My favourite British nursery rhymes

I always loved nursery rhymes. They are cute and remind us of the childhood, but sometimes they might have surprising words. I enjoy finding connections between nursery rhymes in my country and in UK. It is amazing how many are common around the world.

One of those is nursery rhyme/play "This Little Piggy"(England, c1760). You probably know this one, maybe in some other wording. But the principle is that you play with child's fingers (or toes) white recite the rhyme.

This little piggy went to market, (wiggle one finger)

This little piggy stayed home, (wiggle the next finger)

This little piggy had roast beef, (and the next one...)

This little piggy had none,  (and the next one....) 

And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home. (and the thumb!)

This Little Pig Went to Market by Lilly Martin Spencer, 1857

The rhyme/folksong "Ring a Ring O' Roses" is also widely popular. Firstly written down in 1881, but probably date back at the 18th century, it is in different forms popular around Europe and in USA. 

Ring-a-ring o' roses,

A pocket full of posies,

A-tishoo! A-tishoo!

We all fall down

The meaning of this nursery rhyme is often connected with the Great Plague. It supposed to describe all plague symptoms such as rosie rush on the skin, the posies that were carried around as the protection, sneezing and final death. It is pretty convincing theory to me, nevertheless some folklorists argue that is completely wrong analysis. 

Ring o' Roses, by Thomas Webster, c 1850

"Monday's Child" is a lovely 19th century nursery rhyme/ fortune-telling song. It tells about the child's character based on the day they born, with the idea to help children to learn the days of the week. All days of the week gives the children a nice characteristics, except the Wednesday. 

Monday's child is fair of face,

Tuesday's child is full of grace,

Wednesday's child is full of woe,

Thursday's child has far to go,

Friday's child is loving and giving,

Saturday's child works hard for a living,

But the child who is born on the Sabbath day

Is fair and wise and good in every way.

Many versions of the song are known, in a traditional song singing and it is often referred in the pop culture ('Thursday's Child' by Tanita Tikaram, 'Friday's Child' by Them, or David Bowie 'Thursday's Child').

"Georgie Porgie" was popular nursery rhyme known to George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) in his childhood and so may be at least as old. Georgie Porgie character is often linked to historical figures including George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628), English king Charles II (1630-1685) and British king George I (1660-1727), but there is no evidence to support such claims.

Have you heard about Humpty Dumpty? A curious looking egg-shaped Humpty Dumpty is the main character of the nursery rhyme/riddle that is well known until today. 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Humpty appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1872) and  has been used in a large range of literary works (Neil Gaiman's early short story 'The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds',  Jasper Fforde's 'The Well of Lost Plots' and 'The Big Over Easy', Paul Auster's novel 'City of Glass'... ).

Humpty Dumpty Sitting on a Wall Illustration by Milo Winter 1916