Annamarie,  
The first thing you should do is go to the library and ask for a  book
on Nursery rhymes by Peter and Iona Opie.  It will give you more than
enought information on all of the nursery rhymes.  My wife has a copy
of the book but it, like most of ours, is packed away and under the
house.
Before she mentioned this, I was about to contribute the one item I
know of for sure :  Humpty Dumpty is the story of the downfall of
England's Richard the Third who  had a great fall and all of his
horses and all of his men couldn't save him.

John Bing

OK

On Fri, 19 May 2000 20:07:00 EDT, Annamarie  wrote:

>I am trying to create an exhibit based on the real tales behind common
>nursery rhymes, such as Ring around the Rosie being the black plaque or Mary,
>Mary, Quite contrary being Mary Queens of Scotts.  If anyone knows of sources
>I could use for this exhibit please post them to the list or e-mail me at
>[log in to unmask] Thanks, Annmarie
>

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