"A ring around the rosie" (the rash that was).
The history of smallpox is recounted through the eyes of those who bore witness to its terrors. A suggestion is made that the nursery rhyme, "A Ring Around the Rosie," may represent a depiction, in the old oral tradition of communication, of a smallpox epidemic.
Glickman
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D001208:Asia; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000266:history*; D004739:England; D005060:Europe; D005495:Folklore; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D008877:Middle East; D012899:Smallpox / Q000266:history*