ging and dancing around in circles to is "Ring Around the Rosie." This rhyme is believed to have significant meaning to the social history of the past. The origin and purpose of this rhyme is the most controversial between the scholars of today. There are three versions of the origins of this rhyme that are most commonly believed. The first and most wildly spread version is that the rhyme describes or was used as an incantation to ward off either the Black Death of the 14th century or the great Plague of London in the 17th century. This version of the origins of rhymes is what I had learned in school and programs I had watched on the History Channel. The original rhyme of this version as written down in the web site by Terresa Lightfoot is as follows:Ring-a-ring o'roses,A pocket full of posies,A-tishoo, a-tishoo!We all fall down.The basic interpretation is that the first line refers to the rosie-red, round rash that were the fist signs of the plague. The second verse refers to the superstitious method that the flower posies either would cure or ward off the disease, so that people would stuff their pockets full of the flowers. The third verse is the sound of sneezing and that too is a sign of the plague. The final verse "We all fall down," most believe refers to the fact that whoever got the plague would fall down dead. This rhyme has evolved over time and the third line nowadays is " Ashes, ashes!" instead of "A-tishoo, a-tishoo." This third line of the evolved rhyme is often translated as when the victims of the plague died, all of their belongings were burnt to kill any of the viruses that were left on them (Lightfoot pars.1-3). I have also heard that line to be interpreted as the bodies of victims of the plague being burnt in piles because of the mass amount of deceased. Many scholars are skeptical of this version because many sources print that this rhyme is indeed the memory of the Black Death of 1347-1350. Ian Mun...
