“Ring Around the Rosie” is a traditional nursery rhyme and children’s game, but it has darker origins than you might imagine. The objective of the game is to skip around while chanting “ring around the Rosie, a pocketful of posies, ashes, ashes, … ” and then to drop and roll on the ground on the line “we all fall down!”

The rhyme however alludes to the bubonic plague and the Great Plague that hit London in 1665. “Ring around the Rosie” refers to red ring-shaped rashes that appeared on the skin of those who suffered from the plague. “Pocketful of posies” refers to the fact that people used to carry sweet-smelling herbs (known as posies) in their pockets or pouches because they believed the plague was transmitted through bad smells. “Ashes, ashes” refers to the fact that dead bodies had to be cremated during the plague to avoid further spread of the disease.