Quote:
Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington
I think that Pop goes the weasel referred to pawning stuff.......didn't they used to say they were taking Dad's best suit to the 'pop shop'.......the half a pound of tuppeny rice and the treacle were goods that would be bought as a result of getting cash on articles pawned.
Ring-a ring a roses certainly referred to the black death. Apparently the rash would come in a circle and was pink. Hence the reference to roses...the atishoo was the cold like symptoms...and of course 'all fall down' refers to the numbers who dies as a result of catching the plague.
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These are the usual explanations for these two rhymes - pop goes the weasel refers to pawning the weasel and stoat or coat in rhyming slang. However there's no firm evidence for either of the explanations and they could have arisen after the songs were made up purely as nonsense rhymes.
Try this Wikipedia page, Gordon...
Nursery rhyme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia