Rhyme and Reason: English History through Nursery Rhymes

By Susan Ackroyd

Why was a baby in a treetop? Who was Georgie Porgie, the little boy blue, Mary Mary? Little Jack Horner’s family continued to enjoy the plum property he took from those intended for Henry VIII, until the 20th century.

The 20 rhymes in this book show how parliament and king battled over taxation, the authority of kings, religion. Humpty played a part in the English Civil War.

Gain an understanding of history from medieval times through to the 1700s through these rhymes and their stories.

Understand how a nursery rhyme we recite today started life as a political comment and was passed down through the years until now we have forgotten the politics.

Parents, grandparents, and teachers will find the origin of these rhymes fascinating.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398463851

Susan Ackroyd

Susan lives in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, with her husband. They share their land with many kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, birds, and lizards. She loves history, political satire, entertaining and knitting. As both Susan and her husband were born in England, they love visiting their families, travelling on their narrowboat for multiple months each year. Rhyme and Reason includes knowledge gained on these journeys.

Book preview

About the Author

Susan lives in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, with her husband. They share their land with many kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, birds, and lizards. She loves history, political satire, entertaining and knitting. As both Susan and her husband were born in England, they love visiting their families, travelling on their narrowboat for multiple months each year. Rhyme and Reason includes knowledge gained on these journeys.

Dedication

To the lovers of history and political satire, particularly my partner, Jeffrey Ackroyd, who has been wonderfully patient and supportive.

Copyright Information ©

Susan Ackroyd 2023

The right of Susan Ackroyd to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398462984 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398463844 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781398463851 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

20230712

Acknowledgement

Many friends and family members have encouraged the writing of this book, intrigued by the history these rhymes illustrate.

Practical assistance through editing, special thanks to Susan Butler, Pam Gonzalez, Kerry Gatliff and Rob Aalders.

I would also like to acknowledge the illustrator, Wendy Anne Hawkes, for her beautiful illustrations which helped bring my vision to life.

Preface

When we recite nursery rhymes to our children, do we sometimes wonder why an egg sat on a wall or a baby on a treetop? Or who was Miss Muffett? Jack Spratt? What was the plum little Jack Horner was so fond of? Who was little boy blue? Did Dick Whittington really have a cat?

What are the reasons behind the rhymes?

These rhymes have long fascinated me since as a young student our history lecturer told us that Humpty was in fact a siege machine in the English Civil War. What were rhymes alluding to? And why?

Many of our well-known rhymes date from two centuries of conflict in England, the sixteenth and seventeenth. There was the tussle between monarch and parliament, the struggle for control of taxation, the religious upheavals.

In fact, more than half of these rhymes date back to these two centuries. Henry VIII upended religion, married six times. Elizabeth I executed her cousin. Charles I lost his head in the civil war. And William and Mary in 1688 replaced the Catholic Stuart family, more or less peacefully. When history shows us relatively peaceful reigns, such as Elizabeth I’s and Charles II’s, satirical rhymes are few.

These rhymes may have their origins in social and political events across five centuries. It is astonishing that a rhyme transmitted orally in the nursery or the playground in the 21st century may be linked to events up to 500 years ago.

Why were these rhymes bandied about so thoroughly that we still repeat them today? A plausible theory is that disguising a political comment in a rhyme at a time when most people couldn’t read, and before newspapers became available (in the early 18th century), protected the author from repercussions from authority. While literacy was low, political interest was high. It is the equivalent of the modern meme on social media.

The Origin of Nursery Rhymes