The 'Tiger Woods' of Pool

 

http://www.livescience.com/history/090525-top10-historical-events-1.html

One big hero

By Mark Young

"The service is designed to let the individual decide what will happen with their online profiles after they're gone," she said.

Granberg developed Webwill as her final thesis at Beckmans College of Design

Mr Taylor, 38, was taking off in his £1.9 million aircraft for a business trip when he noticed his gates were open and a white van was speeding away from his home in Binham.

Having had other break-ins in the past, Mr Taylor was determined not to let this thief get away. And the fleeing burglar, who realised he was being followed, made an equally determined effort to get away during the ensuing chase of nearly 50 miles.

First he drove to Wells-next-the-Sea, performing a u-turn designed to throw Mr Taylor off the scent.

He then drove through Walsingham to Fakenham and tried to lose himself among other white vans in the town. Mr Taylor was forced fly higher because of air traffic regulations about flying over congested areas.

But dumper truck company executive, who has four children, managed to stay on the trail and the chase continued to Guist, where the burglar performed a sharp left and headed towards Hindolveston and Melton Constable.

At one point, the burglar went to ground in some woods and, for about 20 minutes, Mr Taylor hovered overheard.

The businessman said: "I was cross. I thought 'You are not going to get away from me'. I was determined to catch him because I have had break-ins before – but I have never had to chase anyone in a helicopter before.

"The thief knew I was following him all the time. I ended up chasing it around half of north Norfolk.

"The van was probably going at about 50 to 60mph but the helicopter is capable of 190mph and I was overhead or sitting behind him all the time."

He called his sister Caroline, 28, and his mother Anne on his satellite phone and they joined in the chase in their cars, managing to get the licence plate number of the van. His mother was forced to give up the hunt when he car ran out of petrol.

Eventually the burglar decided to abandoned the van in the village of Stody and flee on foot. However police traced him using the number plate and he was arrested at his home in Briston.

Mr Taylor said: "It annoys me that people are prepared to break in to other people's property. I did not want to let him get away when I had the opportunity to go after him."

On Friday, a 28-year-old man admitted stealing firewood, pitchforks, diesel cans and a tractor battery and was given a conditional discharge.

The chase cost Mr Taylor about £2,500 in fuel – much more than the cost of the stolen goods – but he said the "principle" was what was important.

However he expressed his disappointment at the court ruling. "I am annoyed that he got away with a slap on the wrist," Mr Taylor said.

PC Jason Pegden, of Norfolk Police, summed up the surprise that a chase straight out of US TV drama 24 or an episode of The Bill, in which DCI Jack Meadows uses a helicopter to track a suspect in London, had come to Norfolk.

He said: "I've never come across anything like this before."

$10,000,000 fugitive drinking beer, enjoying heat

4:00AM Sunday May 24, 2009
By David Fisher

The New Zealand Herald

One of the fugitives sought over Westpac's missing millions has told friends she is drinking Chinese beer, enjoying the heat of Asia - and planning on returning to New Zealand.

Aroha Hurring, 22, has charted her and the fugitives' progress from New Zealand to Hong Kong, Macau and into mainland China on her Facebook page.

On China, she says: "It's crazy. The only thing I hate is that they look at me funny."

It is five days since it emerged Rotorua couple Leo Gao and Kara Yang-Hurring skipped the country after a Westpac staff member accidentally allowed a $10 million overdraft on their bank account, on or about May 5.

The bank spotted the error after $6.7m was withdrawn. They were only able to claw back less than half, leaving Gao with $3.8m.

A spokeswoman for Police National Headquarters said yesterday there were no developments in the investigation, which had traced "two individuals of interest" to Hong Kong.

Westpac has sought court orders that would eventually give it power over the business owners' assets if the money was not returned.

The couple's Rotorua BP service station went into receivership on May 8. By then they had already left the city, although it wasn't until 12 days later that it became known police were investigating the disappearance of the family - and the money.

Gao and Yang-Hurring, along with her seven-year-old daughter Leena, have been missing since. Gao's mother has also disappeared, along with his business partner Huan Di Zhang and Yang-Hurring's sister Aroha Hurring.

Yesterday, the Herald on Sunday learned Aroha did not leave New Zealand until after the others had already skipped the country.

A friend has been monitoring her Facebook page which carried the message: "Aroha Hurring is having a Tsingtao beer. It's 30 degrees plus - the heat is good though."

