Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme

by Chris Roberts (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.25

  Was Little Jack Horner a squatter? Baa Baa Black Sheep a bleat about taxation? Is Jack and Jill about loss of virginity? And Goosie Goosie Gander about prostitution? This ingenious book delves into the hidden meanings of the most innocuous-sounding nursery rhymes, exposing a seething and subversive mass of sexual innuendo, religious hatred, financial hardship and political rebellion. It contains a multitude of the kind of surprising nuggets you want to pass on to your friends. It makes us look afresh at the words we parroted innocently as children, and provides an accessible lesson in British history along the way. Each rhyme (and an additional chapter on sex and relationships in nursery rhymes) is illustrated by a contemporary artist, varying in style from the traditional to the modern and bringing a whole new dimension to the reasons behind the rhyme. This new edition includes 16 new rhymes.