Rhyme and treason in the nursery

Many of our most popular nursery rhymes contain hidden references to the devastating assault on the Catholic Church at the Reformation, says Susan Hegedus Nursery rhymes were a convenient way of expressing views that were for or against the Church. "Sing a Song of Sixpence", for example, is about the dissolution of the monasteries. "Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" refers to Henry VIII, who had the deeds of 24 monasteries concealed in a pie. The blackbirds are in fact clergy who "sing" (that is plead or betray) as the pie (the monasteries) is opened up and the clergy hand over their valuables which leads on to "The King was in his counting house". The Queen "in the parlour" is Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII. The maid "in the garden hanging out the clothes" is Ann Boleyn (Henry's second wife) getting used to her finery. "When along came a blackbird and snipped off her nose" is an abrupt ending of the nursery rhyme and symbolic of Ann's beheading. The clergy (the blackbird) accused her of witchcraft.
"Little Jack Horner" is a reference to the up-andcoming Protestant gentry who took advantage of the land that was being seized from the Catholic Church. A steward by the name of Thomas Homer (when any of these characters are doing something crooked they tend to be called "Jack") was supposed to deliver a pie to Henry VIII containing the deeds to 12 properties.
It seems that "Jack" helped himself to one of these deeds and acquired a beautiful manor. Hence the rhyme "Little Jack Homer sat in the corner eating his Christmas pie / He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum", which was an impressive property and fantastic Christmas present to himself. The "plum" was Mells Manor in the village of Mells in Somerset and Thomas Homer's descendants still live there.
"Goosie Goosie Gander" was a code for the well-todo gentry who used the services of prostitutes. "Goose" was a term for a prostitute and "goose bumps" was vernacular slang for venereal disease which, according to the rhyme, was even in "my lady's chamber". When Henry VIII captured the Church lands he also snatched power from the bishops, predominantly the Bishop of Winchester who controlled most of Southwark which had many licensed brothels.
Henry closed these down and presented this as a moral crusade, but it was nothing of the sort (especially given that he had syphilis himself). Consequently he was keen to establish a link between venereal disease and Catholicism. Hence the latter pan.of the rhyme: "Then I met an old man (the Catholic Church) who wouldn't say his prayers." This refers to the New English Prayer Book published for the Church of England by Archbishop Cranmer (Catholics would , only read in Latin). Finally "I took him by the left leg/And threw him down the stairs. "Left leg" or "left footer" is still a derisory English term for Catholics.
During the reign of Mary Tudor, three blind Protestants saved up to buy the Bible in English and have it read to them. They were burned at the stake for their defiance.
"Three Blind Mice" tells this story. Although how cutting "their tails with a carving knife" is a reference to them actually being burnt is unclear.
"Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" is a reference to Mary Queen of Scots. The "garden" referred to is Scotland which grows into a cemetery full of graves belonging to Protestant martyrs. The "silver bells and cockle shells" was a euphemism for torture implements used and the "Pretty maids all in a row" is a reference to the Protestant widows left after so many Protestant men had been burnt at the stake.
Colchester, originally named Camulodunum, was once the capital city of England. Its third-century king was Cunobelin, none other than the mythical Old King Cod. But it is likely, however, that the nursery rhyme "Old King Cole" was written in the 18th century and did not originate from the third or fourth centuries. The King was deemed to be "a merry old soul". His jovial disposition was possibly due to the fact that the marriage of his daughter, Helen, to the Roman emperor Constantinus brought about peace.
An eighth-century Saxon church in Colchester (which ceased being a church in 1539 ) was named St Helen's after King Cod's daughter, who is famed for having spread Christianity and is supposed to have brought back part of the Holy Cross from Jerusalem. Arguably, she has been ' Colchester's patron saint for over 1,000 years.
"How privileged we were in 2000,' said parish priest, Fr Alexander Haigh, "to restore this little jewel box 1St Helen's church] to the glory of orthodox Christian worship. St Helen would delight in our faith and worship as her own."
"Ring a Ring O'Roscs" is a nursery rhyme that we may associate with the plague, "Atish-oo atish-oo we all fall down!" being the dead give-away. But there is an alternative interpretation. It is thought to have been a means of getting around the ban on dancing in 17th-century Puritan England. The rhyme was made specifically into a children's rhyme incorporating a little dance and "we all fall down" is actually falling on to one knee in a bow or curtsey.
The term "nursery rhyme" was first used in 1824. It was felt that these ditties should be innocent, devoid of any political codes although a few innuendos still slipped though the net. Nursery rhymes today are as popular as ever, which reflects their power as hidden historical gems.