The priest hunter searches the house upstairs and downstairs, until they find an old man in the lady’s room. When asked to swear his allegiance to the Queen and the Protestant faith, he ‘wouldn’t say his prayers’. The innocent tunes do draw attention away from what's going on in the rhyme; for example the drowned cat in Ding dong bell, or the grisly end of the frog and mouse in A frog he would a-wooing go”, music historian Jeremy Barlow, a specialist in early English popular music, tells me. “Some of the shorter rhymes, particularly those with nonsense or repetitive words, attract small children even without the tunes. They like the sound and rhythm of the words; of course the tune enhances that attraction, so that the words and the tune then become inseparable.” He adds, “The result can be more than the sum of the parts.” While no one can be certain of the identity of the mysterious man who meets an unfortunate end in this rhyme, the best guess seems to be a priest. I fear MID-CHESHIRE [a correspondent to the newspaper] did not read my communication of the 12th with care, or he would have noticed that I stated distinctly the particular district in which the words I gave are used. I must therefore beg to state again that South Cheshire is the district to which I referred, and he writes from Mid-Cheshire. Now it is well known that dialect words are used in one part of a county that are never heard in another part. ... "Gondering," to wander heedlessly, is used with the same meaning in South Cheshire [as in Mid-Cheshire]; and "gonder," a noun, is applied to person, and signifies one who does not mind where he is going.

No, not the pop song. This seemingly endless nursery rhyme (after the cat, we get a dog, a cow, a maiden, a man, and so forth) is rumored to have been based on the 17th-century Cherrington Manor in Shropshire, England. Or at least, that’s what the residents of Shropshire would like you to believe. GONDER, v. (1) to ramble in conversation, to become childish. W. CHES. (2) to go heedlessly. MID-CHES. "Wheer art gonderin to?" My Meaning: The ring of roses is a fairy circle, and the poseys are a ward meant to protect the singer from the fairies. It did not work. The song was first recorded in 1784 by Gammer Gurton in his nursery rhymes collection The Nursery Parnassus (or Garland).

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He was famous for being fat…by the time he died he was wearing a corset made to fit a 50inch waist. Which explains the first line of the rhyme. Despite his large size, George was something of a hit with the ladies. He had many mistresses throughout his life, and he managed to upset a good number of them causing a good deal of scandal in the process. One of his mistresses was an actress called Mary Robinson. When he dumped her, Mary threatened to tell the papers about their affair. George had to pay her off, but the incident sheds some light on Georgie Porgie making girls cry. Alliteration: can be seen when the writer repeats the same consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “Goosey goose gander” in line one and “Wither” and “wander” in line two. In their podcast Something Rhymes With Purple, lexicographer Susie Dent and author Gyles Brandreth discuss how Goosey Goosey Gander appears to tell the story of such a search party, from the viewpoint of a so-called priest-hunter.

You can recite the poem as you enact it with your child. You can make a fun game where you chase each other and try to grab the other’s left leg. Take turns being the chaser but don’t forget to recite the poem as you do! Atishoo’ could be a reference to sneezing as a symptom, whilst ‘we all fall down’ might be a euphemism for death. Author Linda Alchin (and the QI Elves, among others) speculates that during the English Civil War, the Royalist troops at Colchester were able to defend themselves for several weeks against the Parliamentary forces because they had a particularly powerful cannon. Some have suggested [ according to whom?] that this rhyme refers to priest holes—hiding places for itinerant Catholic priests during the persecutions under King Henry VIII, his children Edward, Queen Elizabeth and, later, under Oliver Cromwell. Once discovered the priest would be forcibly taken from the house ('thrown down the stairs') and treated badly. [3] Amateur historian Chris Roberts suggests further that the rhyme is linked to the propaganda campaign against the Catholic Church during the reign of Henry VIII. [4] "left leg" was a slang term for Catholics during the reign of Edward VI. [4] "Can't say his prayers" could refer to the banning of Latin prayers and the mandate to use the English-language Book of Common Prayer. [4] [5]To GAINTER, v. n. To use conceited airs and gestures ; Gainterin', having the appearance of assuming conceited airs; Upp. Clydes. How in Italy it’s not Santa Claus who gives gifts to all the children. It’s La Befana, a friendly witch!

How Scandinavians mark the end of the season by “plundering” the Christmas Tree on St. Knut’s Day. That’s a fun way to get children to help with the post-holiday clean-up! Enjambment: can be seen when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point. For example, the transition between lines three and four as well as lines five and six. Despite its brevity, there are several literary devices at work in ‘‘Goosey goosey gander.’These include but are not limited to: Also of interest is a discussion by "W. J. C." in [Manchester] City News Notes and Queries (March 5, 1881) of the meaning of gondering in South Cheshire and of differences between that district of Cheshire and the district north of it: To GAINDER, ( g hard), v. n. To look foolish, Ettr. For. [Hogg quotation omitted] Supposed to signify, to look like a gander. But it is perhaps originally the same with GAINTER, q. v.Why “left leg”? Even today, in Northern Ireland and Scotland, Catholics are called left-footers. The term comes from a tradition that Irish Catholic workers dug with the left foot, while Protestant workers used their right foot.