Ring around the rosie

by **GEOvanne** Fri 08 Feb 2008, 4:32 pm

Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
"Ashes, Ashes"
We all fall down!
Ring-a-Ring o'Rosies
A Pocket full of Posies
"A-tishoo! A-tishoo!"
We all fall Down!

The words to the Ring around the rosy children's ring game have their origin in English history . The historical period dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when the first outbreak of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy).
Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies! The death rate was over 60% and the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which was transmitting via water sources. The English version of "Ring around the rosy" replaces Ashes with (A-tishoo, A-tishoo) as violent sneezing was another symptom of the disease.

by **niqui** Fri 08 Feb 2008, 6:37 pm

Yeah I was just telling my friend about this quite recently and she was like "No! Nuttin nuh go so!"

Back then they thought Cats and dogs were spreading the plague. So they use to pay ppl to kill their pets. Too bad they didn't know they were worsenning the situation. Killing the cats and dogs meant rats had less predators.

Oh well, pray Jesus humanity never returns that period of ignorance.....

by **GEOvanne** Sat 09 Feb 2008, 4:27 pm

yeah, i was telling chanz and some friends the same thing.

by **Snyper** Fri 15 Feb 2008, 5:55 pm

GEOvanne wrote:the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which was transmitting via water sources.

Hold on a moment. Wasnt this actually cured by Nastrodamus at this time, when he actually inproved the poor drainage system in homes and on the streets?

by **tabooXchanz** Fri 15 Feb 2008, 8:45 pm

and also he came up with something called the "rose pill" and he prescribed that all the bodies in the streets be disposed of and basically good hygiene and no bleeding...yea I'm not sure if it was so much a definite cure because his own family died from it but it sure worked for a lot of other people....but yea its the same "Black Death"

by **GEOvanne** Sat 16 Feb 2008, 8:23 pm

well yeah, that too, but the fire played a part in it:

The fire destroyed about four-fifths of the
city, including roughly 13,200 houses, nearly 90 parish churches, and
nearly 50 livery company halls--in all an area of more than 430 acres.
In the aftermath, Sir Christopher Wren, the great architect,
designed and oversaw the construction of 49 new churches, as well as
the new St. Paul's Cathedral. Amazingly, the fire claimed only 16 lives
and may actually have saved countless more. After 5th September, the
Black Plague, which had ravished London since 1664, abruptly declined,
probably because so few of the rats that helped to transmit the disease
escaped the flames.

http://www.pepys.info/fire.html