A Song of Sixpence

Before we had TV and the Internet, people would amuse themselves with rhyme and song. But they actually did much more than that. Wouldn't it get boring just singing and rhyming all day, even if that was your only option?

If you divide one pound sterling (british currency) into 40 pieces, each piece is called a sixpence. Sixpence was a coin used for 450 years in England. They used to be made of silver and would be worth about $0.30 today if you sold them as scrap. But today, the ones made of silver are collector's items so selling them as scrap would be a bad idea.

Some bakers would bake birds in pies to amuse the guests.

So put it all together, and you get this famous nursery rhyme:

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.
Wasn't that a dainty dish
to set before the king?

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!

There was such a commotion
that little Jenny wren
Flew down into the garden
and put it back again

I never remember hearing the last verse. This rhyme may or may not have caused bakers to start baking birds in pies. Maybe the rhyme came along because the bakers were doing it. But the point is, there were some very mean bakers long ago. I guess nothing has really changed. People were mean many years ago just like they are today.

I think this was a form of entertainment because it was a surprise to the guests. Doing something unexpected is always a popular form of entertainment. Today, the news people say, "if it bleeds, it leads."

Posted via email from McKenzie Meister