Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes

In Pop Goes the Weasel, Albert Jack explores the strange and fascinating histories behind the nursery rhymes we thought we knew, showing that their real .
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This is a great b This books gives an interesting insight into the stories behind many classic Nursery Rhymes. This is a great book to dip in and out of, and one i would recommend reading more than once. As looking back I only vaguely remember what the stories were behind the rhymes as nothing seems to have stuck which is a shame. Is this purely because I need to read it again, or was the style of writing just not memorable? However great book to get an idea of how these rhymes came about. Jul 20, Evelyn rated it really liked it Shelves: This book was extremely interesting. It tracks down, as best as they can, the historical origins of nursery rhymes.

Sometimes more than one origin is included because they aren't sure which is the real one. Many rhymes are included most of the ones that I know plus many more besides , as well as several songs, like the Hokey Pokey and Good King Wenceslas. Very interesting and fun to read. I've talked about several of the origins with my children, because we've learned about many of the people t This book was extremely interesting.

I've talked about several of the origins with my children, because we've learned about many of the people they are based on in history. Many, but not all, of the stories are based on the royal families of England, some also on the traditional ways of life 'back then'.


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Almost all of them are very interesting. Mar 17, Keith Blodgett rated it liked it. I didn't finish but I'm done. I used to feel guilty not finishing books but I've decided that I'm not obligated to slog through books I'm just not enjoying. Pop Goes the Weasel is supposed to contain the 'secret meaning' behind nursery rhymes. Mostly it's dry and boring British history from centuries ago. For every salacious tidbit of knowledge you're drowned in dates and names you really won't remember and couldn't care less about. I don't know if the author dug deep to find the most I'm done I don't know if the author dug deep to find the most obscure rhymes to flesh out the book but for every rhyme I remembered from my childhood there were a dozen, strange and obscure, that I'd never heard of.

Maybe it would help to be from Britain but I was truly bored by the majority of rhymes in this book. Aug 10, Amanda Mastran rated it liked it Shelves: A fun read if you like quirky history and tales of dark deeds. Jack shares different explanations for the origins of English nursery rhymes, some of which are fact, but many a combination of history and myth. As entertaining as it is, the book has a few downfalls. One being that if you lack a basic understanding of English history you could very easily become lost amongst all the Marys, Elizabeths, Richards, and Henrys.

The fact that the rhymes are ordered alphabetically, rather than in grouping A fun read if you like quirky history and tales of dark deeds. The fact that the rhymes are ordered alphabetically, rather than in groupings with related origins does not help the fact. The other main downfall is that although Jack appears to consider himself a witty writer, he is not.

Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes - Albert Jack - Google Книги

He makes some lackluster attempts at jokes, but the history can still get a bit dry at times. For what was there, it was a pretty interesting book. In my opinion, the author got a little melodramatic at times, "And they are important, in my view, because many of them tell the true tale of some of history's darkest or most tragic events. Nevertheless, the stories were short and engaging and sometimes surprising.

And For what was there, it was a pretty interesting book. And it was particularly interesting to see how some of them had been influenced by how certain other authors or artists used them like Humpty Dumpty. Apr 30, Brittany rated it it was ok. I just read about the nursery rhymes that I was familiar with. The origins of the rhymes are mostly theories drawn from history. Sometimes there are several theories listed for the origin of one rhyme.

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Maybe it's because I'm not as familiar with British history, but I feel like all the theories seem to blend together. I have been reading this book off and on the past year and I wouldn't be able to tell someone the origin theories to each nursery rhyme off the top of my head. If someone asked me I just read about the nursery rhymes that I was familiar with.

If someone asked me about the origin of a certain nursery rhyme, I would have to go back and re-read about it before I could answer. Oct 25, Erin rated it liked it. This was an interesting little book. It's a collection of histories of common nursery rhymes. The author organized it in alphabetical order by the nursery rhyme and then describes the history of the rhyme.

Many of them go back to Tudor England. The author is English so he uses the English versions of the rhymes, which are a little different than the versions Americans know.


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    5. It's a very light read, in spite of the educational aspect. I did find myself running to wikipedia a few times to look up t This was an interesting little book. I did find myself running to wikipedia a few times to look up the historical figures I'm not familiar with. This was a very interesting book. Although I hadn't heard of many of the nursery rhymes presented by Jack, it was fun to read possible historical stories tied to them.

    The only thing I didn't like is Jack tossed aside theories simply because the time period the theory was about didn't match up with the year the nursery rhyme had first been written down. Just because they don't match up doesn't mean that long before it was written down it wasn't recited.


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    That's just my opinion though. Despite tha This was a very interesting book. Despite that, it was an interesting read Aug 04, Mary rated it really liked it Shelves: Remarkably compelling bathroom reading by which I mean, of course, to read while brushing your teeth , this book provides not just an awful lot of "did you know The Britishness may be its only downfall, because some of the rhymes are very different from the ones we Americans i.

    Jan 24, Sherri rated it liked it.

    10 Nursery Rhymes with Dark Backstories

    A good little reference book, with interesting stories. Besides the well-known nursery rhymes there are many obscure rhymes as well. This works best as a reference source instead of a regular read. The stories and names begin to run together after awhile. A good knowledge of British history is very helpful too. Organised alphabetically by name of nursery rhyme it makes it easy to read this book from beginning to end or just read the ones which interest you. Not a definitve guide but lots of speculation and possibilities as to the meanings of the nursery rhymes.

    Some were more tenuous than others based on particular phrases. If I ever come across a nursery rhyme section in a pub quiz I'll be set. Jan 02, Sarah rated it really liked it. I picked this one up randomly and it is amazing! Great for history buffs. Nov 30, Carina rated it liked it Shelves: I really enjoyed this book - it could do with some better editing in places there were unfortunately a few times where I had to re-read a sentence or two in order for me to be sure of what I was reading , and the level of interpretation varied wildly from rhyme to rhyme but it was really interesting.

