![]() ![]() ![]() In their 1951 The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, Iona and Peter Opie write that the rhyme has been tied to a variety of historical events or folklorish symbols such as the queen symbolizing the moon, the king the sun, and the blackbirds the number of hours in a day or, as the authors indicate, the blackbirds have been seen as an allusion to monks during the period of the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, with Catherine of Aragon representing the queen, and Anne Boleyn the maid. ![]() The highlight of the meal was sherbets of milk and honey, which were created by Buontalenti." "The first surprise, though, came shortly before the starter-when the guests sat down, unfolded their napkins and saw songbirds fly out. The wedding of Marie de' Medici and Henry IV of France in 1600 contains some interesting parallels. An Italian cookbook from 1549 (translated into English in 1598) contained such a recipe: "to make pies so that birds may be alive in them and fly out when it is cut up" and this was referred to in a cook book of 1725 by John Nott. It is known that a 16th-century amusement was to place live birds in a pie, as a form of entremet. Many interpretations have been placed on this rhyme. Audio playback is not supported in your browser. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |