Despite the proliferation of explanations for the meanings and origins of nursery rhymes, many, if not most, are unfounded.
Ring a Ring o Rosie, we all fall dead?
Since the 1960s, but not before, it has often been said that the nursery rhyme Ring a Ring o Rosie is about the bubonic plague in England.
Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.