Anne Boleyn notwithstanding, some people enraged Henry VIII and got away with it.
This week my author, Melanie Jackson, talked with students at Vancouver's Wilfred Laurier Elementary about the chilling history of the mystery. Nursery rhymes, a key part of my presentation, are quite inappropriate for the nursery, Melanie explained to my increasingly avid listeners. (Amazing how the more bloodthirsty a topic is, the more it happily resonates with audiences.) I've already gleefully described Mary, Queen of Scots, so I won't go into Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary -- about Mary's none-too-subtle bombing of her husband's house.
Instead, let's pull up a chair and join Little Jack Horner as he delves into his Christmas pie. Here's the story behind that particular ditty:
It seems a businessman eager to please Henry VIII followed the custom of placing a boon, or gift, inside a pie. Enter his courier company, i.e., Jack Horner. Crafty Jack removed the treasure before delivering the pie. Jack fled, probably changing his name, and set up a prosperous living in another city. Henry, meanwhile, was furious to peel back the crust and find -- only plums. And we need not ax how Henry dealt with those who incurred his displeasure.