Just days before, Aroha was on the West Coast of the South Island, where overnight temperatures had dropped to zero.

She moved there from Otago about three years before with boyfriend Jesse Fenton, but had been behaving erratically since the couple separated just over a month ago.

Her trip from New Zealand into Asia began with a phone call, said the friend, who did not want to be named.

"She told me her sister had rung her from China and she was thinking of going over.

"She wanted to know where she was ringing from. She had the country area code so I Googled it."

The number was 00853 - the international code for Macau.

Like Hong Kong, Macau is a "special administrative district" of China allowing activities banned elsewhere. Among those are gambling - Macau is renowned as the Las Vegas of Asia.

Although frustrated by the lack of a passport and money to leave New Zealand, Aroha told a few friends she was "heading to China".

Then she was gone - and it was just over a week before the news of the missing money broke.

Since arriving, Aroha has updated family through her sister Chloe's Facebook page.

She writes about being in Hong Kong then crossing the border to China. She posted the update about China on Wednesday - the day police revealed they were hunting the missing money. It does not mention whether she is with her sister, Kara Yang-Hurring, or with Gao.

"I wish you were here," she wrote to her sister. "It's [a] bit weirder here in China. You have to be more aware...Jewlery, they snatch off you. But Hong Kong is richer. Got vidz [videos] of Ferarri and the boy racer cars."

Aroha also wrote about how impressed she was with the "bling" on the cars, including diamantes adorning the rear wipers. "Got vid of them too. Got heaps of videos of the buildings. You wouldn't believe at night it light up hard out. And you're allowed two smoke inside. I'm have one now while writing this to you.

"I'll keep in touch. Hard out till I get back. Love ya heapz!"

Friends have been writing messages of support.

But a close friend told the Herald on Sunday: "It didn't really seem like something she would do.

"She's obviously over there with them. I knew she was going - she told quite a few friends. We thought they were full of ."

The friend said there were fears the fugitives could be caught in China, a country notoriously harsh for prison inmates. The concerns were greatest for Leena.

He said the news would have been particularly hard on Kara and Aroha's mother Suzanne Hurring, a strong figure in a close family of four girls.

She has had one phone call from Kara since her daughters vanished but hung up because she "knew what she had done".

Last night, Suzanne said she had not heard from either daughter since. She did not know where they were and did not want to speculate. "We [the family] are in the middle of all of this and we just want to chill out."

Gao's brother Carter also came forward last night to say he had nothing to do with the missing money. Carter had worked with his brother at the Rotorua BP, and shared a home with their mother and Kara Yang-Hurring. "I wanted to stay here. I'm here. If I was involved, I'm not here."

The only staff member at the closed BP station has been left without a job, and is owed $2000 in holiday pay. Shybu Antony said he was given no warning the station was about to go into receivership, although he knew the business was struggling.

The last time he spoke to Gao was on the morning of May 8. Gao hadn't been at work since April 24, and Antony was told he was on holiday in the South Island.

He phoned his boss to check nothing was wrong. "He said: 'Nothing. I'm coming back in two days' and hung up."

Later that day a detective came to the station and showed Antony a picture of Kara, asking if he knew her whereabouts.

That night, the receiver rang to tell him he had lost his job.

Helaine Aim, who owns a neighbouring takeaway and was friendly with Kara, was shocked her friend could be on the run. "I just can't believe she would do that with her daughter. She was a good mum."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: HEATHER MCCRACKEN and ANNA LEASK

 

 

Aroha Hurring (top) and Chloe Hurring (bottom)

with Leena, 7. Photo / Supplied

 

Man Steals Solar Panels From School to Buy Drugs

"The joke going around is that senior management must be worried that they have to replace 13 people," she said. "We don't know if we're going to get paid next week -- the whole payroll processing department is gone."

A spokeswoman for the Western Canada Lottery Corporation told the Sun only 15 percent of lotto tickets sold in Canada are bought in the prairie provinces, yet big wins aren't unusual there.

In October 2005, a group of 17 oil and gas workers southeast of Edmonton shared the largest jackpot of $54.3 million, the report said

Necklace Blocks Bullet Saves Woman's Life

 

Posted: 3:38 pm EDT May 21, 2009

Updated: 4:18 pm EDT May 21, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(CNN) -- For years, Candace Eloph searched for her half-brother, who was given up for adoption in 1977.