    There were a ton of nursery rhymes in this book that I had never heard of. This made the book a little less interesting since they weren't rhymes I grew up with. The ones that I had grown up with either had slightly different words in this book or I had already known the meaning behind them. It was still kind of interesting but it was mostly a very dry book.

    Sep 09, Whitney Garrett rated it liked it Shelves: This book started out slow, but the further I got in the book the more nursery rhymes I recognized and the more interesting it became. Given that the author is British, there were many nursery rhymes unfamiliar to me. There were also a few I was familiar with, but are obviously slightly different in America.

    It would have been nice to see some of these differences addressed. Mar 22, Kirsten rated it it was ok. I suspected that this was going to be rather light-weight. I could have gotten the same results from Google or Wikipedia. So that was a missed opportunity. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Albert Jack, pen name for Graham Willmott, is an international best-selling author and historian. He is an expert in explaining the unexplained and has appeared on live television shows and has made thousands of radio appearances worldwide.

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    Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes, by Albert Jack – review

    Learn more about Kindle MatchBook. Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Don't Forget to Write for the Secondary Grades: The Grammar Teacher's Activity-a-Day: Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features: Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Read reviews that mention rhyme origins behind interested reference entertaining meaning sixpence adult historical originally useful title realized explain missed political british boy explanations.

    There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. My favorite nursery rhyme from earliest childhood memories. As an adult I had taken a class in children's literature, and Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes and their hidden meanings was part of the study. It was an eye opening experience to study these nursery rhymes then. Yet there were demands re: I had promised myself to return to these rhymes in depth when I could do so at my leisure. This book is very good for this purpose. There are explanations of historical facts behind these rhymes, humor of the times, as well as indications of man's inhumanity to man during those yesteryear days.

    It is really informative, easy to understand, and answers questions that the reader may have had re: Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. I think I feel a bit more historically informed after having read this book! Steven Peterson Top Contributor: A book that deconstructs classic nursery rhymes! Some examples to illustrate: Yes sir, yes sir, Three bags full.

    One for the master, One for the dame, And one for the little boy Who lives down the lane. He taxed wool to fund his campaigns and other foreign adventures. However, the book notes pretty persuasively that that was unlikely. A number of hypotheses. One of those is a reference to "Bloody" Mary, Queen of England. The three blind mice represented former leaders whom Mary imprisoned and then executed. Anyhow, a lot of fun exploring the origins of the meaning of many of our favorite nursery tales. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I bought this on Amazon.

    An interesting book which discusses many nursery rhymes, etc. Too much to read in one session, go slower and appreciate it more. My only criticism is that it lacks a table of contents or index, so you have to hunt through many sometimes, many many pages to find a particular nursery rhyme you are interested in.

    Not easy on a Kindle because you can't "go to" any particular page, other than the first one. Would have been easier to flip through a hard copy. This book has been great answering questions I first had as a fourteen year old boy attending a folk music festival with my father a lot of years ago. At one point the group used nursery rhymes as an example of early political protest, then followed by songs of protest.

    It has taken until now with Google and Amazon on line to follow up on that first exposure. What a great book to start the process even in old age.

    Once I have carefully digested this book, I can search for one dealing with more political meaning on the same topic. One person found this helpful. I went to the UK this summer on a tour with my daughter. The tour guide used stories from this book quite a bit to explain English history. I have always had an interest in Nursery Rhymes and Albert Jack has done a excellent job with his research and he makes the book interesting to read. The histories to each rhyme are a page to a page and a half long. Light, informative and interesting read. I am a librarian in a high school and after reading this book my copy will become a part of the library's collection.

    One person found this helpful 2 people found this helpful. I've always thought of nursery rhymes as fun and was surprised that this book isn't. On the other hand, I really learned a lot about the origins of rhymes we take for granted. While I've thought of most rhymes as non-sensical and whimsical, many of them had deep meanings or conveyed messages or had some purpose other than to entertain children.

    The history behind them was enlightening as was the fact that when various ones first appeared many of the people of the period couldn't read so having a message in verse served a greater purpose than it would to us now. Much of the history occurred during unsettled and difficult times when expressing an opinion contrary to the authorities was dangerous where a supposedly silly rhyme could express frustration or derision safely. Because of the rhyme chosen as the title and the cover art, I really expected a tongue in cheek look at the rhymes' history and more than a little humor.

    Unfortunately, I found none of that and was a little disappointed that the subject was approached so seriously. The research was prodigious and more than one potential meaning was given if the origin of a rhyme was questionable. I recognized most of the rhymes, probably due to my heritage and age, and enjoyed being reminded of them. I certainly learned a lot and valued the insight, but was hoping for a laugh or two. The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes.

    Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings Of Nursery Rhymes

    The title is misleading as the beginning and underlying meaning of the Nursery Rhymes, many of which started in England and related to historical events in that country were not "Secret Meanings". Coming from London we enjoyed the book as it referred to many places that we know and explained in detail the historical background of many of the common Nursery Rhymes. We enjoyed the book and have ordered a second copy to be passed on to one of our friends who is interested.

    This is a fun reference work. Unlike some other books explaining the origins of nursery rhymes, this one does not go into all kinds of Freudian "adult" explanations or at least, it doesn't in the ones I have read.

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    I admit to have read only the rhymes I am interested in and is, therefore, useful if you want to explain the source of a favorite to children and young teen-agers. It also provides alternative possibilities. For the rhyme we were immediately interested in because my wife was using it in her grade school classes, "The Cat and the Fiddle", there were three explanations, which was fun for the kids to select a favorite.