Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run!
They all run after the farmer's wife,
And she cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life
As three blind mice!
Attempts to read historical significance into the words of the rhyme have led to the speculation that this refers to Queen Mary I of England blinding and executing three Protestant bishops. However, the Oxford Martyrs, Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer, were burned at the stake, not blinded, although if the rhyme was made by crypto-Catholics, the mice's "blindness" could refer to their Protestantism.