The analysis by Sarah Giles and Sarah Shea of head injuries in nursery rhymes, which appeared in the “Findings” section of the 2003 Holiday Review, caught the attention of not only our regular readers, but also the lay media and general public. Many people, it seems, have an interest in nursery rhymes and their subtexts, origins and hidden meanings. We publish here a small selection of the eletters that were posted with the online version of the article. The complete discussion thread can be found on eCMAJ (www.cmaj.ca/cgi/eletters/169/12/1294). — Editors
Sarah Giles and Sarah Shea,1 in their article about head injuries in nursery rhymes, perpetuate the common belief that “Ring Around the Rosie” and its variants are retellings of Black Plague stories, including preventive measures. However, according to the Urban Legends References Pages (www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.htm), this nursery rhyme, “of indefinite origin and no specific meaning,” has no traceable connection to the Plague. Rather, it is just a “[collection] of words and sounds that someone thought sounded good together.”
D. Keith Howington Logix Development Corporation Camarillo, Calif.
Reference
- 1.Giles SM, Shea S. Head injuries in nursery rhymes: evidence of a dangerous subtext in children's literature. CMAJ 2003;169(12):1294-6. [PMC free article] [PubMed]