The rhymes you’ll find here are instantly recognisable and provide a comforting link to our past, however, the stories behind them are often unknown and always fascinating - frequently telling the stories of true historical events from a time when the printing press was still a thing of the future and news was passed around verbally.

With rhymes on topics ranging from the weather to the stars, journeys to sums and food and drink to wise ways, each chapter presents the full and best-known version of the rhyme, followed by an explanation of its meaning and origins, along with the wider references the rhymes make to such topics as foods and culinary customs, historical events or archetypes of folk and fairy tales.

Whether you’re a lover of nursery rhymes or more of a history buff, there is lots in this book for all to enjoy.