who came up with ring around the rosie
Ring a Ring o' Roses It is unknown what the earliest version of the rhyme was or when it began. Many incarnations of the game have a group of children form a ring, dance in a circle around a person, and stoop or curtsy with the final line. The slowest child to do so is faced with a penalty or becomes the "rosie" (literally: rose tree, from the French rosier) and takes their place in the center of the ring.
Ring a Ring o' Roses The origins and meanings of the game have long been unknown and subject to speculation. In 1898, A Dictionary of British Folklore contained the belief that an explanation of the game was of pagan origin, based on the Sheffield Glossary comparison of Jacob Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie. The theory states that it is in reference to Pagan myths and cited a passage which states, "Gifted children of fortune have the power to laugh roses, as Freyja wept gold." Believing the first instance to be indicative of Pagan beings of light. Another suggestion is more literal, that it was making a "ring" around the roses and bowing with the all "fall down" as a curtsy.[23] In 1892, the American writer, Eugene Field wrote a poem titled Teeny-Weeny that specifically referred to fey folk playing ring-a-rosie.[24] According to Games and Songs of American Children, published in 1883, the "rosie" was a reference to the French word for rose tree and the children would dance and stoop to the person in the center.[3] Variations, especially more literal ones, were identified and noted with the literal falling down that would sever the connections to the game-rhyme. Addy's interpretation failed to account for the sneezing, which had not carried over to the United States and was losing ground in Britain, as another instance of the Pagan influence. Again in 1898, sneezing was then noted to be indicative of many superstitious and supernatural beliefs across differing cultures.[23]