She shall have music wherever she goes

 
For some time now I have been searching for the origins of the saying "with bells on". I kept thinking maybe it was because "court jesters" are always depicted as have bells on the ends of their hats and shoes and sometimes hung on their clothing as well. It turns out I wasn't off base by much. There's an old nursery rhyme:

"Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes."

According to the American Heritage "American Idioms" dictionary, this is the origination of the saying "with bells on". I looked through quite a few phrase dictionaries before I finally found this book which is actually for people who do not speak English as a first language.

The book also mentions "paying through the nose" may (or may not, as no one is quite sure) have come from a legendary tax imposed on Ireland by the Danes in the 9th century called the "nose tax" because if someone didn't pay, their nose would be slit. 

I've also found about four different stories for the origination of "rule of thumb". I had once heard that it referred to a law that limited the diameter of the rod with which a husband could beat his wife (it was lawful to beat wives within reason, but apparently "within reason" was not so well defined).

As a side note, I love how most of the little nursery rhymes and sing-songs I sang as a kid turned out to be creepy somehow. I mean "rock-a-bye baby" sounds like it could be the plot for a horror movie, ring around the rosies/pocket full of posies references those dying of the plague, and Jack breaking his crown after going up the hill with Jill means he cracked his head when they didn't have the kind of "tumble" they were planning. And parents complain about Miley Cyrus. 

And since I'm spouting trivia - most people who say they've seen Big Ben are mistaken. Have they seen the building in which Big Ben is housed? Yes. Have they seen the clocks on the face of the building? Yes. But Big Ben is actually the bell inside the tower. Supposedly the word "clock" originally referred to "bell" because the number of times the bell rang signified the hour. Either way, Ben Ben is the big bell, so its more likely that you've heard him than seen him. 

Enough ridiculousness for one night, I've got to be up early tomorrow. 

She shall have music wherever she goes

 
For some time now I have been searching for the origins of the saying "with bells on". I kept thinking maybe it was because "court jesters" are always depicted as have bells on the ends of their hats and shoes and sometimes hung on their clothing as well. It turns out I wasn't off base by much. There's an old nursery rhyme:

"Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes."

According to the American Heritage "American Idioms" dictionary, this is the origination of the saying "with bells on". I looked through quite a few phrase dictionaries before I finally found this book which is actually for people who do not speak English as a first language.

The book also mentions "paying through the nose" may (or may not, as no one is quite sure) have come from a legendary tax imposed on Ireland by the Danes in the 9th century called the "nose tax" because if someone didn't pay, their nose would be slit. 

I've also found about four different stories for the origination of "rule of thumb". I had once heard that it referred to a law that limited the diameter of the rod with which a husband could beat his wife (it was lawful to beat wives within reason, but apparently "within reason" was not so well defined).

As a side note, I love how most of the little nursery rhymes and sing-songs I sang as a kid turned out to be creepy somehow. I mean "rock-a-bye baby" sounds like it could be the plot for a horror movie, ring around the rosies/pocket full of posies references those dying of the plague, and Jack breaking his crown after going up the hill with Jill means he cracked his head when they didn't have the kind of "tumble" they were planning. And parents complain about Miley Cyrus. 

And since I'm spouting trivia - most people who say they've seen Big Ben are mistaken. Have they seen the building in which Big Ben is housed? Yes. Have they seen the clocks on the face of the building? Yes. But Big Ben is actually the bell inside the tower. Supposedly the word "clock" originally referred to "bell" because the number of times the bell rang signified the hour. Either way, Ben Ben is the big bell, so its more likely that you've heard him than seen him. 

Enough ridiculousness for one night, I've got to be up early tomorrow.