Posts filed under ‘.origin’
Miss Mary Mack
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephant, elephant, elephant
Jump the fence, fence fence
They jumped so high, high, high
They touched the sky, sky, sky
And didn’t come back, back, back
Till the fourth of July, July, July
America’s Story: Children’s Songs
Wikipedia: Possible Origins
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
You know Dasher and Dancer,
And Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid,
And Donner and Blitzen.
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all.
Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer,
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer,
Used to laugh and call him names,
They never let poor Rudolph,
Join in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say:
‘Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?’
Then how the reindeer loved him,
As they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
You’ll go down in history.
Wikipedia
Translations into Latin from Gaudium Mundo: Latin Christmas Carols
Version 1 (translator unknown, widely repeated on the Internet)
Reno erat Rudolphus
Nasum rubrum habebat;
Si quando hunc videbas,
Hunc candere tu dicas.
Omnes renores alii
Semper hunc deridebant;
Cum misero Rudolpho
In ludis non ludebant.
Santus Nicholas dixit
Nocte nebulae,
“Rudolphe, naso claro
Nonne carrum tu duces?”
Tum renores clamabant,
“Rudolphe, delectus es!
Cum naso rubro claro
Historia descendes!”
Version 2 (translated by Harry C. Maynard?)
Rudolphus, naso rubro,
naso nitidissimo,
si umquam eum spectes,
dicas eum fulgere.
Reliqui tum renones
deridebant ludentes,
semper vetabant eum
apud ludos ludere.
Deinde ante Natalem
Santa venit, et
“Tu, Rudolphe nitide,
traham meam duc nocte.”
Dein, ut renones amant,
exclamantes hilare:
“Rudolphe, naso rubro,
in annalibus eris!”
Version 3
Rudolphus rubrinasus
fulgentissimo naso,
vidisti et si eum
dicas quoque candere.
Omnes tarandi ceteri
ridebant vocantes nomina;
non sinebant Rudolphum
interesse ludentes.
Olim crassa nocte Christi,
Nicholas it dictum:
“Rudolphe, naso tam claro,
agesne traham meam?”
Qui tum tarandis amor
conclamantibus eum,
“Rudolphe rubrinase,
descendes historia!”
Version 4
Rudolphus cervus nasum
Rubicundum habebat
Quem si videre possis
Elucere referas.
Ludificare cervi
Deridentes solebant,
Neque sinebant eum
Comminus colludere.
Ecce! Dixit Nicholas
Pridie festum
“O Rudolphe nocte hac
Visne traham ducere?”
Quam tunc iucundus fuit
Cervis iubilantibus.
“Rudolphe,” nunc dicebant.
“Notus eris posteris!”
Ring a Ring o’ Roses
UK version:
Ring a-ring o’ roses,
A pocketful of posies.
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!.
We all fall down.
US version:
Ring around the rosy,
A pocketful of posies.
ashes, ashes.
We all fall down!.
Canada version:
Ring around the rosey,
A pocket full of posies.
Hush-a, hush-a.
We all fall down.
Australia and in New Zealand version:
Ring a ring a rosey
A pocketful of posies
ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo.
We all fall down.
Followed by:
When our mother calls us,
We all jump up!
Other verses:
Picking up the roses,
Picking up the roses,
Atishoo!, Atishoo!
We all jump up.
Picking up the daises,
Picking up the daises,
Atishoo!, Atishoo!
We all jump up.
Ashes in the water,
Ashes in the sea,
We all jump up
With a one-two-three.
The King has sent his daughter,
To fetch a pail of water.
ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo.
We all fall down.
The bird up on the steeple,
Sits high above the people.
ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo.
We all fall down.
The cows are in the meadow,
Eating buttercups,
ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo.
They all jump up.
Fishes in the water,
Fishes in the sea,
We all jump up,
With a one, two, three!
Down at the bottom of the deep blue sea,
How many fishes can you see,
We all jump up,
With a one, two, three!
Sitting at the bottom of the deep blue sea,
Catching fishes, for my tea!
We all jump up,
With a one, two, three!
Cows are in the clover,
Eating buttercups,
ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo.
We all jump up!
Cows are in the meadow,
Eating all the grass,
ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo.
Who’s up last?
