Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part B

Today, I am completing my reading of our British and Celtic unit for Mythology and Folklore. For this week's reading, I have chosen selections from The Nursery Rhyme Book  by Andrew Lang, with illustrations from L. Leslie Brooke. As I wrote on Wednesday, nursery rhymes are going to prove rather challenging for this week's storytelling assignment. Nonetheless, I am excited to accept that challenge, and am eager to see how I can redevelop and interpret these classic rhymes.

Jack and Jill

Part B, while mostly similar to Part A in length and style, contrasts significantly in content. As I previously mentioned, I was surprised by how dark some of the nursery rhymes in Part A were, as they feature themes like death and abuse. In Part B, however, I truly enjoyed the section of rhymes entitled Love and Matrimony. There were familiar rhymes like Jack and Jill and Georgie Porgie within this section, but they were accompanied by surprising new stories like Sylvia and Simon and Jack Sprat. Furthermore, I found it interesting that many of these rhymes referred to food as an important part of the relationship between the two characters. From Part B, I primarily learned that the nature of nursery rhymes, while humorous, is also concerned with the lives and needs of the rhymes' audience.

Jack Sprat
This short rhyme (five lines) tells us Jack could eat no fat, and his wife could eat no lean, so together they could always lick their plates clean. As a basis for a relationship, complementary eating habits seem silly, but so do many of these rhymes.

There was a Little Man
In this somewhat longer rhyme, a little man asks a little maid to marry him, to which she replies "But what shall we have for to eat?" this rhyme signifies the importance of provision in a marriage. If I choose to write a more romantic or loving nursery rhyme, the concerns of the audience, such as where their food will come from, must be considered.