I learned, just today, that those nursery rhymes that we all learned as children--and that seemed so utterly innocuous--were actually about real people (usually kings or queens); and that these people were referred to in a (somewhat thinly) veiled way, so that the author would not be hanged--or, worse yet, burned at the stake. Here are some examples: Three Blind Mice – Henry VIII’s 1st Protestant archbishop; Hugh Lattimer; Matthew Ridley Little Tommy’s Tittlemouse – about the monks Little Boy Blue – Cardinal Woolsey (his favorite color was blue) Sheep is in the meadow – Cardinal Woolsey Jack and Jill – an attempt to get the French king to marry Mary Tudor Sing a Song of Six Pence – 20 deeds of property for Henry VIII
