# Evil Nursery Rhymes: **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2003, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412 "2003-11-15T08:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/1 "2003-11-15T08:57:22Z")
I love the old scary twisted ones. Like this: > [@](#): > > Oranges and lemons, > Say the bells of St. Clement’s. > You owe me five farthings, > Say the bells of St. Martin’s. > When will you pay me? > Say the bells of Old Bailey. > When I grow rich, > Say the bells of Shoreditch. > When will that be, > Say the bells of Stepney. > I’m sure I don’t know, > Says the great bell at Bow. > Here comes a candle to light you to bed, > Here comes a chopper to chop off your head. The poem reprinted in the first part of Neal Stephenson’s “The Diamond age” would be another… Anyone else out there know some good ones? ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/2 "2003-11-15T11:55:08Z")
There was one I remember reading years ago called “Naughty Little Suck-a-thumb.” The child wouldn’t stop sucking his thumb, so his fingers were cut off, one by one. Naturally I can’t lay my fully-fingered hands on it now, will try to find it though. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/3 "2003-11-15T12:26:31Z")
[The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb](http://www.fln.vcu.edu/struwwel/daumen_e.html), right? Ah, those good 'ol Grant Morrison “Doom Patrol” comics are what set me off in the first place… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/4 "2003-11-15T12:31:50Z")
Struwellpeter is a hideous and terrifying book that soured my childhood. I appreciate its grotesqueness now, but when I was little, it gave me nightmares. “Ring-a-ring-a-rosie” was meant to be about dying of the plague, but I gather this has been called into question by our very own Cecil. “London Bridge is falling down” used to scare the shit out of me when I was a kid, but I think that was down to the sound effects on the nursery rhyme record I had. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/5 "2003-11-15T12:38:24Z")
Oh and of course, “Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.” There was something about trying to fix his broken skull with vinegar and brown paper as well. That’s _gotta_ hurt. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/6 "2003-11-15T13:12:56Z")
Thanks **Darth Nader** for finding the poem. I was mistaken in my recollection that the child’s fingers were cut off one-by-one, for each time he was caught. He ONLY lost his thumbs. The accompanying drawings must have terrified many toddlers. On another site they have a rhyme about a boy who doesn’t bathe, comb his hair or cut his nails. Geez, you can’t teach kids anything. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/7 "2003-11-15T13:59:28Z")
Run, do not walk, and purchase a copy of [Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts: The Subversive Folklore of Childhood](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0874834449/qid=1068904461//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/002-5759934-2890456?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). A marvelous collection of childhood rhymes, including both classical rhymes, and the little bastards’ take-offs of the classical rhymes. Everything from the title song to “The Adams Family started, when Uncle Fester…” ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/8 "2003-11-15T14:04:22Z")
I just remembered another one: _Scab and matter custard Snot and bogey_ pie Dead dog’s giblets Green cat’s eye Spread it on bread Spread it on thick Wash it all down With a cup of cold sick\* \*English English for “booger”. Makes golfing commentary quite amusing. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-nursery-rhymes/213412/9 "2003-11-15T23:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > **Struwellpeter is a hideous and terrifying book that soured my childhood** … And so of course, is now a musical! [http://www.shockheadedpeter.com/](http://www.shockheadedpeter.com/) “The Worms Crawl In” is fairly grotesque and apparently comes in a variety of flavors. [http://www.alsirat.com/deathlore/worms.html](http://www.alsirat.com/deathlore/worms.html)