Most of the 1,000 or so American and British nursery rhymes that have come down through history are playful and silly nonsense, “Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,/Upstairs and downstairs in his ...

The British nursery rhyme “Georgie Porgie” tells of a plump child who kisses girls and runs away from boys. On the surface, the verse seems to be about the antics of a naughty kid, but as with many ...