On Wed, 4 Aug 1999, Barre Toelken wrote:
> A student recently collected the following song from an elderly man.
> Part of it is reminiscent of the "Derby Ram," but the hidden rhyme style
> is like that of "Sweet Violets" and others. Can anyone shed some light
> on it?
[song snipped]
This is a version of the song most commonly known as "Butcher Town" in
the USA, clearly derived from "The Derby Ram" but incorporating the
teasing-rhyme. It's been collected from tradition in various places; one
notable example was found in Northern California in 1939 by Sidney
Richardson Cowell; it can be heard on the Library of Congress's "American
Memories" website:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
Once you get there, find the Cowell collection and search under the
keyword "bawdy".
Peace.
Paul
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|