History of Nursery Rhymes

          Everyone grew up with the well-known set of nursery rhymes, such as Jack and Jill, or Peter Peter, Pumpkin Eater, and all the others. The visual imagery invoked by these stories is vivid, such as three blind mice running away from a madwoman with a knife, while Jack made a wild leap over a flaming candle. Best of all for wild imagery, however, would have to be “Hey Diddle Diddle”.

         But these nursery rhymes, most of them, came from historical events or situations. Most of the most popular ones came from British politics, in fact, and were invented as a way of spreading gossip about royalty. And while these rumors and stories have no bearing on our lives anymore, the rhymes they produced have lived on in our lives.

       Mind you, a lot of these histories are subject to interpretation. Every rumor about where a story came from is just that, another rumor. You may have heard different stories of where these started, and you may be right.

**Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater**

 Peter Peter pumpkin eater,

Had a wife and couldn't keep her!

He put her in a pumpkin shell,

And there he kept her very well!

**Jack and Jill**

Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. 

Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after.