LL-L "Traditions" 2003.11.10 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 10.NOV.2003 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: kcaldwell31 at comcast.net <kcaldwell31 at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2003.11.10 (03) [E]

> From: Jannie Lawn <jannie.lawn at ntlworld.com>
> Subject: LL-L "Delectables" 2003.11.08 (07) [E]
>
> My comment: In English there are the song:
> 'Here we go round the Mulberry bush, early in the morning.'
> and another one:
> 'Ring-a-ring-a roses,
> a pocket full of posies.
> Hatischa, hatischa,
> we all fall down'.
> (Don't know the English spelling for 'hatischa', but that is what it
sounds
> like to my Dutch ears)
>
> Groeten, Jannie Lawn

I learned this as:

Ring around the rosey,
A pocketful of posies,
Ashes to ashes,
We all fall down.

I've also heard the third line as simply "ashes, ashes."

Kevin Caldwell (kcaldwell31 at comcast.net)

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From: Szelog, Mike <Mike.Szelog at CITIZENSBANK.com>
Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2003.11.10 (03) [E]

Is there any link to this song (in German - Lowlands) and the plague as
there is in the English song?! Or is this just a German children's song
which just happens to have the same tune (I assume the tune would have been
borrowed, since it was so well known)?

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From: Philip Ernest Barber <pbarber at loc.gov>
Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2003.11.10 (03) [E]

"Hatischa" is just "a-choo," the English onomatapoic word for the sound of
sneezing. Supposedly the song goes back to the Great Plague in London
(1666?). which was probably pneumonic or bubonic plague. The song acts out
the symptoms and results of the disease.  Its unconscious purpose is
probably desensitization of the children terrified or bewildered at the
death of so many of their friends and relatives.

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Traditions

Thanks for unwittingly answering Mike's question, Philip.  It's quite sad to
realize the tragic origin of these assumedly innocent children's games,
isn't it?

Do you think that the (North?) German version goes back to the same source?
Here it is again:

   Ringel-rangel Rosen,
   Schöne Aprikosen,
   Veilchen und Vergissmeinicht.
   Alle kleinen Kinder setzen sich,
   setzen sich in'n Holderbusch,
   machen alle husch, husch, husch.

   (Ring around the rosies,
   lovely apricosies,
   violets, forget-me-nots.
   All little children sit down,
   sit down in [= under] the elder bush,
   and they all go whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.)

I have a sneaking suspicion that the _husch, husch, husch_ part, at which
all children jump up from a squatting position (and hop), was originally
supposed to be a sneezing sound also (_hatschie_ or such) but for the sake
of rhyme came out as _husch_ (which is now associated with rushing).
Besides, the elderberry bush/tree has the folkloristic role of protecting
from harm.

By the way, the _ringel-rangel_ part really conveys the idea of climbing
roses, twining as a vine, and this goes with the circle dance that precedes
the hiding (squatting) and emerging (hopping) parts.

This, by the way, was (is?) *the* circle game/dance for children in
(Northern?) Germany, usually the first one they learn (as soon as they can
walk, squat and hop, or even earlier, in which they case they get assistance
with the hard parts).

When I was a child, _Holderbusch_ was pronounced _Hollerbusch_ in our area,
due to Missingsch/Lowlands Saxon (Low German) influence (ld -> ll, nd ->
nn).  _Vergissmeinicht_ was pronounced _Vergissmeinich_.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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