Dark, Disturbing and Somewhat Horrible, the History and Origins of Nursery Rhymes #4: 🌸 Lucy Locket 🌸
Dark, Disturbing and Somewhat Horrible, the History and Origins of Nursery Rhymes #4: Lucy Locket
This week I must admit I was torn as to which one to choose, there are a couple of interesting ones left; black death, murder, another beheading or two… but as today is February 1st, and Valentine's Day will soon be upon us, what better way to get things going then with the oldest profession in the world… prostitution.
Lucy Locket lost her pocket,
Kitty Fisher found it,
Not a penny was there in it,
But a ribbon 'round it.
I grew up skipping along singing this sweet rhyme, which is sung to the tune of "Yankie Doodle", all the time thinking it's a song about 2 friends, Lucy and Kitty and how Lucy loses her purse or pocket and Kitty finds it and returns it… Um, not so much…
In 18tth century London, prostitution was rife and one of the most famous courtesans at the time was Catherine Maria "Kitty" Fisher. Originally a milliner, but after seeing how much more money she could make and how much more fun she could have making it, inside and outside the boudoir, Kitty decided to take matters into her own hands and made a career change.
Aside from her more notable talents, Kitty was also known for her "clever and witty conversation", and her lighthearted antics, including reportedly eating "a thousand-pound banknote on her bread and butter".
The second harlot in the rhyme, is Lucy Locket a barmaid at (Ye Olde Cock Tavern) in Fleet Street, London.
Lucy Locket had a regular customer also known as a "pocket" who obviously liked her services a little too much, as he quickly ran out of money and was dumped by Lucy.
He then turned his attention to Kitty and hence she "found the pocket" and since he was broke, there was not a penny in it.
The ribbon refers to the custom among prostitutes to keep their bank notes tied to their thigh with a ribbon.
So, the rhyme, is Kitty taunting Lucy for dumping her lover and her taking him on.
Yet again, another children's classic that depicts the tawdry goings on in England and has been recited by countless children for a couple of hundred years :)
Tidbit: In 1776 Kitty married an MP (Member of Parliament) and became a well-respected member of London high society and dabbled in philanthropic endeavors. Sadly, the marriage only lasted 4 months as Kitty contracted smallpox and died. Her last dying wishes were to be buried in her ballgown.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this week's look at a well-known nursery rhyme, well perhaps "enjoyed" isn't the right word… I hope you found this interesting and I'm looking forward to sharing more next week 😊
Link to last week: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
Original content by @redwellies
Reference: persephonemagazine.com & treasuryislands.wordpress.com
Well there you go! I had no idea… I'll check out the rest of the series. As ever there is far more going on behind the innocent facade ;). The same went on with children's TV programs - when you watch some of them back now there are far more innuendos going on and you wonder how they got away with it!
When I was a kid, there was an afternoon children's show on the week-ends called Buster Brown. And there was a frog puppet who helped introduce the (obligatory) cartoon during the show. He did this by pulling down on a flexible pole that when released gave a boiiiinngg sound -- like a Jew's harp.
Buster Brown (another puppet) gave the invitation to pull the lever down, do the boiinngg sound and start the cartoon by saying, "Plunk your magic twanger, froggie!!" My father about died when he heard that one afternoon. I didn't know what the big deal was.
Nowadays, whenever @catweasel and I publish The Daily Whistle Stops ---> when everything is ready to go, our signal to publish is "Plunk your magic twanger, froggie." Some things never die. (Oh, Lord!)
See: Buster Brown
@adambarratt LOL you're right!! I hadn't thought about that for a while. In England "Noddy and Big Ears" and the "Magic Roundabout" immediately come to mind...
Is Neil still doing Magic Roundabout?
Also, why do elephants have big ears?
Trust me, I'm a doctor.
I know Lucy Locket, with a rearranged third line, but I never knew the back story. Thank you for filling in a gap.
I'm looking forward to the plague.
Trust me, I'm a doctor.
Oh, good grief. You would be.
Do these seemingly meaningless rhymes and stories really mean al this, or are they relatively innocent little remnants of their darker origins, washed clean and harmless by memories drained away by passing generations?
Should we leave them that way, as mood enhancers of mystical origin, or kill them time and again with stark realities. I honestly don't know. And are these histories to be trusted? ...with my conspiro-theoretical faculty kicking in: they may just as well have been thought up anywhere down the line, with evil intent!
