ever wondered what a pig in a poke was?
as was said earlier, a poke is a pocket. A pig in a poke was a cat in a sack, sometimes sold (sight unseen) because it was squeeling a bit like a piglet. in modern parlance a con. So that is a poke - a well accepted explanation.

The rhyme is well accepted by scholars to be a political satire. The references to Henry VIII might well have survived since religious adherence, particularly Catholicism, was so strong, and there would be so much enmity towards him. A bit like a Catholic colleague I remember who was so adamant that he wouldn't celebrate Bonfire night on religious grounds.
Just like the Trumpifiers today, people mixed with their kind and it perpetuates the common (local for that coterie) viewpoint. Trump love/revulsion may last for 400 years too.
The fallout on global warming will!!!!!!



Hotly debated? I'll get my coat......