Bringing up the posies,
We all pop up!
The cows are in the pasture,
Sleeping, Sleeping,
Lightning, Lightning.
We all jump up!
Mammy in the teapot,
Daddy in the cup.
One, two, three
And we all jump up!
Cows in the meadow,
eating buttercups.
thunder, lightning
We all stand up!
Remember Remember the Fifth of November
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…
Nursery Rhyme & History
Guy Fawkes & the Gunpowder Plot
Words of “Remember Remember” refer to Guy Fawkes with origins in 17th century English history. On the 5th November 1605 Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. Guy Fawkes was subsequently tried as a traitor with his co-conspirators for plotting against the government. He was tried by Judge Popham who came to London specifically for the trial from his country manor Littlecote House in Hungerford, Gloucestershire. Fawkes was sentenced to death and the form of the execution was one of the most horrendous ever practised (hung ,drawn and quartered) which reflected the serious nature of the crime of treason.
The Tradition begins…
The following year in 1606 it became an annual custom for the King and Parliament to commission a sermon to commemorate the event. Lancelot Andrewes delivered the first of many Gunpowder Plot Sermons. This practice, together with the nursery rhyme, ensured that this crime would never be forgotten! Hence the words ” Remember , remember the 5th of November” The poem is sometimes referred to as ‘Please to remember the fifth of November’. It serves as a warning to each new generation that treason will never be forgotten. In England the 5th of November is still commemorated each year with fireworks and bonfires culminating with the burning of effigies of Guy Fawkes (the guy). The ‘guys’ are made by children by filling old clothes with crumpled newspapers to look like a man. Tradition allows British children to display their ‘guys’ to passers-by and asking for ” A penny for the guy”.
St. Swithin’s Day
St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin’s day (15 July) if thou be fair
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.
Nursery Rhyme Origins and History
The words and lyrics of the nursery rhyme reflect the ‘old wive’s tale’ that if it rains on St. Swithin’s day then it will continue to rain for a further forty days. St. Swithin’s Day falls on 15th July. St. Swithin, or Swithun was born circa 800 and died AD862. He was a Saxon Bishop of Winchester and was originally buried, at his request, in a humble outside grave at Winchester. Nine years later the monks at Winchester moved his remains to a magnificent shrine inside Winchester cathedral on 15 July 971. Legend says that during the ceremony it began to rain and continued to do so for forty days. The Shrine of St. Swithun, together with the tomb of Alfred the Great, in Winchester Cathedral made the Cathedral a principal place of pilgrimage in England. The shrine was destroyed in 1538 by King Henry VIII’ s men during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
There are several rhymes of this nature, some of which also have significant historical relevance such as:
If Candlemas day (2 February) be dry and fair
If St Paul’s day (29 June) be fair and clear
If St Paul’s day be fair and clear
If St Paul’s day (29 June) be fair and clear
It does betide a happy year
But if it chance to snow or rain
Then will be dear all kinds of grain
If clouds or mists do dark the sky
Great store of birds and beasts shall die
And if the winds do file aloft
Then war shall vex the kingdom oft
Nursery Rhyme Origins and History
The words and lyrics of the nursery rhyme ‘If St Paul’s day be fair and clear’ is a day on which the superstitious believe the weather can be predicted as in St. Swithin’s day. Saul, renamed Paul, was born at Tarsus in Cilicia of a father who was a Roman citizen. His conversion to Christianity led to Paul’s correspondence with the Corinthians which formed part of the “Acts” in the Bible. The Feast of Saint Paul is celebrated on 29th June.
There are several rhymes of this nature, some of which also have significant historical relevance such as:
If Candlemas day (2 February) be dry and fair
St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain
If Candlemas day be dry and fair
If Candlemas day (2 February) be dry and fair
The half o’ winters to come and mair
If Candlemas day be wet and foul
The half o’ winter’s gane at Yule
Nursery Rhyme Origins and History
The words and lyrics of the nursery rhyme ‘If Candlemas day be dry and fair’ is a day on which the superstitious believe the weather can be predicted, as in St. Swithin’s day. The rhyme is saying that if the sun comes out on 2nd February , halfway between Winter and Spring, it meant six more weeks of winter weather. Candlemas day falls on 2nd February, as does St Bridget’s Day and Groundhog Day. Candlemas has been celebrated for hundreds of years and it was the custom on Candlemas Day for clergy to bless candles and distribute them to the people. Candlemas Day was therefore celebrated as the festival of candles – a bright light in the middle of a cold, dark winter when a lighted candle was placed in every window. Candlemas falls between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox and was originally a Pagan celebration. A superstition was brought to America by German settlers that on St Bridget’s Day (2nd February) hedgehogs would come out to judge the quality of the weather. There were no hedgehogs in the New World but there were Groundhogs and this was the origin Groundhog Day:
If the sun shines on Groundhog Day
Half the fuel and half the hay.
There are several rhymes of this nature, some of which also have significant historical relevance such as:
If St Paul’s day (29 June) be fair and clear
St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain
Rainbow to Windward
Rainbow to windward
Foul fall the day
Rainbow to leeward
Rain runs away
Nursery Rhyme Origins and History
The words and lyrics of the nursery rhyme consists of the old proverb and how people believe the weather can be predicted. Rainbows remained a mystery until the seventeenth century when the French scientist, Rene Descartes, investigated interactions between light and water and Sir Isaac Newton determined that “white” sunlight is actually a combination of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet light – exactly the colors that make up the spectrum of a rainbow. The magical apparition of a rainbow still gives great pleasure and excitement – whatever the prediction it always signifies clear and sunny skies ahead.
There are several rhymes of this nature, some of which also have significant historical relevance such as:
If Candlemas day (2 February) be dry and fair
If St Paul’s day (29 June) be fair and clear
St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain
Doctor Foster
Doctor Foster
Went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain.
He stepped in a puddle
Right up to his middle
And never went there again!
Nursery Rhyme Origins & History
The Origins of the words from “Doctor Foster”
The origins and history of the poem “Doctor Foster” are in England, this is made clear with the reference to the English county of Gloucestershire (Doctor Foster went to Gloucester…). This was a warning to children in bygone days, prior to modern roads, that what may appear to be a shallow puddle could in fact be much deeper!
“Doctor Foster” History
The origins of “Doctor Foster” are reputedly lie in English history dating back to the Plantagenet monarchy of the 13th century when King Edward 1 (“Doctor Foster”) was thought to have visited Gloucester and fell from his horse into a large muddy puddle! He is said to have been so humiliated by this experience that he refused to ever visit Gloucester again! King Edward 1 (June 17, 1239 – July 7, 1307) was a powerful man, over six foot tall – hence his nickname of Longshanks. Edward built many castle – fortresses in Wales as part of his strategy to conquer the Welsh who were lead by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd – Edward succeeded and Llywelyn became the last independent Prince of Wales.
Rain Rain Go Away
Original
Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!
There are several longer versions, the most common of which is:
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.
Rain, rain, go away.
Come again some other day.
Little Arthur wants to play,
In the meadow by the hay.
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again.
Rain, rain, pour down,
But not a drop on our town.
Rain on the green grass,
and rain on the tree,
And rain on the housetop,
but not on me.
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again on washing day.
Rain, rain, go to Germany,
And remain there permanently.
Rain, rain, go away,
Come on Martha’s wedding day.
Additional Verses:
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day,
If you don’t, I will say,
Rain, rain go away.
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again some other day,
We want to go outside and play,
Come again some other day.
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again some other day,
If you don’t, I don’t care,
I’ll pull down your underwear!
History of “Rain rain go away” poem
The origin of the lyrics to “Rain rain go away” are said to date back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), one of the English Tudor monarchs. During this period of English history there was constant rivalry between Spain and England culminating in the launch of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Spanish Armada consisted of many Spanish galleons and was sent to invade England. The Armada was led by Duke of Medina Sedonia and the the fleet numbered over 130 ships. The English fleet, under Admiral Lord Howard, totalled 34 small Navy vessels and 163 armed merchant ships. But the great Spanish Armada was defeated. Only 65 Spanish galleons and just 10,000 men returned to Spain. The attempt failed, not only because of the swift nature of the smaller English ships but also by the stormy weather which scattered the Armada fleet. Hence the origin of the “Rain rain go away” Nursery rhyme!
Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!
