 This episode of Weird But True is brought to you by The Nocturnal Readers Box. If you love horror and sci-fi, The Nocturnal Readers Box is for you. Two novels every month delivered directly to your door along with horror or sci-fi-themed bookmarks, art pieces and more. Visit thenocturnalreadersbox.com and find out what's in next month's box. Get 15% off your first 6-month subscription by using the promo code Weird 15. That's all one word Weird15. Sign up now at thenocturnalreadersbox.com or click the link in the show notes. They're sweet melodies mask grisly tales of murder, sex and death. Welcome, Weirdos, I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird But True, a video companion to Weird Darkness. In this episode, the twisted truth behind 10 Creepy Nursery Rhymes. 1. Three Blind Mice Three blind mice, three blind mice, see how they run, see how they run. They all ran after the farmer's wife who cut off their tails with a carving knife. Did you ever see such a thing in your life as three blind mice? In 17th century Britain, Protestants and Catholics didn't exactly get along. The three blind mice were three Protestant loyalists who were accused of plotting against the Catholic Queen Mary called Bloody Mary because of the massacres of Protestants carried out in her name. Queen Mary is the farmer's wife, but she didn't cut off the tails of the three Protestant plotters. She burned them at the stake. Did you ever see such a thing in your life? 2. Rockabye Baby Rockabye baby in the treetop. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall and down will come baby, cradle and all. Many mothers probably wonder why they are singing their child to sleep with a song about a baby who dies in a tragic accident. There are competing theories about the origins of this little ditty. One holds it's a sly reference to the child of King James II and his queen who was rumored to have been born to someone else and spuggled into the birthing room to ensure a Catholic heir. The wind would be Protestantism which eventually blew them all away. 3. Ring Around the Rosie Ring around the Rosie, a pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down. When children on the playground fall down laughing at the end of this rhyme, they are re-enacting the great plague of 1665 in which a quarter of London's population, 100,000 people, fell down dead. The Rosie may refer to the rash caused by bubonic plague, the pocket full of posies, the sashes people carried with them to mask the ever-present smell of death. 4. Mary Mary Quite Contrary Mary Mary Quite Contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockleshells and pretty maids all in a row. Bloody Mary was murderous enough that she may have been immortalized in several nursery rhymes. Although there are competing theories about this rhyme, one holds that it is about Queen Mary's favorite pastime, killing Protestants. The silver bells and cockleshells refer to instruments of torture. The pretty maids would be that efficient new instrument for cutting off heads, the guillotine. 5. London Bridge London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady. Versions of this rhyme go all the way back to the Middle Ages. The bridge across the Thames has indeed needed lots of repairs over the centuries, but the most compelling theory about this particular song dates to a bloody Viking raid on the city in the year 1000. Keep listening, there's more weird but true coming up. I'm pretty busy, I can't afford to be without energy and focus, nor can I afford to be without that often hard-to-reach thing motivation. Fortunately, I found the solution a few months ago. It's dawn to dusk. 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Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after. Some scholars think this is just an innocent bit of nonsense, but at least one historian believes Jack and Jill were a couple of 17th-century teens who went up the hill to have sex. If so, it didn't end well. In this interpretation, Jack runs away and abandons Jill, who is left pregnant. 7. Georgie Porgy Georgie Porgy, putting in pie, kissed the girls and made them cry. When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgy ran away. According to one interpretation, Georgie didn't kiss only the girls. This theory holds the rhyme refers to the notorious 17th-century Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers, a bisexual pretty boy and a social climber. He used his good looks to sleep his way to the top, seducing both male and female courtiers and even the king. 8. Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again. This little children's rhyme is either about death or drunkenness, but theories have their supporters. Humpty Dumpty was a popular 17th-century drink made of brandy and ale, which might make you fall off a wall. It may also refer to a massive armored weapon hauled to the top of a wall and used to rain down death on attacking troops during the English Civil War. 9. Pop Goes the Weasel All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel. The monkey thought it was all in good sport. Pop Goes the Weasel. A penny for a spool of thread, a penny for a needle. That's the way the money goes, Pop Goes the Weasel. Pop once meant to pawn and a weasel was a coat, so this rhyme is probably about a poor man forced to trade the coat off his back for cash so he can keep a roof over his head. The monkey is the rent collector, but by pawning the coat rather than selling it, the poor man hopes to get it back by Sunday, so he'll have something to wear to church. 10. Ba Ba Blacksheep Ba Ba Blacksheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. One for the master, one for the dame, and one for the little boy who lives down the lane. This rhyme was revised in modern times to make it a little less gloomy. It's about the government taking from the poor and giving to the rich. The original version ends and none for the little boy who cries down the lane. Wool was a major source of wealth in Medieval England. In the 13th century, the crown decided to tax it to pay for the crusades, so one bag goes to the master, the king, another bag goes to the church, the dame, and nothing is left for the young shepherd who took care of the flock. Please subscribe and click the bell for notifications so you don't miss future videos, including my podcasts Weird Darkness and Daily Dose of Weird News. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up, leave a comment, and share a link with it to a couple of friends and ask them to subscribe as well. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time, Weirdos.