Come on in,
The waters fine.
I'll give you
Till I count nine,
If you're are not
In by then,
Guess I'll have to
Count to ten.
With this ancient rhyme, I invite you to read this article with
a different twist. I hope you will find it to be both unique and
fascinating. Before launching into my main theme, I use two
short rhymes to show how effectively they can be used to express
opposite concepts with the use of the same words, slightly
altered.
Early to bed, Early to rise,
Will make you healthy, wealthy and wise
James Thurber, the modern humorist, altered these words of
wisdom by an old stage to reflect how this should read in this
day and age, with its long working hours, intense ambitions to
fulfill and its accompanying stress.
Early to rise and early too bed
Will make you healthy, wealthy and dead
The Tamil community is at the present time awash with dissidents
in EELAM, in Sri Lanka and everywhere abroad. Press censorship
in Sri Lanka knows no bounds. The banning of the L T T E as a
'terrorist organization' by the Sri Lankan government; and
other governments at the behest of the Sri Lankan government;
was designed to discourage support for a Federal or Separate
state, for which this party stands and fights. This makes
communication between supportive dissidents vital to our cause.
It is with this in mind, that I revert to the long period in
English history, where dissidents used the innocuous sounding
nursery rhyme to transmit forbidden messages, sneering and
making fun of the unpopular and objectionable antics of their
royal rulers.
The Nursery Rhymes of England were long standing English
creations, written at times when their was considerable peasant
dissatisfaction with Royal Rule. These sometimes soothing,
sometimes perky little rhymes had a far deeper meaning
than their catching verses suggest. Those of us who were reared
in the English language, were soothed to sleep or entertained in
school with these delightful ditties, without the slightest idea
of their deeper insidious significance. Today's dissidents and
opposers of government tyranny could learn well from these
elegant ways of scorning our rulers without being subject to the
scissors of the censor
Let me commence with this galloping chime
Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a white lady upon a white horse,
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
And she shall have music wherever she goes
This dancing melody depicts the story of the Queen of England
who went to Banbury to see a stone cross that had just been
erected atop a steep hill. On her arrival, a decorated rocking
horse was attached to her coach by the people, ostensibly to
help her horses to pull the coach up the hill to reach the
cross. This was a sneering dig at her pomp and her power . With
all of her horses and her beautiful coach, she needed a child's
rocking horse [ cockhorse] to make the approach. It did not stop
there. The story went that a wheel of the carriage broke, so she
abandoned her coach and abandoned her horses and had to ride up
on the hill on the cockhorse alone. [Ride a cockhorse to Banbury
Cross] This was like a modern day biting cartoon pooh pooping
the pomp, the ceremony and pageantry of the Queen. [Rings on her
fingers and bells on her toes; and she shall music wherever she
goes] Yet, she had to use a child's plaything to ride up the
hill, to see a cross made by the people. It depicted her pomp
and pageantry as a mere facade, used to prop her up. The Royal
censors would not be able to discover the originator of the
rhyme to punish him for his audacity. It was unacceptable to
mock the Queen and her power with such lack of respect. If they
did find the culprit, the punishment was as bad as that
inflicted by successive Sri Lankan governments on our own Tamil
dissidents, for their scathing contempt and condemnation of our
Sinhala rulers.
There is another version that attributes the origin to Lady
Godiva, who accepted her husband's [ Earl Leofric of Marcia's]
wager, that she would ride through the streets of Coventry
without any clothes, if he would remove a punitive tax he had
imposed. She rode a white horse, decked in only in trinkets on
her fingers and toes. The people put up their shutters while she
rode through the streets to fight their cause . A fine story of
a noble lady who resisted the unfair imposition of taxes by her
very own nobility. Ride the cockhorse to Banbury Cross, probably
symbolized their refusal to humiliate her by viewing this
spectacle. They could not get to Banbury Cross on a cockhorse to
witness her humiliation. And she will have music wherever she
goes reflected the people singing their praises for ever
thereafter to honor her unselfish act in such a noble cause How
could the censor suspect their true intent.The next rhyme by
contrast, is a plaintive cry, which goes:
Bye Baby Bunting,
Daddy's gone a hunting,
Gone to get a rabbit skin,
To wrap his bay bunting in
Oh, what a grieving song of discontent. What the poor have to suffer
to provide the basic necessities for their loved ones, is a fate to
cry over. Go hunting for clothing while leaving the poor little baby
bunting behind. It is a sad, haunting plea to the people to make
them realize the misfortune of their fate and plight. They were
obviously dealing with a complacent population who has to be whipped
up to take action to free themselves from what they believed was
their preordained destiny. Tamil activists are more than familiar
with this malaise. This idea of a pre- ordained destiny is even more
deeply rooted in societies like ours, where the power of the
horoscope is all consuming. It is hard to shake people out of their
complacency when they believe that their destiny is shaped by the
stars rather than by their efforts. There are many who combine the
influence of the stars with a desire to accomplish the seemingly
impossible, but usually, they are the activists, not the objects of
the activist's exhilarating exhortations. Despite this apparent
obstacle, the efforts of the activists have not gone unheeded. The
people have shaken off their previous destiny in search of new
horizons.
