10 Overtly Cruel Nursery Rhymes
Nursery rhymes can teach children about numbers and animal sounds while calming a crying child. The innocent minds of children, unlike the jaded minds of adults, often do not understand the violent nature of some rhymes. Here are 10 nursery rhymes that, despite their intrinsic meanings have, on the surface,  violence towards animals or people:

10. "Ding Dong Bell" also referred to as "Ding Dong Dell" is a 16th century rhyme that is about a boy named Johnny Flynn who throws a cat in a well attempting to kill the cat, thankfully in later versions the poor feline is rescued by another little boy named Tommy Stout. There are variations on the names, depending on the version. The original version left the cat in the bottom of the well to drown.

Ding Dong Bell

Ding dong bell
Pussy's in the well
Who put her in?
Little Johnny Flynn
Who pulled her out?
Little Tommy Stout
What a naughty boy was that
Try to drown poor Pussycat,
Who ne'er did any harm
But killed all the mice
In the Farmer's barn!

9.  "Alouette" or "Lark" is another grim nursery rhyme, it is French Canadian in origin. This rhyme is about a person who is going to pluck the feathers off of the bird, most likely in order to prepare it for being cooked, because they were awoken by the lark's song. There is a difference between each verse, which is dependent on the body part that the game bird's plumage is being plucked. Most versions of the song have several verses. A few other body parts often included in the song are le dos- the head, le cou- the neck, and les yeux – the bird's eyes.

Alouette

Alouette, gentille alouette,
Alouette, je te plumerai.
Je te plumerai la tête. Je te plumerai la tête.
Et la tête! Et la tête!
Alouette! Alouette!
A-a-a-ah.

Lark
Lark, nice lark,
Lark, I will pluck you.
I will pluck your head. I will pluck your head.
And your head! And your head!
Lark! Lark!
O-o-o-oh.

8. "Three Blind Mice" is over 200 years old and a very well-known nursery rhyme about a trio of mice who are chasing after the wife of a farmer because she cut their tails off with her knife.

Three Blind Mice

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

7.  Perhaps the most absurd is "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." The elderly woman swallowed an insect and proceeds to swallow increasingly larger animals until it results in her death. If taken literally, this rhyme would top the list with the highest number of injured animals; a bird, cat, dog,  cow, and horse, as well as a fly and spider, fall victim to the woman. This bizarre nursery rhyme is presumably a message for children not to make a relatively benign problem into a larger one, but that does not explain why everyone is so excited about her dying.

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and wiggled and tiggled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;
Fancy that to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady that swallowed a dog;
What a hog, to swallow a dog;
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I don't know how she swallowed a cow;
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse...
She's dead, of course!

6. "Sing A Song Of Sixpence" is a nursery rhyme concerning  birds that are given to a king within a pie, and a blackbird later brutally takes the nose off of the maid's face.  Possible meanings vary by location, but one interpretation is that the birds were placed within the pie as a form of entertainment. Later versions were toned down by having the maid's nose reattached.

Sing A Song Of Sixpence

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing—
Wasn't that a dainty dish
To set before the king?

The king was in the counting-house
Counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey,

The maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes.
Along came a blackbird
And snipped off her nose.

5. "Jack and Jill" is a widely known nursery rhyme and most of us, as children, probably assumed that Jack broke a cheap crown that he was wearing, but it was actually his head.

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up got Jack, and home did trot
As fast as he could caper
He went to bed and bound his head
With vinegar and brown paper.

4. "Goosey Goosey Gander," unlike most of the more popular nursery rhymes, features a presumably well-meaning animal being the violent offender. This nursery rhyme originated in the 18th century. The goose trips a man for not saying his prayers and he then proceeds to fall down the stairs.

Goosey Goosey Gander

Goosey goosey gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stair

3.  Child abuse, presumably hazardous living conditions, and neglect are in the spot light in "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe." The woman barely feeds her children and then beats them before sending them to sleep.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread;
And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

2. No one is hurting the man, but the lack of information is particularly disturbing in "It's raining; it's pouring." In some versions "couldn't" is replaced by "didn't." What happened to him? Did he fall into a coma or did his home spring a leak after he received a concussion so he drowned?

It's raining; it's pouring.
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed and bumped his head,
And he couldn't get up in the morning.

1. "John Ball shot them all" has what may be the most blatant mention of violence and is the most relevant today since there are debates on guns with current events: school shootings, the widely publicized Ferguson, and a desire by some for gun reform.

John Ball shot them all

John Ball shot them all;
John Scott made the shot,
But John Ball shot them all.

John Wyming made the priming,
And John Brammer made the rammer,
And John Scott made the shot,
But John Ball shot them all.

John Block make the stock,
And John Brammer made the rammer,
And John Wyming made the priming,
And John Scott made the shot,
But John Ball shot them all.

John Crowder made the powder,
And John Block made the stock,
And John Wyming made the priming,
And John Brammer made the rammer,
And John Scott made the shot,
But John Ball shot them all.

John Puzzle made the muzzle,
And John Crowder made the powder,
And John Block made the stock,
And John Wyming made the priming,
And John Brammer made the rammer,
And John Scott made the shot,
But John Ball shot them all.

John Clint made the flint,
John Puzzle made the muzzle,
And John Crowder made the powder,
And John Block made the stock,
And John Wyming made the priming,
And John Brammer made the rammer,
And John Scott made the shot,
But John Ball shot them all.

John Patch made the match,
John Clint made the flint,
John Puzzle made the muzzle,
And John Crowder made the powder,
And John Block made the stock,
And John Wyming made the priming,
And John Brammer made the rammer,
And John Scott made the shot,
But John Ball shot them all.

Sources:
1.  http://www.nurseryrhymes.org/animals.html
2. http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ding_dong_bell.htm
3. http://www.rhymes.org.uk/there_was_an_old_lady.htm
4. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171631
5. http://www.rhymes.org.uk/sing_a_song_of_sixpence.htm
6. http://www.rhymes.org.uk/jack_and_jill.htm
7. http://www.allnurseryrhymes.com/Goosey-Goosey-Gander.html
8. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176344
9.  https://books.google.com/books?id=zGsKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA283&lpg=PA283&dq=John+Ball+shot+them+all;+John+Scott+made+the+shot,+But+John+Ball+shot+them+all.&source=bl&ots=fOqU4Osf7A&sig=cwANDKrsUPqLa2GHzYAT0PSQUx8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mvCIVJ3cBIKqyASz_4CYCA&ved=0CC8Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=John%20Ball%20shot%20them%20all%3B%20John%20Scott%20made%20the%20shot%2C%20But%20John%20Ball%20shot%20them%20all.&f=false