The Word Cloud

Think of all the nursery rhymes you can. Many have their origins in truly human circumstances, referring to genuine events - I'll not bore you with examples, you ynow what I mean.
What happened to make them stop?
We've had some fairly cataclysmic events in recent years. Ideal material to be handed down from parent to child in friendly, bouncy rhyme.
I don't mean existing nursery rhymes butchered in parody to include MTV, the internet, laser beams, vitamin rich hair gel etc., I mean fresh, lively works that will last for centuries.
Imagine in years to come a child innocently asking its parent (or robot childminder) what the rhyme about the big twins tumbling down actually means or "What's a soon army?".
Just wondering.

PG do you think pop music has anything to do wth the decline in nursery rhymes? Young children are more likely to sing the theme tune from Big Cook Little Cook or Mona the Vampire than anything else these days!

It is interesting PG, I wonder when the last nursery rhyme was written?
Early 20th century or even earlier?
Did it coincide with modern media like radio or cinema?
For instance were there nursery rhymes about The Great War?
I'm afraid I have more questions than answers.
Ali

My daughter (who is 2) is always coming home from nursery and toddler groups with new nursery rhymes that weren't around when I was a kid - ones about little rabbits, big red trucks, farmer's tractors - loads! So there are lots of new nursery rhymes being written, all the time - groups like Mumbaba (http://www.mumbaba.co.uk/) sing them every week, they're just not necessarily in 'print' at the moment.

(I have no idea why my post is in italics - it's all gone wrong!)

Yes – go to any storytelling by the likes of Snail Tales (or me!), and you'll hear new rhymes and old. I think the issues are family mobility, choice and diversity in a largely literate society. 'Old' nursery rhymes were passed on by a parent to a child, in an oral tradition that stretched back down the maternal line into the mists of time. Now, very often, grandmother has to travel to see mother. Mother can read and watch TV, and may not relate to old nursery rhymes. It's not always a bad thing: I know a young mother without much education who invents her own rhymes. I haven't asked her, but I doubt whether she knows the traditional ones.

I was just having a lively discussion about the benefits of nursery rhymes with friends who are mothers who say that they wanted more than nursery rhymes. I ended up googling modern nursery rhymes and found the same discussion here. As a mother, I was not satisfied with “traditional” or “classic” nursery rhymes currently available to children and so, I composed instead for my own children “educational” very short rhymes. Thus, instead of Jack and Jill climbing up the hill, I would tell them about climbing the highest mountain in the world:

“In a faraway Nepal,

Climb Mt. Everest, you shall.

Don't forget a coat or two,

To buy in Kathmandu!.”

I remembered that my son's favourite is about Magellan in Argentina, thus:

Ahoy to the sea,

Patagonia to see.

Where can Magellan be?

With Big foot having tea!”

I usually follow up each rhyme with a short story about it. In this way, my children learn not only the words but most importantly, what the words convey, which are not seemingly silly and senseless. My children enjoy these rhymes.

Lovely, Rose – you have your own tradition! And they will remember it.

Thanks for the tips John. Children certainly remember the rhymes. I am constantly amazed by their capacity to absorb information and their inquisitiveness. Young as their minds are, I personally believe that the rhymes message is as important as the words themselves.

It's a valid point and a shame that rhymes from tv shows are more popular these days. It has been nice to reminisce about the rhymes I learnt as a child.

Late in adding to this thread, but been away on holiday! The art of 'nursery rhyming' is not lost - I was pleased that a rhyme I penned was included in an anthology of modern nursery rhymes and I am loving compiling a collection especially for a treasured grandson!

Hey! That is good news, Jill.

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To score a rock of crack
Jack's Uzi jammed
He's "critical" in the ICU
And Jill is in the Witness Protection Program.

Wrath – painted on the wall in an advice centre I worked at in the 1970's, was this rhyme...

Wrath and John - can't imagine to recite these rhymes to little children. I take it that you both are not serious. Nursery rhymes are the first learning impression on children's minds. Several decades later, I still can recite word for word the rhymes I learned as I child. As a mother, the closest mischievous rhyme that I invented for my kids was:

Little fly on the wall
have you got no shame at all
have you got no shimmy shirt
blimey, aren't you cold.


A little ditty from the fifties that my Dad told me...

My grandad taught me these two;
I've never seen a purple cow,
I never hope to see one,
but I can tell you anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one.


I always eat peas with honey,
I've done it all my life.
It makes them taste rather funny,
but it keeps them on the knife.

Like those two Gerilyn, how about two shorties from my latest (only) anthology (finally put together after 15 years!). Here are my words.

On religion:

Twelve o'clock
ding dong bell
the vicar's coming
run like hell

On the advance of food technology for the younger generation:

Yummy goo
just for you
goes through body
comes out pooh

Step - It is remarkable how you can still recall the rhymes recited to you by your Dad in the fifties. It affirms the beauty and importance of nursery rhymes in children's first encounter of a new world - of words and learning, and rightly so, they leave a lasting impression.

This little banker screwed the market

A big fat defence secretary sat on a wall
The defence secretary had a big fall
All the kings horses
and all the king's men
were made redundant or sent to fight an un-winnable war
so his 'just good friend' had to put him together again (when no one was looking)

The' Gruffalo' rhymes. What about Spike Millingan - the nin nan yong. This always goes down well. There are many children's picture books that use rhyming schemes.

Mary had a little skirt
With splits right up the sides
And everywhere that Mary went
The boys could see her thighs.
Mary had another skirt
'twas split right up the front
....But she didn't wear that one often.

Stephen, my Dad taught me that rhyme, too. His version was a little different and he always recited it in the voice of liitle girl:

Ickle fly... sitting on the wall,
Ain't you got no clothes at all?
Ain't you got no shimmy-shirt?
Ain't you got no waisty-skirt?
Ickle fly... ain't you cold?

My kids loved these nonsense rhymes, made up around their names:

Susan Claire
Went up the stair
To see what she could see.
But Susan Clair
Did not stay there,
'cause it was time for tea.

Jenifer Jane
Went down the lane
To see what she could see,
But Jenifer Jane
Came back again,
'cause it was time for tea.

Sean-y, too,
Went to see the view,
To see what he could see,
But Sean-y, too,
Saw nothing new
So he came home for tea.

John and everyone - just to let you know that I had my nursery rhymes published and is now available at www.amazon.com. It is a teeny weeny contribution aimed at making children learn to love history, geography, culture, among others, very early on. It is entitled Yttya Dimes for Nursery Rhymes in America.