Allusions in Ring around the Rosy

The song, “Ring around the Rosy” is known as a famous children’s song/rhyme. When first listening to it, it’s a happy song that children sing while playing a game. After looking into the song more, I found many allusions within it. The main allusion I found is within the song as a whole. Instead of being a happy children’s song it actually has connections with the Bubonic Plague. The verse, “Ashes! Ashes” is actually talking about, “The cremation of the dead bodies” <http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ring_around_the_rosy.htm>. The most surprising allusion I found was in the verse, “Ring around the Rosie”. I had always pictured a group of children holding hands going around a rose bush singing and dancing. However, this verse actually had to do with the plague’s symptoms. Which included, “a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin” <http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ring_around_the_rosy.htm>. As you can see, “Ring around the Rosy” is not just an innocent children’s song. It actually has a pretty dark meaning.