Heard on the Olympics: "uphill and downdale"

[Seán Fitzpatrick]

This site links to many (searchable) works of English literature containing
the phrase:   http://tinyurl.com/6hxalx.  I recognize it from literature,
but I can't recall hearing it in American speech.  The WWI "Caissons Song"
(song of the Field Artillery), which I literally learned at my mother's
knee, starts "Over hill, over dale, we will hit the dusty trail, as the
caissons go rolling along".

Seán Fitzpatrick
It’s a Gnostic thing. You wouldn't understand.
http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Quinion [mailto:wordseditor at WORLDWIDEWORDS.ORG]
Sent: Thursday, 14 August, 2008 04:10
Subject: Re: Heard on the Olympics: "uphill and downdale"

> Spoken by a non-American but nevertheless native-speaker - probably
> British, possibly South-African - of English WRT bike-racing:
>
> "From here on in, it's all uphill and _downdale_."
>
>
> His use of "downdale" instead of "downhill" appeared to be serious. I
> can recall "downdale" being used by my grandparents in Texas.
> Otherwise, I've never heard it used, even facetiously, until now.

The canonical form is "up hill and down dale". It was immediately familiar
to me, as a British English speaker, and there are many examples to be
found in the works of writers going back to the early nineteenth century -
the OED's first example is from 1824 (though it doesn't have an entry for
the phrase), though I've found one slightly earlier:

1812 Poulson's American Daily Advertiser 22 Aug. 2/3 The Chinese were the
lads for the plough and the flail, / For with 'em they scampered up hill
and down dale.


--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: wordseditor at worldwidewords.org
Web: http://www.worldwidewords.org

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