The Dark Potential Meanings Behind The Nursery Rhyme “Three Blind Mice”
Public Domain“Three Blind Mice” might actually refer to a bloody period in English history.
As nursery rhymes go, “Three Blind Mice” is one of the darker ones. After all, the modern version of the rhyme describes a rather grim scenario:
Three blind mice
Three blind mice
See how they run
See how they run
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice?
According to American Songwriter, this seems to be a more recent, slightly different version of the original nursery rhyme, which was reportedly first penned by a writer named Thomas Ravenscroft in 1609.
So what does it mean? A popular theory about this nursery rhyme’s origin suggests that it has to do with Queen Mary I of England, also known as Bloody Mary. During her brief reign, from 1553 to 1558, the Catholic queen infamously burned hundreds of Protestants at the stake.
Public DomainQueen Mary I of England is known as “Bloody Mary” because of the hundreds of Protestants she had burned to death.
Three of these Protestant victims were dubbed the “Oxford Martyrs.” Some sources state that the fictional mice represent these victims, as they were burned at the stake for their “blind” belief in Protestantism.
Thus, the “three blind mice” could hypothetically represent Protestants. And the knife-wielding farmer’s wife could potentially represent Queen Mary I.