She found him -- living across the street.

"I never thought it would happen like this. Never. Ever," Eloph of Shreveport, Louisiana, told CNN

television affiliate KTBS.

Three decades ago, Eloph's mother gave birth to a boy at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. She was

16 and gave him up for adoption.

"They took him from me," said Eloph's mother, Joellen Cottrell. "I only got to hold him for a split second."

Cottrell searched for her son over the years, without success.

She eventually left Louisiana and had other children. But she did not keep her son a secret.

"My girls always knew they had a brother," she told KTBS. "I always told them. They knew it from the very

beginning. And I've always looked for him."

Fast forward three decades.

Eloph moved into a house in Shreveport. Across the street lived a 32-year-old man named Jamie Wheat.

"We were sitting one day, talking, and she said, 'You know what? I had a brother born January 27, 1977,

that was adopted,'" Wheat said. "I was like, I'm adopted."

Surprised, Eloph mentioned that her mother was 16 at the time. His mother was 16, too, Wheat replied.

All the details fit, and Cottrell and Wheat decided to take a DNA test.

The results: There's a 99.995 percent probability that the two are related.

Wheat's adoptive parents are excited about this new stage in their son's life.

"It just almost knocked me out for the joy," Wheat's adoptive mother, Ann, told KTBS.

 

Added his adoptive father, Ted Wheat: "It was just surprising that they lived across the street from us for

two-and-a-half years. When they told us, we said, 'This is the greatest news it could be.'"

Reunited with his birth mother, Jamie Wheat plans to make up for lost time.

"I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me," he said. "I can move forward. Like a new beginning."

 

Link videos:

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/05/20/louisiana.brother.next.door/index.html

53 Inmates Walk Out Of Prison On Video

Guards Don't Act Until Getaway Vehicles Drive Off

 

MEXICO CITY -- Security camera footage shows that guards at a Mexican prison nonchalantly stood by as 53 dangerous inmates walked out -- and didn't rush into action with their guns drawn until well after their convoy of escape vehicles had disappeared into the inky night.

 

The footage, first published by Reforma newspaper Thursday and then released publicly by the Attorney General's Office, provides a rare inside look at lax security inside Mexico's prisons, a problem that makes prosecuting drug smugglers vastly more difficult. Interpol described the worst of the criminals, who escaped without firing a shot, as "a risk to the safety and security of citizens around the world."

 

Interpol issued an international security alert for 11 of the prisoners involved in the 2-minute-and-52-second prison break Saturday in Cieneguillas, in the northern state of Zacatecas

About a dozen of the prisoners were drug cartel suspects. Several had been jailed for kidnapping, said Ricardo Najera, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office.

 

The inmates stole 23 guns from a prison storage room before escaping, Najera said.

 

The video shows bored-looking guards watching TV before one of the prisoners opens a gate to his cell block and then orders a group of inmates to follow him into the guards' room. It is unclear if the prisoner had a key to the cell block or if the gate was unlocked.

 

The guards step aside, making no moves to stop the escape, until they are shoved into the cell block by the inmates, some of whom are armed.

 

Prisoners then cover the camera with a blanket.

 

Meanwhile, a second security camera outside the prison filmed the arrival of gunmen in police cars with flashing lights shortly before 5 a.m. Two guards run to open the front gate without questioning the drivers.

 

Eight gunmen wearing jackets with federal police insignia then enter the prison building and escort the inmates to the cars waiting in the prison parking lot. After they are gone, one guard with his hands bound by plastic luggage ties is seen walking calmly down an empty hall.

 

Only after the convoy is well out of the picture can guards be seen running toward the gate, some crouching with their guns drawn. Reforma added in a caption that the guards appeared to overacting for the cameras, "in Jim Carrey style."

 

Najera said 51 people have been ordered jailed for 30 days pending an investigation into their possible involvement, including the director of the prison and all 44 guards on duty during the escape.

 

He said only 15 of the fugitives had been convicted, and that it was illegal to keep them in the same cell block as the 38 whose cases were pending. The prison director was being questioned about why the 53 were kept together, Najera said.

 

Najera said the police uniforms the gunmen were wearing were either outdated or fakes, and the vehicles they came in were not real police cars. Investigators, however, have not ruled out the possibility federal police involvement.

 

Interpol said Mexican authorities identified 11 as the most dangerous of the 53 escapees. The alert -- an "orange notice" -- provides identifying details for each fugitive to all 187 member countries of the Lyon, France-based international police agency.

