Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home Your house is on fire, your children will burn Except little Nan, who sits in a pan Weaving gold laces as fast as she can
In Medieval England, the farmers would set torches to the old Hop vines after the harvest, to clear the fields for the next planting. The poem was a warning to the aphid-eating Ladybugs, still crawling on the vines in search of aphids. The Ladybugs' children (larvae) could get away from the flames, but the immobile pupae (Nan) remained fastened to the plants (laces) and couldn't escape.