Snips and snails,
And puppy dog tails,
That's what little boys are made of.
Sugar and spice,
And all things nice,
That's what little girls are made of.
Nursery rhymes are funny things. I remember this one from when I was young. Exactly what it was trying to prepare me for... I'm not sure. Upon closer examination, there are oodles upon oodles of nursery rhymes about little boys and little girls... about proper behaviour, what is to be expected of them etc... and some other crazy adult behaviour. Here is just a sampling:
Georgie Porgie , pudding and pie;
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away
So, in hindsight, this nursery rhyme should have prepared us women for the dating scene. In a way, you cannot blame men... after all, apparently they were socialized from a very young age to mack on as many women as possible... woo them, make love to them... and then break their hearts... That's lovely. I also detect the slight teachings of homophobia in the latter lines, but I could be reading too much into it.
Little Jack Horner,
Sat in a corner;
Eating a Christmas pie,
He stuck in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I."
Hmmm... sexual inuendo, the lot of it! Thumbs? Plums? I'm blushing right now for crying out loud.
Old King Cole Was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he,
He called for his pipe,
and he called for his bowl,
And he called for his
Fiddlers three.
Old King Cole was a pothead... What chance did I have?
The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts,
All on a summer's day.
The Knave of Hearts,
He stole the tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts,
Called for the tarts,
And scolded the knave full bore.
The Knave of Hearts,
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he'd steal no more.
This rhyme is about adultery... pure and simple. The Queen of Hearts would have been more aptly names the Queen of Tarts. I mean come on... she was lucky that her husband loved her enough to take her back... although the King did scold the Knave "Full Bore"... I wonder what that meant?
Curly locks , Curly locks,
Will you be mine?
You shall not wash dishes,
Nor feed the swine,
But sit on a cushion,
And sew a fine seam,
And feed upon strawberries,
Sugar , and cream.
Now this is more like it. Every girl's dream is to not have to feed the swine... just don't make promises you can't keep bucko!
Little Boy Blue , come blow your horn ;
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack , fast asleep.
Typical man...
Bea Out!
1 comment:
Q. Which one-gloved celebrity engaged in similar activities?
This old man, he played four;
He played knick-knack on my door.
With a knick-knack, paddy whack,
Give a dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.
Q. The farmer in the dell, who takes a wife, a child, a nurse (what the wife wasn't enough), a dog, a cat and a rat... why does he let the cheese stand alone?? Poor cheese.
Post a Comment