Morbid, Morbid Nursery Rhymes

I personally don't understand how the nursery rhyme has survived as long as I have. I don't understand how mothers and grandmothers have been able to sing these awful, awful things to children. Have you ever listened to the words of some of the nursery rhymes out there?

I did a little bit of research yesterday, and I was able to conclude that the histories of some of the nursery rhymes out there are a little interesting. There is debate over whether Ring around the Rosies is actually connected to the black plague, but anything that could be connected to the death and morbidity of the plague doesn't need to be sang to my baby or played as a childhood game.

Look at the words of some of these:

Goosey, goosey, gander,
Whither dost thou wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.

There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers;
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him down the stairs.

It's raining, it's pouring
The old man is snoring
He went to bed and he bumped his head
And couldn't get up in the morning

Rock-a-bye, baby,
In the tree top.
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock.

When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,
And down will come baby,
Cradle and all.

Peter , Peter , pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn'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 parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down,
And broke his crown;
And Jill came tumbling after.

London Bridge bridge is falling down, down
Falling down down, falling down, down
London Bridge bridge is falling down, down
My fair lady.

Take a key key and lock padlock her up,
Lock padlock her up, lock padlock her up,
Take a key key and lock padlock her up,
My fair lady.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses,
And all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die!

I just thought that you might want to know what you were singing to your children. Death destruction, despair. OH MY! No wonder kids have nightmares.