So there’s this book.
And it looks all cute and sweet, right? And it is. I was reading it to Jane last night, and she’s really enjoying “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Hush, Little Baby” and "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and then we get to this:
And it looks all cute and sweet, right? And it is. I was reading it to Jane last night, and she’s really enjoying “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Hush, Little Baby” and "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and then we get to this:
Goosey, Goosey, Gander
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs,
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man,
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him down the stairs.
Are you effing kidding me with this? I TOOK HIM BY HIS LEFT LEG AND THREW HIM DOWN THE STAIRS?!!? Nighty night, Jane! Sleep night! With visions of being tossed down the stairs by one leg dancing in your head! Sweet dreams! WTF??
So I had to Google that shit. And it turns out, this so-called nursery rhyme has some nefarious undertones, as so many seemingly innocent children’s songs and stories do. This is what the internets told me:
Are you effing kidding me with this? I TOOK HIM BY HIS LEFT LEG AND THREW HIM DOWN THE STAIRS?!!? Nighty night, Jane! Sleep night! With visions of being tossed down the stairs by one leg dancing in your head! Sweet dreams! WTF??
So I had to Google that shit. And it turns out, this so-called nursery rhyme has some nefarious undertones, as so many seemingly innocent children’s songs and stories do. This is what the internets told me:
Zealous Protestants & Secret Priest Holes
Goosey, Goosey Gander is a rhyme with historical undertones - an attention grabber for a nursery rhyme which uses alliteration in the lyrics designed to intrigue any child. The 'lady's chamber' was a room that once upon a time a high born lady would have her own chamber, (also referred to as a solar). The origins of the nursery rhyme are believed to date back to the 16th century and refer to necessity for Catholic priests to hide in 'Priest Holes' ( very small secret rooms once found in many great houses in England) to avoid persecution from zealous Protestants who were totally against the old Catholic religion. If caught both the priest and members of any family found harbouring them were executed. The moral in Goosey Goosey Gander's lyrics imply that something unpleasant would surely happen to anyone failing to say their prayers correctly - meaning the Protestant Prayers, said in English as opposed to Catholic prayers which were said in Latin!
So it’s basically – you better get your prayers right, bitch – or you’re going to need crutches! Nice. I think I’ll be skipping over that page next time this book comes out of the bookcase.
And thus concludes NaBloPoMo. I cannot believe I actually posted every day. Yay me! I now get about a 12-hour break to refocus my brain and dive into reverb10 – hope you’ll stick around!
Special thanks to my friend Dwayne, who has managed to, as promised, comment on every post I’ve made this month. Now get your own blog!
6 comments:
All I can say is don't Google the meaning behind Ring Around the Rosie...
I never did like that one!!!! And now I know why. Thx! :)
Congrats on the daily blogging for a month!
so, for my last nablopomo comment, i have four confessions to make:
1) when i made my promise to you, i made it in all sincerity; however, i never thought you would actually do it, so i never thought i was going to have to keep my promise.
2) it is actually very hard for me to type without using capitalization; so i use a "case converter" to reformat my comments before i post them.
3) i once had a blog. i am pretty sure that all traces of it have been removed from the internet (this is not a challenge to see if it can be found, shane). i am sure you will find this shocking, but it was about comic books…in fact, the title of it was "everything i know about life, i learned from comic books." i still have the first post…and here is an excerpt from it:
"what do i consider a good story? i want a story that has truth and depth and humor and meaning, a story that is written by a bold, imaginative writer and is told by a genuine, commanding speaker. when i read or listen, i want to be moved; i want to be so completely transported that i forget that i’m only there in my mind; i want to hear bones crushing and children laughing; i want to see heroes falling and recovering and lovers uniting and un-uniting; i want goose bumps; i want to feel the story…"
i went on to talk about this moment in one of my comic books when one character, sue richards from the fantastic four to be precise, did something brave and unexpected and it literally gave me goosebumps. just thinking about it now gives me goosebumps.
perhaps that blog or something akin will resurface one day.
4) i really did enjoy doing this, if for no other reason, because i amused the hell out of myself.
ps: i have no post scriptum, i just wanted to say something in latin to make it relevant to you blog post.
pps: "priest holes" hahaha
Lia has that same book. She sings that song all the time. We had a conversation last week about how that song was not nice. Still, Rock a Bye baby is the songs that bothers her most.
I blogged about messed up kids songs a while back: http://greghowley.com/773
I'm glad you decided to share your blog. I've been enjoying every last word and look forward to your next challenge.
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