What is it with the evil origins of nursery rhymes and kids tales

Ring around the roses(originated during the plague )

Ring around the roses : The plague first manifest as little round red rings on the neck.
Pocket full of posies: posies supposedly warded off the evil spirits that brought plague.
Ashes, Ashes: From the ashes of the bodies burned in great heaps outside of town.
We all fall down: We're all gonna die!

Comforting isn't it ?

Then there's Rock A Bye Baby:
Rock-a-bye, baby, On the treetop
When the wind blows, The cradle will rock
When the bough breaks The cradle will fall
And down will come baby, Cradle and all
I guess that will put any baby to sleep :-)


London Bridge is falling down,My fair lady.
Take a key and lock her up,Lock her up, Lock her up.

Lock who? Well from Wikipedia.org, "It has been suggested that the "fair lady" who is "locked up" is a reference to an old practice of burying a dead virgin in the foundations of the bridge to ensure its strength through magical means, although the better view is that this refers to Queen Eleanor"
So far none of my kiddos has asked me what this means..Thankfully..