In the early 70s I was studying for my National Certificate in Electrical Engineering. I was now 30 something, before ‘Friends‘, and at a time when being 30 meant being an adult and not some late developing adolescent. It was also the time when, for reasons unknown to me, it was decided that engineers lacked ‘culture’, and so lessons in ‘cultural studies’ were an essential part of the course. Having two young children at the time,my chosen subject for a particular presentation was Nursery Rhymes and their origin. Janus’ post on the poetry competition reminded me of this. The nursery rhyme books are in the loft, but unlike the 70s when there was no Internet available to me, I don’t have to search the loft for them.
My initial reaction to a web search was to join in the with the anti-politically correct brigade. Prompted by finding the Rhyme ‘Jack and Jill went up the hill’ published without the third verse.
Jill came in, and she did grin,
To see his paper plaster.
Mother vexed, did whip her next,
For causing Jack’s disaster.
However, while there is some sanitizing of nursery rhymes, it’s not a new occurrence, and perhaps certainly not as bad as the latest correcting of Huckleberry Finn. I find it odd that academics, for the most part, think that children will be nicer, if history is made ‘nicer’. Nursery rhymes and literature are history. Cartoonists would seem to have a better understanding of children and a child’s connection with reality. I recall sitting on my grandma’s knee while she recited nursery rhymes to me, I doubt for one minute that she realised the value of this.
Boadicea's Chariot 
My copy of the Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes is sitting on the shelf next to me – I still like books!
I’ve never understood why people can’t let well alone. These rhymes and stories were perfectly all right as they were 🙂
Hello, Peter. Have we met?
End of Pseu’s comment. Peter has then responded –
Peter, please do not reply to comments by editing the comment. Place your response in a separate comment, so that we can all see who is writing.
Perhaps you are confused by the absence of “Comment nesting”. Charioteers experimented with this when the site started, and decided that it was sometimes difficult to decipher, so it was turned off.
The only time an author should write inside someone else’s comment is when it has been moderated – as here, by me. [Bearsy]
😆