Ring a Ring o' Roses
+ The rhyme has often been associated with the Great plague which happened in England in 1665, or with earlier outbreaks of the Black Death in England. Interpreters of the rhyme before the Second World War make no mention of this by 1951, however, it seems to have become well established as an explanation for the form of the rhyme that had become standard in the United Kingdom.
The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, and Posies of herbs were carried as protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and "all fall down" was exactly what happened.
The line Ashes, Ashes in colonial versions of the rhyme is claimed to refer variously to cremation of the bodies, the burning of victims' houses, or blackening of their skin
+ The plague, which swept Europe during the 1600s, sneezing was often seen as a sign of getting the disease. Illness was believed by many to be caused by evil spirits. Children would stand in a circle and sing this poignant little song, 'Ring a ring o' roses, a pocket full of posies, atishoo, atishoo, we all fall down!' It was common practice to carry in a pocket, or wear on a lapel, a 'nosegay' or 'posy' of flowers and herbs, which were believed to ward off evil spirits and hence disease. Sadly, as the song suggests, even a pocket full of posies, did not protect them; they all still sneezed, got sick and 'fell down'.
+ The plague, spread by the bite of fleas from brown rats, which came on land from sailing ships, was wiped out in England by the Great Fire of London in 1666.
+ It was believed that when you sneeze, and your mouth opens that it gives evil spirits the opportunity to enter your body. So people would say bless you to drive away the evil spirits.
+ Beaked masks containing herbs in the beak were worn in the middle ages by plague doctors to try to ward off the Black Death.
+ A plague doctor was a special medical physician who saw those who had the plague. They were specifically hired by towns that had many plague victims in times of plague epidemics. Since the city was paying their salary, they treated everyone: both the rich and the poor. They were not normally professionally trained experienced physicians or surgeons, and often were second-rate doctors not able to otherwise run a successful medical business or young physicians trying to establish themselves.
Plague doctors by their covenant treated plague patients and were known as municipal or "community plague doctors", whereas "general practitioners" were separate doctors and both might be in the same European city or town at the same time. In France and the Netherlands plague doctors often lacked medical training and were referred to as "empirics". In one case a plague doctor had been a fruit-seller before his employment as a physician.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some doctors wore a beak-like mask which was filled with aromatic items. The masks were designed to protect them from putrid air, which (according to the miasmatic theory of disease) was seen as the cause of infection. Being a plague doctor was unpleasant, dangerous and difficult. Their chances of survival in times of a plague epidemic were low.
+ Plague doctors practiced bloodletting and other remedies such as putting frogs on the buboes (groin) to "rebalance the humors" as a normal routine.Plague doctors could not generally interact with the general public because of the nature of their business and the possibility of spreading the disease; they could also be subject to quarantine
+ The hollow, perforated pointing stick could also be stuffed with herbs and was waved in front of the doctor to “purify” his path. The stick also had the bonus use of pushing Plague-infected people away from the doctor if they got too close, or directing some course of action without having to do it themselves. The stick could be used to examine an infected patient without actually touching them.
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