Rain Rain go Away

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little children want to play;
Rain, rain go away,
Come again another day.

This is a popular children's nursery rhyme. You can always hear little children reciting it on rainy days. As did Juliane on Sunday when I had hoped to bring them to ride the DHL Balloon but it was drizzling. It was kind of funny to hear her chanting away in the car.

Now I bet you didn't know that while most nursery rhymes might sound and look completely innocent but there are often dark messages and meanings hidden in the texts. Some have very unpleasant origin and history behind them! Below is the original verse of Rain rain go away.

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!

The history and origin of Rain rain go away is said to date back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603). During that period of English history, there were constant rivalry with Spain resulting in the Spanish Armada comprising of many Spanish galleons being sent to attack England. But this attack failed, not only because of the swift nature of the smaller English ships but also by the stormy weather which dispersed the Armada fleet.

If you are interested to know which other nursery rhymes have dark messages and meanings, which ones have unpleasant, mysterious and blood thirsty origins and histories, feel free to go here. Enjoy (being shocked, lol :P).

Oh, this post came about because it has been rainy this few days.