Lucy Burroughs answered
Ring a Ring o' Roses (also known as Ring Around the Rosie in the United States) is a children's nursery rhyme first printed in 1881. Many people believe that the song was originally written about the plague of 1665, but this theory has been rejected by folklorists - on the grounds that this explanation apparently appeared relatively recently, and because the symptoms described in the rhyme (coughing, and falling down dead) are not actually specific to the Great Plague.
There are many variants of the nursery rhyme, with most English-speaking countries having a different version. Some even have more than one verse, but the first one is always the most popular.
United Kingdom and Ireland Ring a-ring o' roses, A pocketful of posies. A-tissue!, a-tissue!. We all fall down.
United States Ring around the Rosie, A pocketful of posies. Ashes, ashes. We all fall down!
Canada Ring around the Rosie, A pocket full of posies. Hush-a, hush-a. We all fall down.
Australia and New Zealand Ring a ring a Rosie A pocketful of posies a tissue, a tissue. We all fall down.
There are many variants of the nursery rhyme, with most English-speaking countries having a different version. Some even have more than one verse, but the first one is always the most popular.
United Kingdom and Ireland Ring a-ring o' roses, A pocketful of posies. A-tissue!, a-tissue!. We all fall down.
United States Ring around the Rosie, A pocketful of posies. Ashes, ashes. We all fall down!
Canada Ring around the Rosie, A pocket full of posies. Hush-a, hush-a. We all fall down.
Australia and New Zealand Ring a ring a Rosie A pocketful of posies a tissue, a tissue. We all fall down.
