Is a Child Buried in London Bridge? The Truth Behind the Rhyme
The claim that a child was buried alive in London Bridge to keep it standing is folklore, not fact. Here’s what the evidence says.
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Was Humpty Dumpty Really a Civil War Cannon?
The story that Humpty Dumpty was a cannon at the 1648 siege of Colchester is a modern invention. Here’s what the rhyme actually is.
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Does “Ring Around the Rosie” Really Come from the Plague?
By The Archivist · February 11, 2025 · Fact-checked against primary and reference sources Watch a group of small children play the ring game — hands joined, spinning in a circle, everyone collapsing in a heap at the end — and you are watching something that has been happening, in one form or another, for…
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The Real History of Nursery Rhymes
By The Archivist · January 7, 2025 · Fact-checked against primary and reference sources Sing a nursery rhyme to the end and someone will eventually lean in to tell you what it “really” means. This one is about the plague. That one is about a beheading. The other is a coded jab at a king….
