One day at the office, our manager, Rick, was talking about getting something done and used the phrase, "knick-knack paddywhack."He paused, and in a Seinfeld-esque moment said, "Did you ever wonder where these sayings come from? And what does ‘knick-knack paddywhack’ mean, anyway?"It’s a part of the famous nursery rhyme that helps kids learn rhythm, rhyme and counting. "This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my thumb, with a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone. This old man came rolling home."It goes on to rhyme with all the numbers up to 10, but I don’t know what a paddywhack is or why children should be singing of an old man rolling home.However, I do know the origins of a couple of nursery rhymes — and they might make you think twice the next time you hear children reciting them.‘Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary’This bloody little story is about Mary Tudor, who was daughter of King Henry VIII. Queen Mary was a staunch Catholic and the garden referred to is an allusion to graveyards which were increasing in size with those who adhered to the protestant faith.The silver bells and cockleshells were actually instruments of torture, which I don’t think I should describe in this publication.The "maids" were used to behead people. The original guillotine was called the Maiden. Mary also burned people at the stake, but her total executions were just 300 during her reign. Here’s the rhyme in case you forgot:"Mary Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockleshells, and pretty little maids all in a row."‘Ring Around the Rosy’This dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665. (The first round of the bubonic plague hit England in the 1300s, however.)The symptoms of the plague included a rosy, red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin. Pockets and pouches were filled with herbs (or posies), which were carried because people thought bad odors transmitted the disease."Ashes, ashes," refers to the cremation of those who died from the plague. The death rate of more than 60 percent was stopped by the Great Fire of London, which killed many rats that helped carry the disease.There has been some dispute to this theory, but I prefer to believe it.Here’s a refresher in this rhyme: "Ring around the rosy. Pockets full of posies. Ashes, ashes! We all fall down!"