 

The government is offering up to 3 million pesos ($230,000) for information leading up to capture of any of the gunmen and 1 million pesos ($77,000) for the fugitives, Najera said.

 

Two of the fugitives had been arrested on Jan. 22 by soldiers who seized 11.4 tons of marijuana at a chile-drying warehouse that belongs to the brother of Sen. Ricardo Monreal of Zacatecas, Najera said.

 

Monreal has temporarily stepped down to cooperate with the investigation, although Najera said he is not considered a suspect in the case and has not been questioned.

 

Mexico has struggled to reduce corruption and ineptitude in its justice system. President Felipe Calderon has acknowledged that jailed drug traffickers often operate from behind bars, and has extradited a record number of traffickers to serve time in more secure U.S. prisons.

 

Two prison guards are serving up to 19 years for aiding the escape of Mexico's most-wanted drug lord, alleged Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. He rode out of federal prison in Jalisco state in a laundry cart after bribing guards in 2001.

 

And Otto Roberto Herrera Garcia, who helped turn Guatemala into a corridor for U.S.-bound cocaine, escaped in May 2005 from a jail in southern Mexico City. That jail's warden, his deputy and 10 others were arrested for allegedly accepting bribes to facilitate his freedom.

 

____

 

Associated Press Writer Alexandra Olson in Mexico City contributed to this story

24 Terrifying, Thoughtful and Absurd Nursery Rhymes for Children

In more repressed times, people were not always allowed to express themselves freely, for fear of persecution. Gossiping, criticizing the government or even talking about current events were often punishable by death. In order to communicate at will, clever rhymes were constructed and passed around to parody public figures and events.

The first nursery rhymes can be traced back to the fourteenth century. While the Bubonic Plaque ravaged England, peasants used a rhyme to spread the word about equality. The "Adam and Eve" rhyme made peasants realize that they were important to the economy and contributed to the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Under the guise of children's entertainment, many rhymes that were encoded with secret messages throughout history have endured the test of time and are still with us today.

Other nursery rhymes don't seem to carry a particular message at all, but convey a macabre sense of humor. They have been so ingrained in us since childhood that we hardly notice that babies are falling from trees, women are held captive or live animals are being cooked. It's only when you stop and absorb the actual words of these catchy, sing-song rhymes that the darkness and absurdity is realized. A handful do not reference historical events at all, but instead seem to convey warnings or common sense wisdom.

 

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the King's Horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

 

In children's books, Humpty Dumpty is portrayed as a large egg, usually dressed like a little boy. It's a sad story, as he gets busted up and nobody can fix him. However, the real story behind the rhyme dates back to the English Civil War. Humpty was a huge cannon mounted atop a high wall-like church tower. During the Siege of Colchester, The tower was hit by enemy cannon fire and Humpty suffered a great fall. There was no fixing the cannon or the tower, and the Humpty Dumpty rhyme was born.

 

Ring Around The Rosie

Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
"Ashes, Ashes"
We all fall down!

 

This rhyme dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665. The symptoms of bubonic plague included a rosy red ring-shaped rash, which inspired the first line. It was believed that the disease was carried by bad smells, so people frequently carried pockets full of fresh herbs, or "posies." The "ashes, ashes" line is believed to refer to the cremation of the bodies of those who died from the plague.

 

Baa Baa Blacksheep

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane

 

Baa Baa Black Sheep references the importance of the wool industry to the economy from the Middle Ages until the nineteenth century. The rhyme is also thought to be a political satire of the export tax imposed in Britain in 1275 under the rule of King Edward I.

 

For Want of a Nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost
For want of a shoe the horse was lost
For want of a horse the rider was lost
For want of a rider the battle was lost
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail

 

This simple rhyme is a reminder for children to think of the possible consequences of their actions. It has often been used to illustrate the chain of events that can stem from a single thoughtless action.

 

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and <snip>le shells
And pretty maids all in a row

 

This rhyme is a reference to Bloody Mary. The garden refers to growing cemeteries, as she filled them with Protestants. Silver bells and le shells were instruments of torture and the maiden was a device used to behead people.

 

Goosey, Goosey Gander

Goosey, goosey, gander,
Whither dost thou wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.

