Dombey and Son

[Mythago]

I've been reading Dombey and Son, and there's a scene in which Susan picks up one of Polly's children and "immediately takes her to Banbury Cross". I'm assuming this does not mean literally, and wondered if anyone knew what the phrase means?

[Mythago]

Obviously my first thought was they played horsey together, but I'm not so sure about this.

[Hayley]

It's from a nursery rhyme: 'Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, to see a fine lady upon a white horse; with rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes.'

 

When I was little my nan and grandad would sit me on their lap and bounce me on their knee (sort of like you're riding a horse) to the rhyme. Assuming that is the tradition and not just them, that's what I always thought the part in Dombey and Son meant   

[Wyrdskein]

Yes I know the nursery rhyme. It seems obvious now.