| icon | info | RA score |
|---|---|---|
 | Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary How does your garden grow? One explanation is that Mary is a religious allegory of Catholicism, but is it for or against? | 2points |
 | Little Bo-Peep Has Lost Her Sheep One theory is Bo-Peep is a reference to smugglers during the time of King Charles I. Just don't leave their tails behind! | 2points |
 | Jack Fell Down and Broke His Crown Jack and Jill is possibly a reference to a story in Gylfaginning, the first part of the Prose Edda. At least these kids weren't stolen by the moon | 2points |
 | And Frightened Miss Muffet Away Did you know a tuffet probably refers to just a hill, like a tuft of grass? A tuffet is not a chair, but you wouldn't be the first to make that mistake | 2points |
 | There Was a Crooked Man, and He Went a Crooked Mile Probably a bit rude to call the guy crooked, but this rhyme a possible reference to a shaky alliance between England and Scotland under King Charles I | 2points |
 | Ride Through the Air on a Very Fine Gander Help all of the storybook characters on the west side of town | 5points |
 | Jack (Don't) Jump Over the Candlestick Did you know that jumping candlesticks was a form of fortune telling? If the candle stays lit, you'll have good luck | 2points |
 | Where, O Where Has My Little Dog Gone? This contemporary rhyme was taken from the first verse of Der Deitcher's Dog, a song written by Septimus Winner | 2points |
 | There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe One Irish folklorist claims this rhyme is a play on the Old Irish word Sidhbhrog, where Brog can mean either shoe or house | 2points |
 | Mary Had a Little Lamb Mary Had a Little Lamb was the first audio recorded by Thomas Edison on his newly-invented phonograph in 1877 | 2points |
 | Hey Diddle Diddle A modern theory for Hey Diddle Diddle is that it refers to constellations such as Leo the cat, Lyra the fiddle, and Taurus the cow, which align with the moon around the winter solstice | 2points |
 | As Fair as the Lily, and Sweet as the May Help all of the storybook characters on the east side of town | 5points |
 | Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater is somehow the least dark variation of a few other rhymes, all centering on a story about the main character killing his wife or lover | 2points |
 | Hickory Dickory Dock Could Hickory Dickory Dock be a counting-out rhyme? Some commentators point out the name sounds similar to Hevera, Devera, and Dick -- the numbers 8, 9, and 10 in the language Cumbric | 2points |
 | Old King Cole Was a Merry Old Soul Who was Old King Cole? One theory is that he is a reference to a 12th-century clothier. Another is that he was Coel Hen, a 4th century Welsh king. None of these ideas fit perfectly, though | 5points |
 | Little Jack Horner Sat in the Corner Little Jack Horner's story is a general lesson about greed and opportunism, but some modern commentators suggest Jack might really be Thomas Horner, a steward to the last abbot of Glastonbury | 2points |
 | Little Tommy Tucker Tommy Tucker was an English term for orphans, and this one is singing for his supper, or begging. Maybe we could do better than just bringing him a knife | 2points |
 | Jack Spratt Could Eat No Fat Most theories about the origins of Jack Sprat are royal. Jack could have been King Charles I and his wife Queen Henrietta Maria, or he could be King John and his wife Isabella, best known from the tales of Robin Hood | 2points |
 | Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall Humpty Dumpty might have been an allegory for King Richard III of England, but have you ever noticed that the poem doesn't describe him as an egg? The first popular depiction of Humpty Dumpty as an egg was Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" | 2points |
 | Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross The meaning of this rhyme is unclear, as is the identity of the fine lady upon a white horse from the verse, but the modern Banbury Cross does have a beautiful statue of a woman upon a horse sculpted in 2005 by Denise Dutton | 2points |
 | And Mounting Its Back, Flew Up to the Moon Help all of the storybook characters in the castle town | 10points |
