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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Ring a ring o' roses
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Rhyme and tumbling game, in which the children dance in a ring and fall on the last line: Ring-a-ring o' roses, A pocket full of posies, A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down. This has been a happy hunting ground for those who seek historical allusions in *nursery rhymes. It has been said to relate to the *Great Plague – a rosy rash being supposedly a symptom of the disease, posies being carried against it, sneezes a sign the end was near, and then the tumble into death. But the rhyme was first printed in 1881 and was for a while sung in many versions other than the best-known one quoted here, to which the interpretation is tailored.
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