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As
children, we're fascinated with nursery rhymes. Short, snappy, and easy to
recall, they were perfect bedtime stories. As adults, we like them for many of
the same reasons. (After all, it doesn't add much time if you acquiesce to the
"just one more" plea.)
In Heavy Words Lightly Thrown, London librarian Chris Roberts explores
the history, hidden meanings, and origins of some forty rhymes. Although most
of these verses go back hundreds of years, they're reminiscent of today's
society, lined with religious hatred, political bashing, and sexual undertones.
Did you know that there were originally three maids in a tub rub-a-dub-dubbing?
The butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker were more than likely the
patrons of this fairground peepshow. Or take Little Jack Horner. A steward was
delivering a pie containing twelve property deeds, an attempted bribe from the
Abbot of Glastonbury to King Henry VIII to prevent his abbey from closing. The
Abbot's steward, Thomas Horner, removed the deeds for Mells Manor and, after the
Abbot was executed, continued to live at the property, claiming it as his own.
He had the deed, right? (The Horner family denies any wrongdoing.) Ba Ba Black
Sheep was a complaint about paying taxes, with earlier versions ending "and none
for the little boy who lives down the lane."
Shortly after its initial two thousand copy print run in 2003, Heavy Words
Lightly Thrown went global. This Gotham edition is the first published for
the United States. Since, as they say, the UK and the US are two countries
divided by a common language, Roberts has included a glossary for Americans to
help explain the British cultural references.
For those who are curious, Roberts' explanations of the "reason behind the
rhyme" will only continue the fascination with these childhood favorites. But
with this newfound knowledge, you might not be able to look Jack or Jill in the
eye again.
Review by Beth Golay, August 25, 2005
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