While not technically a "word/phrase," you can find some interesting history references in many of the nursery rhymes of old... Here are a couple
Ring Around the Rosy Rhyme
Guessing that most people know the connection between this rhyme and the Bubonic Plague. For those that don't, here are the details in short.
The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells and attempt to mask the smell of the decaying flesh. Ashes, Ashes is a reference to the cremation of the dead.
Jack and Jill
The roots of the story, or poem, of Jack and Jill are in France. Jack and Jill referred to are said to be King Louis XVI - Jack -who was beheaded (lost his crown) followed by his Queen Marie Antoinette - Jill - (who came tumbling after). The rhyme eventually was reworked to give the ending a more acceptable (happy) tone for a child's nursery rhyme.
On a side note of executions. We always see in television and movies of an executioner hoisting a recently removed head up by its hair for the crowd to cheer and jeer at. In reality, this was done not to show the head to the crowd, but rather to show the crowd (and body) to the head, as it is possible for a head to remain conscious for a dozen or so seconds after it has been decapitated.
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty was in fact believed to be a large cannon! ( Humpty Dumpty was strategically placed on the wall next to St Mary's Church). It was used during the English Civil War ( 1642 - 1649) in the Siege of Colchester (13 Jun 1648 - 27 Aug 1648).
A shot from a Parliamentary cannon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath Humpty Dumpty which caused the cannon to tumble to the ground. The Royalists, or Cavaliers, 'all the King's men' attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall. However, because the cannon , or Humpty Dumpty, was so heavy ' All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again!' This had a drastic consequence for the Royalists as the strategically important town of Colchester fell to the Parliamentarians after a siege lasting eleven weeks.
Just a bit of random trivia picked up from Children's Literature
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