In the nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence', what pecked off the maid's nose?
Sing a Song of Sixpence measurement. The number 24 has been tied to the Reformation and the printing of the English Bible with 24 letters. From a folklorish tradition, the blackbird taking the maid's nose has been seen as a demon stealing her soul. No corroborative evidence has been found to support these theories and given that the earliest version has only one stanza and mentions "naughty boys" and not blackbirds, they can only be applicable if it is assumed that more recently printed versions accurately preserve an older tradition. Sing a Song of Sixpence "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is a well-known English nursery
Sing a Song of Sixpence Sing a Song of Sixpence "Sing a Song of Sixpence" is a well-known English nursery rhyme, perhaps originating in the 18th century. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as number 13191. The rhyme's origins are uncertain. References have been inferred in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" (c. 1602), (Act II, Scene iii), where Sir Toby Belch tells a clown: "Come on; there is sixpence for you: let's have a song" and in Beaumont and Fletcher's "Bonduca" (1614), which contains the line "Whoa, here's a stir now! Sing a song o' sixpence!" In the past it has often been attributed