It's our third installment of shows about the origins of Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Spoiler alert: Many of the real stories are hard to pin down.
Research:
Cheadle, Roberta Eaton. “Dark Origins – Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” Writing To Be Read. https://writingtoberead.com/2021/06/30/dark-origins-here-we-go-round-the-mulberry-bush/
Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O. “Popular rhymes and nursery tales : a sequel to the Nursery rhymes of England .” London : John Russell Smith. 1849.
Howard, Jennifer. “The Realities Behind the Rhymes.” Washington Post. 6/11/1997. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/1997/06/11/the-realities-behind-the-rhymes/9fbd7d36-4bb9-4fc0-af38-58fbe3fb7e43/
Ker, John Bellenden. “An essay on the archaiology [sic] of popular English phrases and nursery rhymes.” London. Whittaker. 1834. https://archive.org/details/b29309670/
Littlechild, Chris. “The Egg-Citing Truth Behind Humpty Dumpty.” Ripley’s. 7/4/2019. https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/humpty-dumpty/
Opie, Iona Archibald and Peter Opie. “The Singing Game.” Oxford University Press. 1998.
Opie, Iona and Peter. “The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes.” Oxford University Press. 1997.
Overstreet, Mikkaka. “10 Disturbing Nursery Rhyme Origin Stories to Celebrate Nursery Rhyme Week.” Book Riot. 11/4/2021. https://bookriot.com/nursery-rhyme-origin-stories/
Seaver, Carl. “The Strange Historical Origins of the Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme.” History Defined. 1/24/2023. https://www.historydefined.net/humpty-dumpty-history/
Tearle, Oliver. “A Short Analysis of the ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’ Nursery Rhyme.” Interesting Literature. 9/2018. https://interestingliterature.com/2018/09/a-short-analysis-of-the-hickory-dickory-dock-nursery-rhyme-history-origins/
Tearle, Oliver. “A Short Analysis of the ‘Sing a Song of Sixpence’ Nursery Rhyme.” Interesting Literature. https://interestingliterature.com/2018/10/a-short-analysis-of-the-sing-a-song-of-sixpence-nursery-rhyme-origins-history/
Thomas, Katherine Elwes. “The Real Personages Of Mother Goose.” Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. 1930.
Wood, Jennifer M. “The Dark and Mysterious Origins of 10 Classic Nursery Rhymes.” Mental Floss. 10/28/2015. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/55035/dark-origins-11-classic-nursery-rhymes