I recently posted a
clip of Jake Thackray's song “Sophie”. I am told by an
American friend that it was blocked in the States, goodness knows
why, as it's naughty but not obscene, unless you have a mind like a
sewer.
Anyway, I am in love
with another of Jake's songs, the one called “Mad Molly
Metcalfe”, a poor girl who looked after sheep on a Yorkshire
moorland above Swayledale, and who was found frozen to death. She was
only in her early twenties. I won't post it here, as you can easily
track it down on You Tube. One thing that bowled me over was the
counting system she used for counting her sheep. You count to twenty,
then transfer a pebble from your hand to a pocket, then start again
to the next twenty, transfer a second pebble, and so on. Here are the
numbers one to twenty:
yan tan tether
mether pip
azer sezar akker
conter dick
yanadick tanadick
tetheradick metheradick bumfit
yanabum tanabum
tetherabum metherabum jigget
Read them aloud. Such
rhythms, such euphony! Apparently they derive from a Brythonic
Celtic language long lost. I like old things, don't you? I just hope
the US grundies don't find something to object to here, though dick
and bumfit might be a bit near the knuckle for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment