“Ring a Ring O'Roses”. Have you ever sung this rhyme??

You are 100% correct about the very negative origin of this rhyme (as most children's fables and songs do have)

Nope i had no idea but when i ran it past my other hanf, he said he knew about that, i wonder why he did but i didn't have a clue.
I have to admit that the only thing that came to mind when you asked why people say 'Bless You' when someome sneezes is from a Simpson's episode - where Bart sells his soul! Milhouse explains that when you sneeze it's your soul trying to escape & by saying 'God Bless You', that crams it back in there!
Sorry:) That's the only thing that i could think of!

I was curious if that story was true because I had always heard that it was related to the Plague too, so I looked it up. The interpretation that it relates to the Black Plague seems to be a 20th century invention. There are 12 versions of the game/song and only one has any words that could even remotely be interpreted with any kind of disease.

Seems that most experts in traditional folklore find it highly unlikely that it is refering to any of the many instances of Plague outbreaks in Europe. But who knows, nobody says a definite no or yes on the subject. Just that it's unlikely.

My source for this info was wikipedia.org so you can read the page for yourself. It's kind of interesting.

No thats the one I remember growing-up ....
And if you think about it its true ...
What are your ideas?

I am not sure about the orgin of it but i loved that as a kid. I remember me and my friends in a circle going around and around singing it and then falling to the ground.

I remember play that as a game when I was a child and we all flopped down at the end. You have the correct origin it is the same as on this link
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ring_around_the_rosy.htm

Hi alexandria, I know that some of the rhymes have its origin but the one you mentioned is not something I'm familiar with. For some people who said "bless you" after a sneeze, it is because most people are saying it too. From what I can decipher, if somebody gave a good sneeze, the other person will say "bless you" when what he/she really mean is "thank you" for contaminating me with your sneezing.:)

Yes I heard that its about the plague also, but I grew up with one line as ashes, ashes..we all fall down or atleast thats what I was always told. I also heard the reason we say bless you when someone sneezes is because it was believed you actually lost a piece of your soul when you would sneeze and if you said bless you there sould would go directly to heaven.

I have actually hear of this. One of my English teachers in high school told me about this. I think it was my freshman English teach actually. We talked about really off the wall stuff in that class. She told us the originations of a lot of nursery rhymes. I wish I could think of some. If I think of any I'll have to post them

Yes I have heard that is where the saying came from.I also heard the plague was carried by fleas infectionous bites,the fleas were carried by the rats.Interesting huh?
Makes you glad things are a bit cleaner now.