 

There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers;
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him down the stairs

 

 

While Mother Goose seems like a kind, grandmotherly sort, the gander in this rhyme appears to be quite a . This sixteenth century rhyme is a reminder to children to always say their prayers.

 

It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's raining, it's pouring
The old man is snoring
He went to bed and he bumped his head
And couldn't get up in the morning

 

In this strange nursery rhyme, the man apparently was careless in going to bed and didn't wake up. We can only assume it's a message to be cautious when you're on your way to bed.

 

Rock-a-Bye, Baby

Rock-a-bye, baby,
In the tree top.
When the wind blows,
The cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,
And down will come baby,
Cradle and al

 

The American roots of this odd rhyme come from a young pilgrim who saw Native American mothers hanging cradles in trees. When the wind blew, the cradles would rock and the babies in them would sleep.

 

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Peter , Peter , pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well

 

This nursery rhyme also has it's roots in America, unlike most that started in England. It was a different time back then for women, and for views on divorce, too, which is why this rhyme served to warn young girls about infidelity. Peter's wife was supposedly a harlot, and Peter's remedy for the situation was to kill her and hide her body in a giant pumpkin shell.

 

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?

 

This rhyme most certainly originated long ago, before PETA existed. It was likely based on a spoof by a court jester who thought it would be hilarious to trick the king by putting live birds into a pie shell. At the time, cooked blackbirds were considered a delicacy and would have been served to the king.

 

The King Was in his Counting House

The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

 

This is actually a continuation of "Sing a Song of Sixpence" and refers to what common folk imagined that royalty did all day. The live birds that were put in the pie are back for revenge in this verse.

 

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down,
And broke his crown;
And Jill came tumbling after.

 

This poem originated in France. The characters refer to King Louis XVI, Jack, and his Queen Marie Antoinette, Jill. Jack was beheaded (lost his crown) first, then Jill came tumbling after during the Reign of Terror in 1793.

 

London Bridge

London Bridge bridge is falling down, down
Falling down down, falling down, down
London Bridge bridge is falling down, down
My fair lady.

 

Take a key key and lock padlock her up,
Lock padlock her up, lock padlock her up,
Take a key key and lock padlock her up,
My fair lady.

 

 

This nursery rhyme refers to the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII of England. Boleyn was accused of adultery and incest and was ultimately executed for treason.

 

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die!

 

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and wiggled and tiggled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;
Fancy that to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady that swallowed a dog;
What a hog, to swallow a dog;
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I don't know how she swallowed a cow;
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse...
She's dead, of course!

 

 

These absurd lyrics were written by Rose Bonne and made popular in 1953 by Burl Ives. A woman who has a relatively small problem makes it progressively worse, which ultimately leads to her death.

 

Old Mother Hubbard

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get her poor doggie a bone,
When she got there
The cupboard was bare
So the poor little doggie had none

 

or alternatively:

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get her poor daughter a dress.
But when she got there
The cupboard was bare
And so was her daughter, I guess!

This rhyme is reputedly about Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Wolsey refused to facilitate a divorce from Queen Katherine of Aragon for King Henry VIII. The King wanted a divorce so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. The doggie and the bone in the rhyme refer to the divorce, the cupboard is a reference to the Catholic Church and Wolsey is Old Mother Hubbard. The divorce was later arranged by Thomas Cramner and resulted in the break with Rome and the formation of the English Protestant church.

 

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away

 

Little Miss Muffet was written in the sixteenth century by Dr. Muffet, the stepfather of a small girl named Patience Muffet. Dr. Muffet was an entomologist famous for writing the first scientific catalog of British insects.

 

Ladybug, Ladybug Fly Away Home

Ladybug, ladybug fly away home,
Your house is on fire,
Your children will burn.
Except for the little one whose name is Ann,
Who hid away in a frying pan

 

Farmers have long known the beneficial qualities of ladybugs as a natural predator of destructive insects. After harvests and before the fields were burned, this rhyme would be chanted in hopes of the ladybugs surviving and coming back the following year. There is also speculation that this rhyme originated from the Great Fire of London in 1666.

 

Solomon Grundy

Solomon Grundy
Born on Monday
Christened on Tuesday
Married on Wednesday
Ill on Thursday
Worse on Friday
Died on Saturday
Buried on Sunday
That is the end of Solomon Grundy.

 

This rhyme was originally collected by James Orchard Halliwell and published in 1842. Solomon Grundy is more widely known now as a D.C. Comics character.

