We all fall down.

Ashes

Despite all the negative press, beautiful things can come from plagues.
Take for instance the favorite tunes sung by children throughout the world such as…

Ring around the rosy…A pocketful of posies…Ashes, Ashes…We all fall down!

We sang that as Kids! If you did not your childhood was depraved.

This nursery rhyme originated in the 1665 Great Plague of London.

The "ring around the rosy" is a reference to the bubonic plague rash. The "pocketful of posies" describes the handfuls of herbs people would carry to mask the smell. “We all fall down" refers to everyone dying, and the "ashes" are the cremated bodies.
What a nice rhyme for children!

“Rockabye Baby, in a tree top”…refers to how mothers would cradle their babies high in trees to keep them socially distanced from those with The Black Death.
“When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,” illustrates one of the hazards.
A wonderful lullaby.

Then there’s…
Mary, Mary, quite contrary…How does your garden grow?…With silver bells, and cockle shells…And pretty maids all in a row

Note: The last line, pretty maids all in a row, was later changed to, “And one lousy eggplant.”

The "Mary" in this rhyme refers to Mary Tudor...aka Bloody Mary, Queen of England. Her "garden" is actually a cemetery, and the “silver bells and cockle shells” are torture devices. The “pretty maids,” refers to the guillotine, which was nicknamed "The Maiden."

Jack and Jill, went up the hill, they each had 2 pounds, 30 quid, 2 shillings…Jill came down with 4 pounds, 60 quid…you don’t really believe they went up for water.
This was later revised after the King, (Jack) died, falling down and breaking his crown.

That is how “They” did it…How will “We” do it?
Surely with all this time on our hands we can come up with a few pertinent phrases for our forebears to sing about.

Who wants to start one off?

Penwose Out,
By George
NoPo8