April 20, 2011

Atishoo

I never knew that sneezing was an early symptom of the plague, nor did I know this nursery rhyme was about the plague:


Ring a ring a roses,
a pocket full of posies.
Atishoo, atishoo,
we all fall down




I am participating in Alphabe Thursday about the letter "A"

27 comments :

  1. I remember reading about that. I thought it was interesting that it became a nursery rhyme.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, I did know that, but I only learned it about 6 years ago (the plaque connection to the rhyme that is) it made it a bit creepy for me ever since...

    ReplyDelete
  3. That;s news to me! Amazing what I learn playing this meme. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Most nursery rhymes are dark like this...and this is a unique idea, thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I didn't know that either and we played that game all the time when we were kids!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh yes, I had learned of the origins of this nursery rhyme a long time ago...and so many other nursery rhymes and fairy tales have unexpected origins behind them. (I always loved to learn about meanings of stories or origins of words, customs, etc...)

    Blessings & Aloha!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I knew that this nursery rhyme was talking about the plague, but I'm so crazy I never looked into it and didn't realize(or hadn't thought)the words:Atishoo, atishoo.
    Cute post.I'm learn something everyday,and I love it!
    ~Jo
    Lazy on Loblolly

    ReplyDelete
  8. i didn't know that...
    it pays to come to school :D
    good post
    ~victoria~

    ReplyDelete
  9. I grew up with Ashes, Ashes. It was later changed to atishoo, atishoo. Great post!~Ames

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had heard about it being about the plague. It was hard to sing and play it with JDaniel in water baby class.

    ReplyDelete
  11. When my granddaughter and I do Ring around the rosie we say "ashes, ashes- all fall down" I wonder why?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Isn't it crazy what is such a common part of our culture, yet we have no idea about it. Fun post (for such a serious topic)!

    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's going to make me pause the next time I sneeze!

    ReplyDelete
  14. The posies refer to the belief at the time that a sweet smell was protection against infection. People would carry a small bunch of flowers around with them which they held under their noses. Not very different to the belief that a paper face mask will protect you from bird flu and radiation.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi again!

    Great ‘A’ post -as always. So clever!

    Looking forward to *seeing* you again next time,

    LOLA:)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nursery rhymes, tales and fables....so many of them were made to scare the crap out of kids. Imagine how effective they were in days of yore making kids settle down to go to sleep! Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I learn something new everyday! How often we sang these rhyming words when growing up.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'd heard but forgotten that. Thanks for the reminder, because it's an interesting etymology.

    And I love that tissue holder, by the way. That would be so fun to own.

    =)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I remember reading that somewhere. Right now sneezing is more likely to be caused by allergies then the plague.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well, I just learned something new! Had never heard this before.

    ReplyDelete
  21. That's interesting how it was interpreted!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I recall this rhyme but we used a different version. In ours It was still an "A" word but we used Ashes, Ashes we all fall down.

    Very original idea for Alphabe Thursday, and those are the best kind. I try to be original when I join in but couldn't resist being ordinary this week with my post on Automobiles. Thanks for the visit.

    ReplyDelete
  23. haha Rita we used to say Husha, Husha we all fall down

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great Plague in England in 1665.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi Jackie! This was a cute link! We always said, 'ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" Should have recognized the ominous quality of the nursery rhyme just from that - ha!

    This was interesting...thanks for sharing it.

    A+

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading my blog!