I couldn't decide if it should go under humor or horror; it fits both. The Twisted Rhyme here is obvious: "Ring around the rosy, Pocket full o'posies, "Ashes, Ashes" we all fall down." The Breakdown: Ring Around the Rosie (rosy here-I used an archaic spelling for no particular reason other than I wanted too. ;) ) When a person contracted the Bubonic Plague, they would gain rose-colored, puss-filled sores on their body called rosies. As the infection spread, rings would wind around the rosies. "Ring around the rosie," refers to these rings. Pocket Full of Posies During the time of the Bubonic Plague, people realized that it was harmful to go around the body of someone who had died from the plague. The common practice in some areas of Europe was to fill the shirt or jacket pocket of the deceased with posies so that others would know to leave the body alone. Also-there was a belief that the disease was carried in the smell. In other areas, a small satchel with fragrant herbs would be carried to cover one's mouth and nose-Posies could be understood for that 'covering of the stench'. "Pocket full of posies," was what would soon happen after the person started getting the rings around the rosie. Once the rings started to form, the undertaker would be called to prepare the posies. Ashes Ashes Once the body of the person who had died from the plague had been taken away, it would be burned. This is essentially when cremation started as a form of burial. There was a lot of worry that extra handling of the body could cause people to get sick. There was also worry by some that the body would come back in the form of a vampire or some other type of the walking dead. Burning the body was the only true option they had. We All Fall Down It was believed by many that eventually that Bubonic Plague would wipe out all of civilization. It is understandable why they had this belief because of the number of people that were dying everyday from the Plague. (Although, it would seem our 'tour-guide' declined to wait for some to die for the burn pile. *ahem* ) The Black Death killed off an estimated 20-35% of the population of Eurasia during its historic run. It was nearly impossible for anyone to not know at least one person who died from the Plague at the time.