| Hark, Hark!
Hark! Hark! the dogs do bark!
Some gave them white bread |
|
There are at least two different origins for this rhyme.
One is that there were roaming bands of beggars throughout
the countryside in Tudor times. These bands were feared
by law-abiding citizens who were afraid that the beggars
might become violent if the alms they received were not satisfactory. Another explanation is that “beggar” was slang for Dutchman. In this version, the beggars were the followers of William of Orange, who flocked to England in the 17th Century. |
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