Reading A, The Nursery Rhyme Book

Week 12 Myth-Folklore Unit: Nursery Rhymes

The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang, illustrated by L Leslie Brooke (1897)

Nursery Rhyme
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Nursery Rhymes: Tales

I am shocked at how few of the tales that I have actually ever heard in this unit. With the exception of Simple Simon and Little Jack Horner, they are all new to me. I am, however, struck by how violent in nature they are. A quick Wikipedia search conveys that I am not the only one who noticed the violence and death. Wikipedia notes that in the late 19th century there was a movement to clean up nursery rhymes for a younger audience. The major concerns were focused on violence and crime in the rhymes. Considered all out bowdlerisation, Psychoanalysts such as Bruno Bettelheim criticized the revidsonism movement, arguing that it weakened a rhymes usefulness and that revised rhymes “may not perform the functions of catharsis for children, or allow them to imaginatively deal with violence and danger.” Late 20th century revisionism is associated with the idea of political correctness. Nursery rhyme - Wikipedia As a so called “snowflake,” I can hear the outcry……..The illustrations in this unit are amazing!

Nursery Rhymes: Games

The sweet nursery rhyme song about Queen Anne -

QUEEN ANNE, Queen Anne, you sit in the sun,

As fair as a lily, as white as a wand.

I send you three letters, and pray read one;

You must read one, if you can’t read all;

So pray, Miss or Master, throw up the ball

was a singing game. According to the book Games, Rhymes, and Wordplay of London Children by N.G.N. Kelsey, the game was played by one person acting as the “Queen Anne,” that person throws the ball over his/her shoulder in the crowd of children behind him/her. If the ball was caught, the thrower, “Queen Anne,” was out. If not, the “Queen Anne” must guess who picked up the ball. The most recent version is sung simply “Queenie, Queenie.” Queen Anne singing game

My favorite grouping from Reading A was the Riddles section. My favorite riddle was -

OLD mother Twitchett had but one eye,

And a long tail which she let fly;

And every time she went over a gap,

She left a bit of her tail in a trap.

(A needle and thread.)

I searched for who Old mother Twitchett was, but came up with nothing. Nonetheless, the riddle is difficult and once you know the answer; it immediately makes sense.