"Ring Around the Rosy"

"Ring Around the Rosy," a common childhood song and dance, is really about one of the deadliest epidemics in all of history"the Bubonic Plague". It claimed millions of victims. The opening words, "Ring around the rosy," represent the skin lesion associated with the disease that appears as a bright red, or rosy, ulcerated spot surrounded by a ring.The next line, "Pocket full of posies," has superstitious origins. Physicians used to carry scented herbs and flowers – usually posies – in front of their noses in an attempt to ward off the plague. Traditional 17th century London physicians wore long robes and a long beaked mask with posies stuffed inside.The final verse, "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down," symbolizes death by the plague