Kathryn Thomas took a minute out from her guest-hosting duties on The Ray D’Arcy Show to tell listeners about how her eyes have been opened when it comes to the dark world of nursery rhymes.
She told listeners that it’s only since having her own child that she’s actually stopped to analyse the lyrics of some of those omnipresent tunes.
"I was quite disturbed yesterday, I don’t mind telling you. My baby girl has this battery-operated teddy-bear thing that sings nursery rhymes. I have never realised how dark nursery rhymes are…I never stopped and listened to the words."
It’s not just the sad ending to some of them, she explained, it’s the graphic way the characters go out.
"It’s all about people breaking their heads, not being able to be put back together again."
Kathryn admitted that she had fallen afoul of a 1 am Googling binge on the origins of nursery rhymes and what she found out was darker than she expected. There are Jack and Jill, falling down the hill. As Kathryn found out, the story of Jack and Jill has been linked with the execution of French King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette.
"They were convicted of treason during the French Revolution. So, the two of them were beheaded and that’s why when they say he broke his crown, he lost his head and his throne."
Kathryn also looked into Ring Around the Rosie. Though it’s purely speculation, Kathryn found a theory that suggests the rhyme could reference the Black Plague.
"I mean, this is what we’re all going around singing. Such happy childhood thoughts!"
