Dark Nursery Rhymes

I always thought nursery rhymes had dark secrets hidden in them and this research proves it.The beautiful apparently nonsensical rhymes we sing to children at bedtime are probably not so innocent after all.....


Plague, medieval taxes, religious persecution, prostitution: these are not exactly the topics that you expect to be immersed in as a new parent. But probably right at this moment, mothers of small children around the world are mindlessly singing along to seemingly innocuous nursery rhymes that, if you dig a little deeper, reveal shockingly sinister backstories. Babies falling from trees? Heads being chopped off in central London? Animals being cooked alive? Since when were these topics deemed appropriate to peddle to toddlers?
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150610-the-dark-side-of-nursery-rhymes?OCID=Scroll

http://mentalfloss.com/article/55035/dark-origins-11-classic-nursery-rhymes