Schools by now must have moved on to teaching kids maths and science in kindergarten instead of the usual nursery rhymes . As much as one empathises with today’s children who are learning by leaps and bounds what previous generations must have crammed in their heads in school, it’s probably true that kids today are smarter than ever. Remember the time when you used to sing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Humpty Dumpty" imagining an oddly shaped Dumpty sitting on a wall? All those memories would probably come crashing down considering that several nursery rhymes taught at school once upon a time were not in the least appropriate for children - quite a few of them were about misery and pain. "Baa Baa, Black Sheep" is one such rhyme that fits in. It has been claimed that the song is neither about black sheep nor about a little boy but about the Great Custom which was taxes on wool that sheep farmers had to pay their king in 1275. While one part of the wool went to the King, one part went to the Church and one to the farmer, it left the shepherd boy with nothing. However, "Baa Baa Black Sheep" has more recent relevance in modern times.  The apparent racist tone in the "black sheep" rhyme had been questioned and some schools in London also went on to ban the rhyme from being sung in school while others used a very neutral alternative replacing the offensive word for a while - “Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep”.The "Humpty Dumpty" rhyme, on the other hand has nothing to do with an egg. Folklorists say that Humpty Dumpty was actually a cannon - a cannon.  Used to gain control over the city of Colchester in England during the English Civil War, the cannon was placed in a church tower only to be destroyed by a barrage of cannon balls sending "Humpty Dumpty" into a marshland below. Though retrieved, Humpty was beyond saving. “Humpty Dumpty had a great fallAll the King’s horses and all the King’s menCouldn’t put Humpty together again!”It probably all makes sense now.One of the most interesting rhymes said to have ulterior meanings is the “Ring around the Rosie” rhyme. Common talk has it that the rhyme dates back to the age of the Great Plague in London and the ring around the rosy referred to rashes that developed as part of the symptoms.However, bringing all possible connotations about its original meaning to rest, folklorists have it that the rhyme did not appear in publication until 1881. This led to the belief that children could not have sung the rhyme for over five hundred years since the plague first hit in 1347 without it appearing in some tangible form.  An example of the belief that the "Ring around the Rosie" had something to do with the plagueThe list seems to be an endless one. "London Bridge is Falling Down" on the other hand has a much more sinister plot to it. It is believed that rhyme refers to the practice of immurement- entombing someone alive within a structure and leaving them to die without food and water. The bizarre practice is said to have stemmed from a belief that such sacrifices would make sure the stability of structures, in which people were imprisoned, would be strong and cracked.com says that bodies have been recovered from a number of old European castles, churches and bridges. What it alleges is that the "London Bridge..." could have referred to a child being sacrificed and left as an “eternal watchman”.The list is endless including famous ones like "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo" said to have diverse meanings. The infamous "Jack and Jill" rhyme is said to represent either the beheading of King Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette or represents a couple who used to sneak up the hill for some quality alone time.