"Ring a Ring O'Roses" or "Ring Around the Rosey" is a nursery rhyme or children's song and game that first appeared in print in 1881 but may have been recited as early as the 1790s.
In the UK, it is usually sung thus:
- Ring a ring o'roses
- A pocketful of posies
- ah-tishoo,ah-tishoo (imitative of sneezing)
- We all fall down.
Several other verses exist, although they are not as commonly known:
- The King has sent his daughter
- To fetch a pail of water
- ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo
- We all fall down.
- The bird upon the steeple
- Sits high above the people
- ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo
- We all fall down.
- The cows are in the meadow
- Lying fast asleep
- ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo
- We all get up again.
In the Midlands of the UK, a second verse is also added;
- Ashes in the water, ... all the children stoop down and swish their hands on the floor
- Ashes in the sea, ... continue the same motion
- We all jump up,
- With a one, two three! ... everyone jumps into the air with their hands up
In Ireland, it is usually sung thus:
- Ring around the 'rosies
- A pocketful of posies
- ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo (imitative of sneezing)
- We all fall down.
The most common variation of the song in the USA:
- Ring around the rosey
- Pocket full of posies
- Ashes, ashes
- They all fall down
In the Southern U.S. (most specifically, in Louisiana), it is usually sung as thus:
- Ring around the rosey
- Pocket full of posies
- Upstairs, downstairs
- We all fall down
In Australia, it is usually sung thus:
- A ring around a rosie
- A pocketful of posies
- ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo (imitative of sneezing)
- We all fall down, We all fall down.
Children stand in a circle holding hands and skipping in one direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise, as they sing the song. At the end of the last line, the group falls down into a heap.
Plague theory
A common belief is that the rhyme commemorates the Great Plague of London in 1665, or perhaps earlier outbreaks of bubonic plague in England. An origin as early as the 14th century is claimed for the song, but this is possible only if it were recited for centuries without being written down (as it first appeared in print in the late 19th century).
In this "plague" interpretation, the first line refers to the round red rash that would break out on the skin of plague victims. The second line's "pocket full of posies" would have been a pocket in the garment of a victim filled with something fragrant, such as flowers that aimed to conceal the smell from the sores. A second possible explanation for this line is that it referred to the scientific thought of the time that fresh-smelling flowers, nosegays, and pomanders would purify the air around them thus warding off disease. A third possibility includes the idea that "posies" are derived from an Old English word for pus, in which case the pocket would be referring to the swelling sore.
"Ashes, ashes" may refer to the burning of the bodies of people that died from the plague, which was done to help with prevention. Several alternate endings to the song exist, one being: "atishoo, atishoo, we all fall down", the theory is that this would refer to the fact that plague sufferers would suffer flu like symptoms before eventually succumbing to death (also, Pneumonic plague had flu like symptoms as well as acute coughing and sneezing). Another is "Husha, Husha, we all fall down.", the word "Husha" being the sound made from the last escaping breath of a dying person, which is generally described as being longer and more sustained than expected. "We all fall down" refers to the fact that everyone is dying. It is believed the American version "ashes, ashes, we all fall down" was an alteration of the original English version because it was more suited to local cultural preferences.
The first time the nursery rhyme was suggested to be plague related seems to be in 1961, James Leasor's book The Plague and the Fire. However, it is not clear whether Leasor concocted the plauge interpretation on his own. The rhyme was first published in Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose or The Old Nursery Rhymes (1881) and there is no evidence of an earlier version. Because of this, some have suspected this theory to be false. (see external links)
Appearances in popular culture
The rhyme was heavily featured in the very first serial of Sapphire and Steel, where it was used as a "trigger" to allow time to break through into the present day. Several characters who are mentioned in the rhyme, as well as a person who appears to have the plague, appear as ghosts.
On a side note, the heavy metal band KoRn incorporated the song into one of their singles called "Shoots and Ladders" on their self-titled album. Dave Matthews of Dave Matthews Band also sings this rhyme as a verse in the song "Gravedigger" (Found on Some Devil, 2003.)
With the advent of nuclear weapons, a modern version has been created thus :
- Ring a ring o'roses
- A pocketful of neutrons
- A fission, a fusion
- We all fall down.