewhere to make oblique reference to the plague

Answer 3

It refers to the red mark that appeared on the skin, supposedly the first sign of the disease. There was also 'a pocket full of posies' a.k.a the pouch of herbs people carried around to ward off the disease, 'ashes, ashes' a.k.a. a reference to a line used during the funeral masses (ashes to ashes, dust to dust) or the cremation of the plague victims (this line is also sometimes replaced with "atishoo, atishoo" as sneezing was a sign of the disease too) The last line, "we all fall down" refers to how everyone (both rich and poor, young and old) eventually died of the plague.

Answer 4

---"Ring around the Rosie"--refers to a red mark, supposedly the first sign of the plague

---"A pocket full of posies"-- refers to sachets of herbs carried to ward off infection

---"Ashes, ashes" --either a reference to the cremation of plague victims or to the words said in the funeral Mass..."Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Sometimes line three is rendered as "Atischoo, atischoo"--sneezing, another sign of infection.

---"We all fall down." -- The Plague was not selective in its victims; both rich and poor, young and old, succumbed

Answer 5

The earliest print of "Ring a Ring O'roses" was published in 1881 in the book Mother Goose or The Old Nursery Rhymes, while the outbreak of the Black Death in London occurred in 1665. If this nursery rhyme is really related to the Black Death, then the generations of children would be singing it continuously for over five centuries. Also, if the rhyme is really that old, than it would have both middle and modern English, but it only has modern English.

Another point is that other versions of "Ring a Ring O'roses" do not have lyrics related to the Black Death, such as the one published in Shropshire Folk-Lore in 1883, by Charlotte Sophie Burne. Besides, the original version of "Ring a Ring O'roses" was unknown, so it might not even be the one about the plague. The explanation of how the rhyme was related to the plague was also inconstant.

Answer 6

“Ring around the rosyâ€- Rose colored purpuric macules on the skin.
“Pocket full of posiesâ€- Sweet-smelling flowers that those tending the sick would carry around to cover the smell.
“Ashes, ashesâ€- The burning of the clothing of the infected individuals.
We all fall downâ€- Death.

Answer 7

the connection is that throwing pockets of posie and chanting 'ring around the rosie' was supposed to protect them from plague