Ring Around the Rosie

Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose illustration of children playing the game (from Project Gutenberg).The first printing of the rhyme was in Kate Greenaway’s 1881 edition of Mother Goose:

Ring around the rosy,
A pocket full of posies;
ashes, ashes
we all fall down!

"Ring a Ring o' Roses" or "Ring Around the Rosie" is a nursery rhyme or folksong and playground singing game. It first appeared in print in 1881; but it is reported that a version was already being sung to the current tune in the 1790s.

The words of Ring a Ring o' Roses differ by region, although the tune remains consistent. The playground game that accompanies these verses also changes by region, but the most common form consists of participants standing in a circle and holding hands, followed by skipping in one direction as they sing the tune that accompanies these verses. At the end of the line 'We all fall down' the group usually falls down into a heap.

Lyrics to other versions show that the final action was sometimes sitting, stooping, squatting, or even a curtsy, rather than falling. In some versions of the game the last down would choose a favorite or take the place of another in the middle of the ring. Ring games which end in flopping to the ground or similar are common throughout Europe.