"Ring a ring o'roses, a pocketful of posies...", or some variation of it - what a beautiful socializing little song that was, with kids holding hands dancing in a ring on an uplifting tune , in the end to "all fall down!" in laughter! Lovely memory, till I found out its origin in the bubonic plague...what a disappointment!
I'll even pay the price of believing Father Christmas is real and on his way for having this world a more joyful place. But on the other hand, I have no respect for a dictionary without a clear and understandable etymology for every word...
Not meant as a negative critique dear @redwellies - just me noisy noggin spilling over a little!
I remember being a little disturbed by this one as a child. Most nursery rhymes were very unsatisfying for me. They never seemed to go anywhere or have a happy ending. So I remember asking several questions about this one. (I didn't especially like it.)
First ... how could she lose a pocket? (Since those were sewed securely to your clothes.) My parents said this was a short word for "pocketbook" ... which was another name for a purse. Ok, that made sense to me.
Next ---> did Kitty Fisher take the lost purse back to its owner? (Even without any money in it, the purse still had some value. I darkly suspected the Kitty kept the purse for herself on a "finders-keepers" rationale.) My parents didn't know. The rhyme didn't say. (They were getting a little impatient by this time.)
Next ---> was the ribbon red by any chance? (My favorite color.) And did that give the purse more value -- since that ribbon seems to somehow stand in for the lack of pennies. (Answer: No, that just made it pretty.)
This whole thing still did not make sense to me. (And my parents clearly wished they were dealing with an easier child.) And I still didn't like the rhyme. And the answers didn't help.
@enchantedspirit LOL that's brilliant! I love your thought rationale as a child :) Sorry to shatter the illusion, but hopefully you'll have closure now :)
I do enjoy learning what these little stories we all learn as children really mean. The curious kid in me still asks questions ... and closure is important. Thank you for doing these. This series really has been interesting.
So fascinating! This kind of things never ceases to amaze me. There is actually a mature story in there!
Thank you for sharing!
@flashfiction I know right! This one definitely was a mature origin, makes a change from death of some sort lol :)
I have never heard that rhyme before! It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to turn adult themes into kids' entertainment... Honestly kids movies and TV shows do this too. For example, I LOVED the Gargoyles TV show when I was a kid, and bought the DVDs when I was in uni. Rewatching it made me realize how much of it was way over my head!!! it's hilarious.
I do not know the Gargoyles, but I loved Rugrats, which had multiple levels and appealed to adults (my friends and I,) teens (my kids,) and young children.
The Simpsons also had multiple levels. Probably still has, I believe it's still in production. A Streetcar Named Marge is possibly my favourite episode. There were several storylines in that one episode, all of which worked both independently and together. The best scenes, although all scenes were marvellous, were Maggie as the Cooler King (Steve McQueen,) complete with ball and glove.
Trust me, I'm a doctor.
Ah yes rugrats for sure too-any Pixar movie for that matter is so well written that it’s got A level for every age! Simpson’s really isn’t marketed as a kid show though obviously kids watched it (much to their parents chagrin I’m sure haha)
@derosnec It may not be such a well known rhyme outside of England which is why I thought it may be an interesting one to do, not to mention the subject matter this week :)
The weird thing about all these is how they became children's nursery rhymes when they have such adult themes. If they were drinking songs that would make sense but how did they become used by children?
Thanks for another interesting explanation!
@gillianpearce. Many of these rhymes were passed along to children as a means of having the story remembered and subsequently passed along to the next generation. Also during these times, children weren't sheltered from what would be considered a "mature" subject matter.
Well, that's interesting! I don't know that nursery rhyme. At least not very well. I may have heard it a time or two. It's so crazy how this was about prostitution! Lol!
@apanamamama I know right! I thought it would make a change from murder and torture :)
Oh wow that is pretty cool, disturbing but cool!
Question: @thesteemengine banner, can anyone registered on the steem engine use it?
@insideoutlet Thanks! Isn't it just :) And yes, anyone can use it and I believe it's pinned to the top of our general chat room in Discord :)
Awesome I will have to download that. Thank you.
Bravo I enjoyed reading thru it. Not familiar of this nursery rhyme but I enjoyed it.
@watersnake101 Thank you! Yes, it was an interesting one to highlight :)