We next have the funny, jolly rhyme that laughed at King Edward I of England
who was made to look like a fool on one of his pompous regal trips to parts of
his kingdom.
Dr Foster went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain,
He stepped in a puddle
Right up to his middle
And never went back again.
King Edward I traveled to Gloucester in the middle of a rain storm.
When he got there. his horse fell; and the king and the horse wound
up in s puddle of mud. It was a pathetic and humiliating sight for
King to be in. The townsfolk had to use planks of wood to rescue the
king and his horse from the utterly undignified situation he found
himself in. It certainly was not a fate befitting a King. The King
ranted and raved and swore he would never return to Gloucester
again. The writer could not resist spreading the news of the Kings
misfortune and awkward predicament all around. The King could do
little to refute the truth, while the people celebrated his fall by
singing this verse wherever and whenever they could.
I follow this with the verse which beckons Marjorie Daw to listen to what
they have to say about her husband Jackie. It opens with a swaying seductive
plea of a horn, addressing her, and then spits out a sharp but realistic
revelation with the precision, speed and rhythm of a military band. The sweet
lilting start in contrast to the harsh but true message, delivered with the
swiftness of a military drum beat, adds pungency to its significance. The drum
beat was like a heart thumping anxiously as it listened to this crippling news.
See Saw, Marjorie Daw,
Jackie shall have a new master,
Jackie shall have but a penny a day,
Because Jackie can't work any faster
This portrays the plight of the average fellow, the simple ordinary
working man. It does not matter, who his master is, for whoever he is, what ever
he's like, Jackie will always be the same helpless little pawn, quite unable to
better himself His choice is no choice. Where ever he turned, he would always be
spurned, and always returned, to the place he once spurned. His was a cramped
destiny, to stay still, with no where to go, no hope or expectations of anything
better to look forward to in the future. By implication, this rhyme is intended
as a clarion call to stir him to swim out of these still waters and into the
open ocean with fresh horizons. Heresy , Heresy, like those of us who proclaim
separation or meaningful Federalism as an answer to the Sri Lankan government's
insistence on brow beating us and keeping us in our place, never to rise; never
to rule; and always be ruled by them through an their highly prized gift of an
Unitary Constitution.
The next rhyme is announced with the ringing of bells and changes immediately
into a pulsing drum beat.
Ding Dong Bell
Pussy's in the Well.
Who put her in
Little Johnny Green,
Who pulled her out, What a naughty boy was that
Little Tommy Stout To try to drown a little pussy cat
Who never did him any harm
and killed the mice in his father's farm.
An ingenious though much disputed explanation is that this
tells the tale of the forgotten farmer, who feeds his master
with the foods he grows, but is treated and disregarded as if he
did not exist. He was there because he had to be. Even though he
is needed for the masters sustenance, he is viewed as something
distant and unimportant. This is the message being broadcast to
those poor feudal waifs and wretches who were born to serve
their noble masters, implying that they should assert themselves
to change their fate, as their masters could not survive without
them This was not just a verse about a thoughtless and cruel
little boy. It had a deeper message, urging the serf to
recognize his potential and importance in life and not tolerate
being tossed around like the helpless little pussy cat who
killed the mice on his masters farm. The next happy sing sing
verse is loaded with messages and warnings that are terse.
