<P> In 1892, folklorist Alice Gomme could give twelve versions . </P> <P> A German rhyme first printed in 1796 closely resembles "Ring a ring o'roses" in its first stanza and accompanies the same actions (with sitting rather than falling as the concluding action): </P> <P> Ringel ringel reihen, Wir sind der Kinder dreien, sitzen unter'm Hollerbusch Und machen alle Husch husch husch! </P> <P> Loosely translated this says "Ringed, ringed row . We are three children, sitting under an elder bush . All of us going hush, hush, hush!" The rhyme is well known in Germany with the first line "Ringel, Ringel, Reihe" (as the popular collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn gave it); it has many local variants, often with "Husch, husch, husch" (which in German could mean "quick, quick") in the fourth line, comparable to the "Hush! hush! hush! hush!" of the first printed English version . This popular variant is notable: </P>

Ring a ring of roses a pocketful of posies