Is ‘Three Blind Mice’ the Story of a Murderous English Queen?

Yup. I mean maybe. It’s complicated.

You likely sang Three Blind Mice as a child, and you probably didn’t give the silly rhyming words any thought. But if you listen to the poetic lyrics, they sound rather sinister. The version you likely grew up singing might go something like this:

Three Blind Mice
Three Blind Mice
See how they run
See how they run
They all run after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
as Three Blind Mice?

I live in the country where I’ve killed my fair share of rodents trying to set up camp in my attic. I always assumed this song was sung out of frustration by some mother somewhere as she got to her wit’s end over trying to find and get rid of pests in her farmhouse. Just thinking that this could be the origin of the music has often made me laugh as I set out my mice and rat traps when the fall air gets cold here in Maine.

But since I seem to have a fascination with killer kid’s songs like The Muffin Man and French legends about werewolves, I decided that Three Blind Mice was worthy of an archive dive to see what I could shakeup. And wow…history does not disappoint.