The nursery rhyme, When the Bough Breaks, is not as creepy and violent as it may seem. The origin of this nursery rhyme goes back to the mothers of the Musk- ogee Tribe. Effie Crockett, Davy Crockett’s older sister, was invited to the Muskogee camp.
Once there, she laughed at what she saw. The Muskogee women had a custom of cradling their papooses among the swaying branches of birch trees. This protected them from ground insects, the sun and wild animals. It also served another purpose: the swaying and soothing motion of the trees kept the babies quiet as each baby enjoyed listening to songbirds, butterflies, and all things of nature.
One of the mothers began to sing a song to her little papoose in her native tongue. Miss Effie observed a small tear running down the mother’s cheek as she sang.
