# Yes, it's morbid. But where'd it come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2001, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-its-morbid-but-whered-it-come-from/56155 "2001-02-28T04:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-its-morbid-but-whered-it-come-from/56155/1 "2001-02-28T04:27:13Z")
_Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take_ Brrrrrr. Nasty. But I’m damned if I can trace its origins anywhere. Does anyone have a good folklore library around? When and from whence did this little prayer originate? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-its-morbid-but-whered-it-come-from/56155/2 "2001-02-28T04:45:33Z")
Well, it’s old. That much is clear. But it doesn’t seem to have a good source. Just appeared in a primer once upon a time, attributed to Anonymouse. Here’s the page from Bartlett’s Quotations for it: [http://www.bartleby.com/100/690.146.html](http://www.bartleby.com/100/690.146.html) And here’s a page with some more info: [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/3041/sleep.html](http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/3041/sleep.html) ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-its-morbid-but-whered-it-come-from/56155/3 "2001-02-28T07:19:28Z")
Sort of a hijack … Lots of things we teach our children are really pretty morbid. We all know the story of ring around the rosy [can’t find the link], and then there’s “Rock a Bye, Baby” … _… When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will baby, cradle, and all._ There’s probably more that I can’t think of right now. Do we blame this on the borthers Grimm, or what? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-its-morbid-but-whered-it-come-from/56155/4 "2001-02-28T18:03:26Z")
Thanks, **SmackFu** –sleep-deprived zombie idiot that I am, I didn’t even think to hit Bartletts. But while we’re here, **StephenG** , check out [this link on “Ring Around the Rosie”](http://www.snopes.com/spoons/fracture/rosie.htm) from Snopes. Not about the plague at all. ---
**Author:** ![VanLandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/eb9ed0/32.png) [@VanLandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanLandry)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-its-morbid-but-whered-it-come-from/56155/5 "2001-02-28T18:53:40Z")
You mean it’s not from that Metallica tune? ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-its-morbid-but-whered-it-come-from/56155/6 "2001-02-28T21:34:56Z")
Comment on a hijack, putting me real far out there … > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by StephenG \* > Sort of a hijack … > > \< stuff deleted \> > > There’s probably more that I can’t think of right now. Do we blame this on the borthers Grimm, or what? You shouldn’t be blaming much on the brothers Grimm. Remember that they didn’t write the stories, they collected them. Unless you want to fault them for bringing them to a wider audience, you’ll have to blame the people who thought up the stories (mostly over-protective and perhaps over-imaginative mothers). That is if they even are to blame for this. I’d say some of this morbid stuff taught to children may not have been intended seriously by parents (despite what the children ended up believing). A lullaby doesn’t need to have meaningful words, so maybe someone came up with the lines as a joke. As for the child’s prayer, it probably grew out of an earlier time when children may not have lived as long, and memento mori was all the rage. The links mention a likely origin in the 18th century. It was probably something taught before then, and eventually made into print when enough people felt like reminding children that they, too, were mortal. ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-its-morbid-but-whered-it-come-from/56155/7 "2001-03-03T07:50:27Z")
All i can say is … oh. I apologize for spreading misinformation. Thanks for pointing that out, **andros**. 🙂