Sometime last week (Thursday or Friday, I think) 18 cockle pickers were killed by rising tides in Lancashire's Morecambe Bay. (In case you wonder, Morecambe Bay is in England.)
When I first came across this news I was just browsing the BBC's headlines and didn't click through to read the news. However, I asked my self, "What the hell is a cockle picker?" Honestly, the first thing I thought of was that it must be some porn term that I was unfamiliar with and then I went on about my daily business.
But I just couldn't get the word "cockle" out of my head, for some reason I felt I should know it (aside from the porn connotation). Later that day I happened to watching CNN International when they did a report on the "cockle pickers." It turns out that cockles are shellfish! And from what I understand a mighty lucrative business...
Then I remembered! The nursery rhyme...
"Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row."
AH HA! Mystery solved...
No comments:
Post a Comment