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“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.
