[Ads-l] Things That Go Bump in the Night

Thu Jul 18 15:57:47 UTC 2019

"Frae" is also Scots.

If "ghosties" was originally "ghaisties," the rhythmic lines could include
a rhyme :

"Frae ghoulies and ghaisties,
Lang-leggity beasties,
An' things that gae bump in the nicht,
Guid Lord deliver us."

However, the Dictionary of the Scots Language has no entry for "ghoulie" or
"long/lang -leggity," and no exx. of "ghaistie" till 1979 !

JL

On Wed, Jul 17, 2019 at 10:14 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Scots is/was noted for its frequent use of diminutives like "ghoulies,"
> "ghosties," and "beasties." "Lang" is also a Scots form.
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Jul 17, 2019 at 10:07 AM Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks, Jon and Garson, those are both nice examples.  I don’t know why
>> Jon’s didn’t come up in my own search.
>>
>> A question, if this is indeed of folk origin, is where it came from.
>> Garson’s example describes it as an “old Scotch prayer,” but its inclusion
>> in the Cornish and West Country Litany implies an origin at the most
>> distant extreme of Great Britain.  I’ve also seen an Irish origin claimed.
>> Scotland, Ireland, and Cornwall are all noted for their dialects.  I don’t
>> know which, if any, of these dialects includes “ghoulies,” “ghosties,”
>> “long-leggety,” and “beasties.”
>>
>>
>> John Baker
>>
>>
>>
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>> Of ADSGarson O'Toole
>> Sent: Wednesday 17 July 2019 1:00 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: Things That Go Bump in the Night
>>
>> External Email - Think Before You Click
>>
>>
>> Thanks John. Excellent citation, JL. Here are some links to the 1905 book:
>>
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=DygSAAAAYAAJ&q=leggettie#v=snippet&<
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=DygSAAAAYAAJ&q=leggettie#v=snippet&>
>> https://archive.org/details/beggars00walkuoft/page/4<
>> https://archive.org/details/beggars00walkuoft/page/4>
>> https://archive.org/details/beggars00walkuoft/page/n201<
>> https://archive.org/details/beggars00walkuoft/page/n201>
>>
>> The excerpt with "things that go bump in the night" appears as an
>> epigraph of a tale titled "Some Strange Visitations" by Hugh Warrand.
>>
>> Here is citation from the next year that employs dialectical spelling,
>> e.g., "lang-legged" for "long-legged", "nicht for "night", and "gude"
>> for "good".
>>
>> Date: July 7, 1906
>> Periodical: The Academy: The Weekly Review of Literature, Science & Art
>> Article: Review of the book "The Undertaker's Field" by Herbert Compton
>> Quote Page 16, Column 2
>> Published at The Offices of Country Life and George Newnes, London
>> (Google Books Full View)
>>
>>
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=5UY9AQAAMAAJ&q=%22gude+Lord%22#v=snippet&
>> <
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=5UY9AQAAMAAJ&q=%22gude+Lord%22#v=snippet&
>> >
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> But "in romance all things are permissible," we are told. We lay down
>> the book with the old Scotch prayer upon our lips: "From ghouls and
>> ghosts and lang-legged beasties and things that go bump in the nicht,
>> gude Lord deliver us."
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson O'Toole
>>
>> Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > 1905 Archibald Stodart Walker _A Beggar's Wallet : Containing
>> > contributions in prose, verse and pictorial illustration, gathered from
>> > certain workers in art and letters ... To be disposed of in aid of the
>> > Royal Victoria Hospital for Consumpton, Edinburgh, at the Great
>> > International Fair to be held in the Waverly Market, in the month of
>> > November, 1905_ [Edinburgh: Dobson, Molle, 1905] 163:
>> >
>> > "Frae ghosties and ghoulies, long-leggettie beasties,
>> >
>> > And things that go bump in the night,
>> >
>> > Good Lord deliver us."
>> >
>> > — From a quaint old Litany.
>> >
>> > JL
>> >
>> > On Tue, Jul 16, 2019 at 5:04 PM Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > > "Things that go bump in the night" refers to frightening unspecified
>> but
>> > > generally supernatural creatures. The phrase (and variants on it) has
>> been
>> > > used in a number of titles, some of which are listed on a
>> disambiguation
>> > > page on Wikipedia,
>> > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_That_Go_Bump_in_the_Night<
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_That_Go_Bump_in_the_Night>.
>> > > According to The Phrase Finder, the earliest known use of the phrase
>> is
>> > > from 1918, and it was incorporated in a prayer which was recorded in
>> The
>> > > Cornish and West Country Litany in 1926,
>> > > https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/378900.html<
>> https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/378900.html>. The OED also gives the
>> > > 1918 date and suggests it probably has its origins in the 1926
>> "rhyme." It
>> > > does not appear to be in the Yale Book of Quotations.
>> > >
>> > > Here is an example of the prayer with the phrase from a review of the
>> play
>> > > Peter Pan in 1909. This is from the Los Angeles Herald (Mar. 1, 1909)
>> > > (Newspapers.com):
>> > >
>> > > <<"From ghoulies and ghosties, long-leggety beasties and things that
>> go
>> > > bump in the night - good Lord deliver us!" runs a quaint old litany,
>> > > echoing the beliefs of another day, when sprites and nymphs and elves
>> were
>> > > about us and
>> > > Magic casements opened on the foam
>> > > Of Perilous seas in faery lands forelorn.
>> > > The "ghoulies and ghosties" have gone, God give them speed, but "Peter
>> > > Pan" is back with Tinker Bell and the beasties, and yesterday Los
>> Angeles
>> > > slipped out through the casement with Peter to the "Never, Never,
>> Never
>> > > land," in Barrie's whimsical and delightful play.>>
>> > >
>> > > It seems likely that both the prayer and the phrase are older than
>> this
>> > > and do not come from Los Angeles originally.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > John Baker
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org<
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>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth."
>> >
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>>
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>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>

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