16 allusions to misery and sorrow
16 allusions to misery and sorrow
Nursery Rhyme Violence
WARNING: This list contains numerous references to different acts of violence.
Welcome to the 23rd issue of the Lists of Note newsletter. Each Sunday, a new (old) list.
In 1952, having analysed 200 traditional nursery rhymes, British writer Geoffrey Handley-Taylor concluded in his book, A Selected Bibliography of Literature Relating to Nursery Rhyme Reform, that approximately half of those rhymes personified “all that is glorious and ideal for the child,” but that the “remaining 100 rhymes harbour unsavoury elements”. He then illustrated the latter point by way of this unsettling list, in which he tallied all instances of violence found in said nursery rhymes.
8 allusions to murder (unclassified)
2 cases of choking to death
1 case of death by devouring
1 case of cutting a human being in half
1 case of decapitation
1 case of death by squeezing
1 case of death by shrivelling
1 case of death by starvation
1 case of boiling to death
1 case of death by hanging
1 case of death by drowning
4 cases of killing domestic animals
1 case of body snatching
21 cases of death (unclassified)
7 cases relating to the severing of limbs
1 case of the desire to have a limb severed
2 cases of self-inflicted injury
4 cases relating to the breaking of limbs
1 allusion to a bleeding heart
1 case of devouring human flesh
5 threats of death
1 case of kidnapping
12 cases of torment and cruelty to human beings and animals
8 cases of whipping and lashing
3 allusions to blood
14 cases of stealing and general dishonesty
15 allusions to maimed human beings and animals
1 allusion to undertakers
2 allusions to graves
23 cases of physical violence (unclassified)
1 case of lunacy
16 allusions to misery and sorrow
1 case of drunkenness
4 cases of cursing
1 allusion to marriage as a form of death
1 case of scorning the blind
1 case of scorning prayer
9 cases of children being lost or abandoned
2 cases of house burning
9 allusions to poverty and want
5 allusions to quarrelling
2 cases of unlawful imprisonment
2 cases of racial discrimination
The above list is one of 125 that feature in the Lists of Note book, first published in 2014 and now—to my dismay—out of print. If you’d like one, I’m selling the last copies of its gorgeous special edition here. Alternatively, if you opt for the most expensive subscription option here (‘Subscriber of Note’), I’ll send you a signed copy.