Old Mothers

Old Mothers

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Let me tell you that is one of the luckiest dogs in the world, depending on how you look at it.  I mean, what kind of person runs to the store to get beer for their dog?

funny dog

Old Mother Hubbard is one of those nursery rhymes that you learn real young, but never really understand till you are much older.  I was reading this to my daughter and I was caught by how this woman was buying her dog a coffin and beer and thought, How did this become a children’s nursery rhyme?  Seriously.

It reminded me of Ring Around the Rosie.  Do you remember that one?

Ring Around the Rosie

Pocket Full of Posies

Ashes, Ashes

We All Fall Down

So, there is some speculation that this one came about because of the Black Plague, but I guess the real meaning is not really known.  Either way, a little disturbing when you think about a bunch of kiddos, holding hands, singing, and dancing in a circle to this tune.

 Last, you have the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe…well, I was surprised that this tale might have something to do with the tradition of tying shoes to the back of a car after a wedding, but in the end, still a little morbid when you think that some of the original versions of this rhyme mentioned that the old woman, “whipped all her children soundly”, before sending them to bed.

So what in the world kind of oral tradition are we supposed to be passing down to our children with these stories?  What’s your favorite nursery rhyme from when you were a kid?

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