 

A Wise Old Owl

A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

 

This rhyme does not appear to have any hidden historical references, but carries a valuable message that holds true today.

 

Three Blind Mice

Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice

 

The vicious farmer's wife in this rhyme is believed to refer to Queen Mary I, the daughter of King Henry VIII. Mary, a staunch Catholic, was so well known for her persecution of Protestants that she was given the nickname "Bloody Mary." When three Protestant bishops were convicted of plotting against Mary, she had them burnt at the stake. However, it was mistakenly believed that she had them blinded and dismembered, as is inferred in the rhyme.

 

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo peep has lost her sheep
And doesn't know where to find them.
Leave them alone and they'll come home,
Bringing their tails behind them.

 

Little Bo peep fell fast asleep
And dreamt she heard them bleating,
But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
For they were all still fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook
Determined for to find them.
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
For they left their tails behind them.

It happened one day, as Bo peep did stray
Into a meadow hard by,
There she espied their tails side by side
All hung on a tree to dry.

She heaved a sigh, and wiped her eye,
And over the hillocks went rambling,
And tried what she could,
As a shepherdess should,
To tack again each to its lambkin.

 

 

Little Bo Peep doesn't seem to refer to anyone or event in history, but is a warning about the consequences of irresponsibility.

 

Little Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow the cow's in the corn.
But where's the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under a haystack fast asleep.
Will you wake him? No, not I - for if I do, he's sure to cry

 

Little Boy Blue may refer to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1475-1530). Wolsey was an arrogant and wealthy self-made man and had many enemies in England. After obtaining his degree from Oxford at the age of fifteen, he was dubbed the "Boy Bachelor." The words "come blow your horn" likely refer to his incessant bragging.

 

The Big Ship Sails

The big ship sails on the ally-ally-oh
The ally-ally-oh, the ally-ally-oh
Oh, the big ship sails on the ally-ally-oh
On the last day of September.

 

The captain said it will never, never do
Never, never do, never, never do
The captain said it will never, never do
On the last day of September.

The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea
The bottom of the sea, the bottom of the sea
The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea
On the last day of September.

We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea
The deep blue sea, the deep blue sea
We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea
On the last day of September.

 

 

The origins of this depressing dirge are unknown. However, there is speculation that it refers to the Manchester Ship canal, which was built for ocean-going ships and opened in 1894. It is the eighth-longest ship canal in the world, and is only slightly shorter than the Panama Canal.

 

Who killed Robin?

"Who killed <snip> Robin?" "I," said the Sparrow,
"With my bow and arrow, I killed Robin."
"Who saw him die?" "I," said the Fly,
"With my little eye, I saw him die."
"Who caught his blood?" "I," said the Fish,
"With my little dish, I caught his blood."
"Who'll make the shroud?" "I," said the Beetle,
"With my thread and needle, I'll make the shroud."
"Who'll dig his grave?" "I," said the Owl,
"With my pick and shovel, I'll dig his grave."
"Who'll be the parson?" "I," said the Rook,
"With my little book, I'll be the parson."
"Who'll be the clerk?" "I," said the Lark,
"If it's not in the dark, I'll be the clerk."
"Who'll carry the link?" "I," said the Linnet,
"I'll fetch it in a minute, I'll carry the link."
"Who'll be chief mourner?" "I," said the Dove,
"I mourn for my love, I'll be chief mourner."
"Who'll carry the coffin?" "I," said the Kite,
"If it's not through the night, I'll carry the coffin."
"Who'll bear the pall? "We," said the Wren,
"Both the and the hen, we'll bear the pall."
"Who'll sing a psalm?" "I," said the Thrush,
"As she sat on a bush, I'll sing a psalm."
"Who'll toll the bell?" "I," said the bull,
"Because I can pull, I'll toll the bell."
All the birds of the air fell a-sighing and a-sobbing,
When they heard the bell toll for poor Robin.

 

This English folksong is believed to reference the death of Robin Hood and reflects the respect that common folk has for him.

 

Pop Goes the Weasel

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.
Up and down the City road,
In and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.

 

This ney rhyme dates back to the 1700s. The ney community developed a slang all their own because they mistrusted strangers and police. "Pop goes the weasel" was actually slang for "pawn your coat" and the Eagle refers to a pub, said to have been frequented by Charles Dickens. The pub was bought by the Salvation Army in 1883 and all drinking and music stopped.