Ring Around the Rosie Pocketful of Fosies Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down.

Remember that little rhyme?

If you're like me, probably remember linking hands with a bunch of other kids spinning

around in a circle.

And then the best part, we all fall down.

It's the kind of game that you teach to the youngest of children.

There's no rules, no winners, just a little song, and then a fun moment when you get to

fall to the ground.

Well, believe it or not, it's been argued that that adorable childhood game actually

has its roots in one of the most horrific epidemics ever faced by humanity.

Yes, it has been claimed that Ring Around the Rosie is actually about Europe's black

death.

How could that be possible, you ask?

Well, the argument goes that Ring Around the Rosie refers to one of the marks of the

plague.

Apparently, there was sometimes a distinctive looking rash that accompanied the infection.

Next, the pocketful of posies.

Well, during the years of the plague, which first ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1350,

people took to carrying nice smelling flowers or herbs and spices around in their pockets

or tucked in a handkerchief.

This is so they could hold the good smells to their noses while they walked past the

awful smelling corpses that appeared on the streets faster than they could be buried.

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