Sing a song of six pence,
A pocket full of Rye,
Four and Twenty black birds,
Baked in a pie
When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing,
Isn't that a dainty dish
To set before the King
The King was in his counting house,
Counting out his money
The Queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey;
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose
A clever, but once again questioned version as to its origin is
that Sing a song of six pence highlights the contrasting plight
of the poor hardworking slob with that of their masters [
Royalty and the nobility in feudal times]. Six pence and a
pocket full of rye contrasted with four and twenty black birds
baked in a pie. There is the King in his counting house counting
out his money, the Queen in her parlor, eating bread and honey,
while the unfortunate maid is outside in the garden, slaving
away, only to be attacked by a cruel black bird, who pecks off
her nose. The bird represents her superiors descending from
their perch on high, All she can expect for her efforts is blame
and criticism. What kind of a fate is that, the verse queries.
Certainly not one to be accepted in silence. So you have the
birds that began to sing when the pie was open. This was the
subtle warning that the suppressed would rise and have their
voices heard and their freedoms achieved; a warning to an
unsuspecting king, who is delighted rather than fore warned by
this pleasing but insidious omen.
There is a dull but inexplicable more accepted version that says that this
refers to a time when live birds were put under the pie crust at the banquets of
the privileged; and added that the pocket full of rye may have been an unit of
measurement. This does not account for the significance of much of the rest of
the verse, nor does it express surprise and innovation, if it was the custom of
the privileged to have live birds under the pie crust.
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating his Christmas pie
He put in his thumb
And pulled out a plumb,
And said what a good boy am I
This was a cutting satire on the power and influence of dishonesty
in the Royal Kingdom. The Bishop of Glastonbury heard that King Henry Xiii was
after the Glastonbury holdings. The Bishop , hurriedly sent his steward Jack
Horner with a Christmas pie filled with twelve deeds to other manorial , to
appease the King and save his lands. Not to be outdone, Jack Horner, while on
the way, pulled out and retained the deed to the plum of these lands, The Manor
of Mells and kept it for himself. [put in his thumb and pulled out a plum] This
irony of the dishonest feeding on the dishonest and pretending to be saintly
thereafter, [and said what a good boy am I], has a sharp and telling edge to it.
The saddest irony however, is that the Horner family owns and profits from this
estate today, not something the authors anticipated.
Ring a Ring a Roses
A pocket full of posies,
Agh Tissue, Agh Tissue
Ashes, Ashes [American alternative]
And we all fall down.
was a stark warning to the public of the onset of the plague. The plague was
associated with vile and pungent smells, so they recommended a pocket full of
roses to ward off this evil or else they would sneeze and sneeze and all succumb
to the disease. Ashes, Ashes signified the consequence of contacting the
plague.So the nursery rhyme was also used to broadcast news of impending
disasters.
Rock a bye Baby,
On the tree top,
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks,
the cradle will fall
Down will come baby and cradle and all
This is hardly a soothing theme to lull a baby to sleep with. Here
the message passed along was, "All is quiet on the western front", but this is
the calm before the storm, and when the storm blows, the whole soothed and
contented royal regime will collapse. The King, the son of James II, is the
spoiled and soothed baby in the cradle, resting peacefully till the storm hits,
the storm being the revolt of the people. Not a thought to be tolerated by the
Kings supporters. It had to be spread through the innocuous means of the Nursery
Rhyme. Talk of the Sinhalese losing power over us through federalism or
separation is anathema to them. The very mention of these concepts is like
heresy to their ears. They refuse to envisage such a fall from grace; for theirs
is the Kingdom; and so it will remain. The Tamils will wait and wait for the
fall, with the hope and the patience that governs them all. The time will come
when the peace process breaks, and down will come government and President and
all. The subtlety of the warning in this rhyme is a masterpiece of deception.
An American version is that this was written
by an original pilgrim who saw the Wampanago
Indian women hang the decorated cradles of
their babies on the branches of trees while
they worked on the corn and maize fields.
This had no message and sounds like an
American innovation and heartless distortion
off its true origin. made up asfter the
nursery rhyme was well known.
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head
.
This seems somewhat self evident. Be warned,
they come with flowers concealing daggers.
Do not be duped by sweet offerings and
promises, they are designed to do you in.
One wonders whether the Kings retinue would
not have seen through this in a flash, but
this was disguised with what went before,
which was
Oranges and Lemons
Say the Bells of St.Clement's
You owe me five farthings,
Say the Bells of St Martins.
When will you pay me
Say the Bells of Old Bailey
When I grow rich,
Say the Bells of Shoreditch
When will that be
Say the Bells of Stepney
I'm sure I don't know,
Says the great bell at Bow
They will come to get you for the taxes you
owe, they will come with a candle to say its
all legal, and be ready to kill you when you
owe them yet more. The Old Bailey and the
Court at Bow Street are the King's higher
and lower courts of criminal law, through
which punishments are imposed.
