Sing a Song of Six Pence

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

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

The king was in his country 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.
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose!

When we bring to mind childhood memories, more often than not those memories include favorite Mother Goose rhymes and tales. Based on anthropological evidence, the world renowed authority on the origin and history of nursery rhymes and Mother Goose, Henry Betts, concluded that originally these little ditties were not written for children, but rather for adults.

The Great Plagues of London and Edinburgh, Scotland were alluded to in Ring-Around-The-Rosie. Humpty Dumpty was a rhyme that held political satire, with the original Humpty Dumpty being King Richard III of England. Baa-Baa-Black Sheep was written in protest against the export tax imposed in Britain in 1275, with the master in the rhyme symbolizing the king. And Sing A Song Of Six Pence--a pirate's code.

Six pence was the usual amount of payment for those pirates who were paid but few pirate masters paid their crew in actual money. Blackbeard was an exception. He also provided his crew with a canteen of rye whiskey per day.
"Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie"...

It was a 16th and 17th-Century custom or trick to hide trinkets or little gifts in a pie. This referred to Blackbeard's crew hiding prior to an attack. Their ship looked to be a ghost ship. The blackbirds, of course, referred to Blackbeard's men and their numbers.

"When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing"...

The pirates came out of hiding, showed themselves and began their attack.

"Wasn't that a tasty dish to set before the king"...

This does not refer to a real king, but rather to Blackbeard, himself. The tasty dish was the plundered ship.