What was ring around the rosie based on

Nevertheless, modern folklorists believe that the rhyme does not have a connection to the Black Death or any other historical plague.

While folklorists still have not decided on a single true meaning of the rhyme, different versions of the rhyme in other languages may give us some clues. While they are not word-for-word translations, there are a number of very similar versions of the rhyme in a bunch of European languages.

The German version of the rhyme, whose first written version predates the English one by nearly one hundred years, has the same played-out actions as the English version, but involves singing about an elder bush.

The Swiss version directly mentions a rose bush. Other versions, including the Dutch, Italian, and Serbian versions do just the same.

Perhaps the metafolklore about the origin of Ring Around the Rosie suggests that we should be more aware of the various urban legends that circulate under the false guise of history. Last Updated On: August 13, Maybe you saw the table and cues in the back of the last bar you visited. Eventually, the church tower was knocked down and the cannon tumbled into the marsh below, never to be found. Although cinematic, this theory, much like our doomed Dumpty, falls apart: it originates with a spoof article in The Oxford Magazine.

But the term Humtie Dumtie does have a historical connection: a 17th century boiled brandy and ale drink. Beware: requesting this drink today may get you some egg on the face, for obvious reasons. The original London Bridge was built by the Romans, though it has since been replaced numerous times. False About this rating. For example, versions published by William Wells Newell in Ring a ring a rosie, A bottle full of posie, All the girls in our town, Ring for little Josie.

Top Fact Checks. View all. Most Searched. The bubonic plague, the most well-known type of the disease, was transmitted by the bite of a parasitic insect.

Another form, pneumonic plague, was mostly transmitted by droplets sprayed by the mouth and nose of infected persons. Septicemic plague, still another form, was spread by direct contact with contaminated hands.

The Black Death swept through Europe, reaching Italy in It is reported that at the onset of the plague, both men and women were affected by a sort of swelling in the groin or armpits, which sometimes attained the size of a common apple or egg.