'What a good boy am I'

We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton

- Ian Morton

Is there a place for nursery rhymes in 2024? In the age of smartphones and internet access, many would argue that verses redolent of childhood innocence are more or less obsolete. Yet the truth is that nursery rhymes were rarely innocent. Seemingly designed for juvenile ears, few were actually composed to amuse children—quite the opposite. Anonymously authored, by and large they dealt in personal and political mockery and malice, innuendo and insult. For three centuries, misfortunes and unpleasantnesses were lampooned, concealing situations mercifully well beyond the ken of the young.

Some offered social comment —Ring-a-Ring o’ Roses noted the symptoms and fatal consequences of the 1665 plague, for example. Several recorded savage religious conflict: Goosey Goosey Gander involved the pursuit of Catholic priests as Protestantism took over and Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary and Three Blind Mice condemned the murderous response of the Catholic queen as Tudor and Stuart allegiances collided.

Important and royal personages were regular targets. Baa Baa Black Sheep was one of the first rhymes, from the 13th century, when every third bag of wool was taken in tax by Edward I. Old Mother Hubbard recorded Cardinal Wolsey’s failure to secure an annulment for his monarch and Jack Sprat satirised Charles I and Queen Henrietta as they lost influence.