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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend April 26, 2006 Since You Asked I heard on radio that the children's rhyme "Ring Around The Rosy"came from the days of the Black Death. Correct? If so, what does it have to do with the plague? -- P.S.B., Medford In this theory, the "ring around the rosy" is the first tell-tale symptom on the skin of the onset of plague, which killed an estimated one-third of Europe's population in the middle of the 14th century. The "posies' are either funereal or a wishful way of fending off the disease; "ashes" is a corruption of the sound of a sneeze another symptom, and "we all fall down" in death. Others say that's an urban legend. The main problem is that although folkore and children's rhymes have been collected and published for centuries, the earliest version of "Ring Around the Rosy" is from the 1881 "Mother Goose," more than 500 years after the plague. It seems extremely unlikely it could have been around that long without anybody ever noticing it. Advertisement Another difficulty is that the rhyme's other verses have no apparent connection to the plague or any plague-like images. In fact, the first plague interpretation of "Ring Around the Rosy" didn't show up until James Leasor's "The Plague and the Fire" in 1961, more than 600 years after the plague. A theory we like is folklorist Philip Hiscock's, who thinks the rhyme was part of 19th century dancing games played by children wanting to dance but belonging to Protestant sects that banned dancing. Children formed rings, moved without music and in the end all fell down. Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to [email protected] . We're sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers Southern Oregon Loans California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s