Baa Baa Black Sheep,
Have you any wool ?
Yes, Sir, Yes Sir,
Three bags full,
One for my master
One for my dame,
And one for the little boy,
Who lives down the lane
This was a sad lament on the inequity of the
tax system in the middle ages. The poor hard
working peasant farmer, was left with only
one third of his earnings after taxes. A
third went to his master [The King] , a
Third to the Dame [ the nobility that owned
the land] and just third was left for the
little boy [ the peasant], who lives down
the lane What an ingenious way of spreading
the news of their exploitation and singing
it aloud while avoiding the harsh hand of
the Royal censors, who probably also sang
along with them, without a thought as to the
message being spread. It adds to the irony
and power of the Nursery Rhyme as a way of
firing up the wrath of the community against
the unacceptable status quo without the
authorities realizing it.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the Kings horses
and all the Kings men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
which symbolizes the final dream. Humpty Dumpty was a common
nickname for a fat slob in the 1400's The fat, obese King, is
compared to the fragile egg, which, when cracked, like virginity, is
lost for ever. The analogy is vivid, with the equally vivid follow
up. Once he falls, not all the Kings infantry or all the King's
cavalry could ever resurrect him again. This jaunty little nursery
rhyme told the story of the Kings unfortunate but much celebrated
destiny. As a nursery rhyme it was sung with delight by the populace
while the censors probably listened serenely, not knowing that it
celebrated their extinction. This is supposed to refer to King
Charles I, who was toppled by a majority of the members of
parliament and was ultimately executed. The people prevailed over
the King, even though the average man did not have the right to vote
at that time. It yet celebrated the the diminution of the power of
the Royal proclamation.. The "Puritans" had out voted him the King
Parliament and finally ousted him from power.
Another well accepted version is that "Humpty Dumpty" represented
a powerful cannon the Royalists used to defend Colchester during the
civil war between the Royalists and parliamentarians, in 1642-49 ,
The Royalists had captured and controlled the parliamentary
stronghold of Colchester for 11 weeks The cannon was mounted atop
the tower of St Mary's church in Colchester.. The parliamentarians
succeeded in blowing the top of the tower off and the cannon came
tumbling down. Neither the King's cavalry or the Kings infantry
could put the cannon back together again. It symbolized the victory
of the people's representatives over the King. Even though the
average man did not have the vote at that time, it symbolized
popular rule over Royal decree.
There are many more, too many for an article of this length. I
could add a second follow up chapter if the readers are interested.
"Georgie Porgy, pudding and pie" Jack & Jill" "The Old woman in a
shoe" "Jack Sprat" to name a few, all full of cutting political
innuendo.
I end this article with a buoyant, cheery happy song which calls
the world out to play and enjoy themselves with whatever meager
resources they have. This in contrast to the others gives a happy
twist to life, the kind of uplift our fighting forces and their
stoic supporters in the Vanni so badly need, in these harshest of
times. It tells them you can make do with what you have to enjoy
yourselves; and nothing should deter you.
Boys and girls come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day.
Leave your supper and leave your sleep,
And join your playfellows in the street.
Come with a whoop and come with a call,
Come with a good will or not at all.
Up the ladder and down the wall,
A half penny loaf will serve us all;
You find milk and I'll find flour,
And we'll having pudding in half an hour.
How much more joyous can one get ? Especially in times of stress,
people need to relax their flesh, and dance and sing and have a good
time, for life is not just a tale of woe. It is a time to celebrate,
with what ever is there, to enjoy it with. One version says this
celebrates the time when children were treated as adults and could
be out at night even after the moon rose.
I am not urging today's dissidents to be copy cats and use the
same modem for making inspiring communications or sending happy
tidings of joy. It would be a civilized and powerful weapon for
dissidents to use a refined alternative to this classic English
medium to transmit biting criticisms of government policy, or
messages of hope or concern to others, without indulging in the kind
of crude discourse that now dominates the Sri Lankan Parliament. May
the Tamils proclaim their discontent in an ancient language capable
of the refined expression of the type and style we have witnessed
above
In conclusion, I will leave you with a riddle and ask you to
figure out what this puzzling nursery rhyme that meant .
Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon
* There are other versions of origins not included here for
reasons of economy.
