In this haunting debut episode of Once Upon a Darker Time, we unravel the tangled roots of one of childhood’s most familiar verses: “Ring Around the Rosie.” Often whispered in playgrounds and echoed in horror films, the rhyme carries a reputation darker than its sing-song cadence suggests. But was it truly born in the plague pits of medieval Europe, or did its meaning evolve through layers of folklore, grief, and reinterpretation?

We begin with the rhyme’s folkloric interpretations—roses as rashes, posies as protection, ashes as ritual—and trace how these symbols became retrofitted into a narrative of mass death. From the historical devastation of the Black Death to the superstitions that turned cats into scapegoats and relics into currency, this episode explores how trauma reshapes memory and how memory, in turn, reshapes tradition.

As rituals collapse and trust in the Church begins to fracture, we follow the emotional arc that led communities to encode grief in rhyme. What emerges is not a historical record, but a vessel for remembrance. A circle game that became a funeral chant. A rhyme that wouldn’t die.

Step into the shadows with us. The lantern is lit. The circle is open. And the story is just beginning.