Which duke? And which hill was marched up and then down again….?

  We all know the Grand Old Duke of York marched his 10,000 men up a hill and then down again. But which Duke of York was it? If you go here you’ll find there are a number of candidates, including the 3rd Duke, father of Edward IV and Richard III. In general, however, my…

Humpty-Dumpty and his wall were Richard III and his horse….!

Well, we’ve all heard versions of the true meaning of Humpty-Dumpty, including that it was a reference to a 17th-century cannon used in the Siege of Colchester. Oh and Humpty may also have been a drink of brandy boiled with ale. All nursery rhymes had beginnings somewhere, and also have some wild notions about their…

THE ORANGE AND LEMON CHURCHES OF OLD LONDON

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Old London – City of Churches.   Bow Church can be seen to the left.  Part of the The Visscher Panorama of London, 1616. Image Peter Harrington Rare Books.   Orange and lemons say the bells of Saint Clement’s You owe me five farthings say the bells of St Martin’s…

Hey Diddle Dumpty….!

  Here is a quote from this article:  “….Some say Humpty Dumpty is a sly allusion to King Richard III, whose brutal 26-month reign ended with his death in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. In this speculative version, King Richard III’s horse was supposedly called “Wall,” off of [sic] which he fell during battle.…

I HAD A LITTLE NUT TREE

Recently while perusing a book of folklore, I came across this traditional rhyme- I had a little nut tree, Nothing  could it bear But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear; The king of Spain’s daughter Came to visit me; And all for the sake of my little nut tree. Apparently, this rhyme is supposed…

Edward I and nursery rhymes go together….um, no, they don’t….!

  Well, I associate Edward I with many things, but not children’s nursery rhymes. I can imagine him being used to frighten them witless, but not to sing and chant with humour. Anyway, according to this site two of our oldest rhymes are due to old Longshanks. I find it hard to believe the Dr…

More musical connections?

This nursery rhyme, although not mediaeval, is early modern and is supposed to refer to a monarch just a few places after Richard III. Here (left) we have the Martyrs’ Memorial near Balliol College, Oxford, that commemorates three of Mary I’s most prominent victims: Archbishop Cranmer and Bishops Latimer and Ridley. They were not the only…

Hey diddle diddle, it’s Richard III….!

Sometime ago I read that the words of the old Hey Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme were in fact a reference to the story of Richard III. There are other theories, of course, including this of Elizabeth I: “The story goes that Elizabeth, was often called a cat for the treatment of her court, the mice.…