She’s dead and she’s rotten
She lies in her bed
With her eyes wide open.
Sing, sing, oh, what can I sing?
Mary Ann Cotton is tied up wi’ string.
Where, where? Up in the air
Sellin’ black puddens a penny a pair.
FROM A CHILDREN’S RHYME, CIRCA 1873
Note: The above-quoted rhyme was inspired by Mary Ann Cotton, sometimes known as The Black Widow. There have been a few notorious women who have been dubbed The Black Widow in history, usually serial killers or poisoners. Mary Ann Cotton was allegedly one of the first. A bit of background on her, courtesy of Wikipedia: “Mary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. It is likely that she murdered three of her four husbands, apparently in order to collect on their insurance policies, and many others. She may have murdered as many as 21 people, including 11 of her 13 children. She chiefly used arsenic poisoning, causing gastric pain and rapid decline of health.”
Source:
Klein, Shelley. “Mary Ann Cotton.” The Most Evil Women in History. Barnes & Noble Books, 2003. 104. Print.
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