Childhood II
Hi everyone,
Well, here it is finally: I hope it's worth the wait!
The idea for this blog came to me back in May, when I was on holiday in Cornwall. Walking down a country lane, I saw a field of yellow flowers:
I leant over the gate to take a closer look and saw that the flowers were buttercups:
These pretty little flowers are really weeds - they grow in fields and hedgerows from April until late summer. Who decides what are weeds? I checked the dictionary definition and it said: "A plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden." It seems to me to be very unfair, don't you agree? Just because a gardener wouldn't want them in the garden, they are called weeds!
Seeing the field of buttercups made me think of a nursery rhyme about buttercups and daisies
I started singing it to myself (it's a good job there was no-one else walking along the lane - they would have thought me very strange), but do you know, I couldn't get further than the first few words. The rest of the rhyme had completely gone out of my head! (Now that is very odd, because somehow the brain often stores songs. I don't know about you, but I can hear the first few bars of a song from my teenage years and find I can sing along with the whole song!) Anyway, when I came back from holiday, I checked on the internet to see if I could find the words....and do you know, I couldn't find any! Maybe I imagined it!
Nevertheless, it started me thinking about other rhymes I learnt as a child. Of course there are hundreds, but I thought I would share just a couple of them with you. I'm hoping you'll share some of your nursery rhymes with me too! The first one is a rhyme about London - here it is and I'll explain it afterwards:
"Oranges and lemons" say the Bells of St. Clement's
"You owe me five farthings" say the Bells of St. Martin's
"When will you pay me?" say the Bells of Old Bailey
"When I grow rich" say the Bells of Shoreditch
"When will that be?" say the Bells of Stepney
"I do not know" says the Great Bell of Bow
"Here comes a Candle to light you to Bed
Here comes a Chopper to Chop off your Head...."
Have you noticed how many nursery rhymes and fairy stories are really gruesome? Have you read any of the Brothers Grimm fairy stories: they are very bloodthirsty! This nursery rhyme is no exception, although as a child, I just thought it was a good song! All the bells mentioned in the rhyme are (or were) in churches in London. I thought I knew where they all were, but do you know, I have been doing some research and discovered I didn't know anything at all! Today I've been out on a voyage of discovery with my camera!
Oranges and lemons" say the Bells of St. Clement's
The rhyme begins with this church because when the Thames was wider than it is today, oranges and lemons from the Mediterranean were delivered by ship just across the street. It is said the church bells pealed when a cargo arrived. There is also a church called St Clement's almost outside Bush House. If you walk by the church at 9 a.m. you'll hear the bells play the tune to this nursery rhyme!
"You owe me five farthings" say the Bells of St. Martin's
St Martin's church was almost completely burnt down in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The tower and the bell remained. Above you can see all that is left of the church: the tower is now offices in Martin Lane. Martin Lane was once notorious for moneylenders. A farthing is an old English coin.
"When will you pay me?" say the Bells of Old Bailey
The Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court in London) stands on the original site of Newgate Prison. The 12 bells mentioned in the rhyme hung in a nearby church and the tenor bell in the bell tower was rung on mornings when there was an execution at the prison. The church still has the 'Execution Bell' in a glass case: but it's not used any more!
The Old Bailey
"When I grow rich" say the Bells of Shoreditch
Shoreditch was a very poor area of London
"When will that be?" say the Bells of Stepney
The church has ten bells, the oldest of which was recast in 1385
"I do not know" says the Great Bell of Bow
There has been a church on the site since 1070. During the 14th Century a curfew was rung on the Bow Bells every night at 9pm. It is said that anyone born within hearing distance of Bow Bells ringing is a true Cockney.
"Here comes a Candle to light you to Bed
Here comes a Chopper to Chop off your Head...."
Apparently, on the night before an execution, the prison warder would stand outside the prisoner's cell with a candle, at midnight, to let them know that the next day their head would be chopped off!! Hmmm. I'm not sure if that's actually true, but it's certainly gruesome!
The other nursery rhyme I wanted to share is a bit more obscure. It's one my Dad used to say to me when it was bedtime.
"To bed! To bed!"
Said Sleepy-head;
"Tarry awhile," said Slow;
"Put on the pan,"
Said Greedy Nan;
"We'll sup before we go."
Right, that's enough from me! Over to you. Please share your nursery rhymes with us!
Take care
Carrie
curfew : a law stating that people must stay inside their houses after a particular time at night until a particular time the next morning
Sleepy-head: an affectionate name for a person (usually a child)who is very tired or not paying attention
Tarry: an old fashioned word for "linger"
Nan: Nan is a version of the name Ann. It can also be what you'd call a children's nurse-maid (from nanny)
sup: to eat supper
