Origins of Rhymes Songs & Sayings By Jean Harrowven

I recently borrowed this book from the public library and have fallen in love with it. It immediately reminded me of the Old Mother Goose. At a decent 370 pages Harrowven discusses the origins and meanings behind the most common rhymes, proverbs and songs. Ones that sound so simple and familiar that we all recited as children can be thousands of years old with deep meanings. It isn't just the meaning of the rhymes that I enamoured me, it is the witchcraft and magic lore within this reference book. Many of the old rhymes or riddles were spells or incantations for ceremonies and festivals. There are sections for Pre-Christian rhymes, Roman origin rhymes, Magic rhymes etc.

One example is a rhyme I grew up using all the time as a child: "Rain rain go away, come again another day." This one is of Roman origin - it was a spell used by children to stop the rain and make the sun come out. The pagan Romans believed that only children had the power to change the weather. For all the times I said this phrase as a child I can't remember if it worked!!

I highly recommend this book to anyone obsessed with folklore and nursery rhymes - for those like me who like to find the hidden remnants of magic in oral tradition and stories. There is also a companion to this book by Harrowven called "Origins of Festivals & Feasts" it's on my wanted booklist, but if anyone's read it please let me know what you thought of it!

Oh, that does sound good! I'm going to request it from the library tomorrow.. Or buy it somewhere.. I'm always in the market for a good book.

Thanks!  

Mara

That reminds me of the song "Ring Around the Rosies" it was slightly shocking to realize that the song was about the black plague ravaging Europe.

As most will remember, the song's lyrics are:

Ring around the rosies
pocket full of posies
ashes, ashes
we all fall down

The first line describes the sores that herald the onset of the plague
the posies were a believed way to protect oneself from them
burning everything (including the corpses) was the only way to eradicate it from an area
and most of Europe died anyway...

What a happy song for the playground.

Hopefully some of the other childhood songs had better history.  Will definately need to try reading that book.

I think alot of children's rhymes are deeply disturbing.. London Bridge, (I think a lot of people died in that one), and the most creepiest is Rock-A-Bye Baby.
But I love folklore, it has deeper more real meanings than what we realize.  The book sounds really interesting.

Yeah, my daughter wouldn't let anyone sing "Rock-a-Bye Baby" to her children.  I really never had thought about it until she said she didn't want them to hear a song about the wind blowing them out of a treetop right before falling off to sleep.    

I've always love folklore.  My granny told me such stories and nursery rhymes when I was little.  I've tried to pass them on to my children what I can remember.  I just might have to check this book out at the library, too.  

Thanks, Lady Elaine.