Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label London

Sarah "Sally" Hemings (c. 1773 – 1835)

Sarah Hemings was an enslaved woman of mixed race owned by  President   Thomas Jefferson  and who is believed to have had a long-term relationship and six children with him, of whom four survived and all were given freedom by Jefferson. Hemings was the youngest of six siblings by the planter  John Wayles  and his mixed-race slave  Betty Hemings ; Sally was three-quarters European and a half-sister of Jefferson's wife,  Martha Wayles Skelton . In 1787, Hemings, at the age of 14, accompanied Jefferson's youngest daughter  Mary  (Polly) to London and then to Paris, where the widowed Jefferson, 44 years old at the time, was serving as the  United States Minister to France . Hemings spent two years there. It is believed by most historians that Jefferson began a sexual relationship with Hemings either in France or soon after their return to Monticello. Hemings had six children of record born into slavery; four survived to ad...

Ring Aroung The Rosy

The words to the Ring around the rosy children's ring game have their origin in English history. The historical period dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when the first out break of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies! The death rate was over 60% and the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which was transmitting via water sources. The English version of "Ring around the rosy" replaces Ashes with (A-tishoo, A-tishoo) as violent sneezing was another symptom of the disease. We recommend the following site for comprehe...