Folk-Lore from Maryland (1925)

Wed Mar 16 17:09:58 UTC 2005

At 11:53 AM -0500 3/16/05, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>For me:  "Your house is on fire, your children all gone" (or maybe "are
>gone").  Gruesome by inference.

it was "your children are gone" for us; I always liked to think that
they made it out safely, but were now homeless, and Mrs. Ladybug
would need to secure new quarters for the family

larry

>At 09:40 PM 3/15/2005, you wrote:
>>"Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home,
>>Your house is on fire, your children alone."
>>
>>Again from my grandmother.  Somewhat less gruesome than the Md. version.
>>
>>My understanding is that it's good luck for a ladybug to land on you.
>>
>>JL
>>
>>Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
>>Subject: Folk-Lore from Maryland (1925)
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>FOLK-LORE FROM MARYLAND
>>collected by Annie Weston Whitney and Caroline Canfield Bullock
>>New York:
>>Published by the American Folk-Lore Society
>>G. E. Stechert and Co., New York, Agents
>>1925
>>....
>>A lot of familiar, interesting stuff is here, at a somewhat early date. I
>>might do follow-up research in later posts on some of the terms...Sorry in
>>advance for my typing.
>>....
>>....
>>Pg. 70:
>>When you see the first star in the evening, make a wish and say:
>>Star bright, star bright,
>>First star I've seen tonight,
>>I wish you may, I wish you might,
>>Give me the wish, I wish tonight.
>>....
>>Pg. 73:
>>A shorter way to tell fortunes by daisies is,
>>He loves me, he loves me not.
>>....
>>Pg. 107:
>>Monday's child is fair in face,...
>>....
>>Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger,
>>Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger,
>>Sneeze on Wednesday, receive a letter,
>>Sneeze on Thursday, something better,
>>Sneeze on Friday, expect sorrow,
>>Sneeze on Saturday, joy t-morrow (or a beau to-morrow)
>>Sneeze on Sunday, your safety seek
>>Or the devil will have you the whole of the week.
>>....
>>Cut your nails on Monday, cut for news,
>>Cut on Tuesday, a pair of new shoes,
>>Cut on Wednesday, cut for health;
>>Cut on Thursday, cut for wealth;
>>Cut on Friday, cut for woe;
>>Cut on Saturday, a journey you'll go;
>>Cut them on Sunday, you'll cut for evil.
>>....
>>"Friday's hair and Sunday's horn
>>You'll meet the Black Man on Monday Morn."
>>....
>>Monday, health,
>>Tuesday, wealth,
>>Wednesday, the best day of all;
>>Thursday, crosses,
>>Friday, losses,
>>Saturday, no day at all.
>>....
>>Pg. 130: STREET CRIES. The Devil Crab Man.
>>Ah, I hav 'em hot,
>>Ah, I have 'em brown,
>>Ah, I have 'em long,
>>Ah, I have 'em roun',
>>Dey's nice en fat, dey weighs a poun',
>>Daibble!
>>....
>>Pg. 133:
>>1-2-3-4-5-6-7.
>>All goof children go to heaven,
>>One flew east and one flew west
>>And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
>>....
>>1-2-3-4-5-6-7.
>>All goof children go to heaven,
>>Some go up and some go down,
>>And some go all around the town.
>>....
>>1-2-3-4-5-6-7,
>>All good children go to heaven,
>>1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8,
>>All bad children are too late.
>>....
>>1-2-3-4-5-6-7
>>All good children go to heaven,
>>All the rest fo below,
>>To keep company with Jumbo,
>>or
>>To keep company with Guiteau.
>>....
>>Pg. 138:
>>What's your name? Pudding-in-tane.
>>Where do you loive? Up Red Lane.
>>What's your number? 22 Cumber.
>>....
>>Pg. 139:
>>Nigger in the woodshed,
>>Don't you hear him holler?
>>Take him up to my house
>>And give him half a dollar.
>>....
>>As I went up the apple tree,
>>All the apples fell on me.
>>Bake a pudding,
>>Bake a pie,
>>You're the one who told the lie.
>>....
>>Knife and fork,
>>Bottle and cork,
>>That's the way
>>To spell New York.
>>....
>>A rough shirt
>>And a standing collar
>>Will choke a nigger
>>Till he holler.
>>....
>>Pg. 140:
>>Hayfoot, strawfoot,
>>Specklefoot, crawfoot,
>>Some flew east, some flew west,
>>Some flew over the cuckoo's nest.
>>....
>>Aka baka, soda cracker,
>>Aka baka boo,
>>My grandfather has an old horshoe
>>How many nails did he put in it?
>>(Select a number & count that many.)
>>....
>>Draw a bucket of water,
>>For my lady's daughter,
>>A gay gold ring and a silver pin,
>>And pray my lady go under.
>>(Miss Jennie go under.)
>>....
>>Pg. 142:
>>_Bingo._ (...) _The Farmer stands alone._
>>....
>>Pg. 147: _Ugly mug._
>>Come put your right hand in,
>>Come put your right hand out,
>>Come give your right hand a shake, shake, shake,
>>And turn your body about.
>>....
>>Pg. 151:
>>Once upon a time,
>>When the fogs ate lime,
>>The turkeys chawed tobacco,
>>And the geese drank wine.
>>....
>>Once upon a time,
>>A fog made a rhyme,
>>Goose chewed Tobacco,
>>And the cat drank wine.
>>....
>>Once I was a wish bone,
>>Grew within a hen,
>>Now I am a little slave,
>>That is made to wipe your pen.
>>....
>>Hot corn! Baked pears!
>>Knock a nigger down stairs.
>>....
>>Christmas is coming,
>>Turkeys are fat,
>>Please drop a penny,
>>In the little boy's hat.
>>(Or the Newsboy's hat.)
>>....
>>Pg. 155:
>>All the cats consulted,
>>What was it about?
>>How to catch a little mouse
>>Running in and out.
>>....
>>Rain, rain, go away
>>And come again another day,
>>For little Johnny
>>Wants to play.
>>....
>>Rain come wet me,
>>Sun come dry me,
>>Go 'way Patsy,
>>Don't come nigh me.
>>....
>>Jake, Jake, the rattlesnake
>>Stole-a half a-dollar cake.
>>....
>>Take all you gimme.
>>....
>>A fool for luck,
>>A poor man for children,
>>Eastern shore for hard crabs,
>>And niggers for dogs.
>>....
>>Ting-a-ling-a-ling the scissors grinder,
>>Lost his wife and couldn't find her.
>>....
>>Pg. 156:
>>I had a piece of pork,
>>I put it on a fork,
>>And gave it to the curly headed Jew, Jew, Jew.
>>....
>>Tattle tale tit,
>>Your tongue shall be split,
>>And all the girls in our town
>>Shall have a little bit.
>>....
>>Cry baby cry,
>>Put your finger in your eye
>>And tell your Mother 'twasn't I.
>>....
>>Pg. 157:
>>Catch a grasshopper, and say,
>>"Spit, spit, tobacco juice,
>>If you don't do it, I'll kill you".
>>If he does not spit, he is killed.
>>....
>>If you see a ladybug, catch it and put it on your finger and say:
>>"Lady bug, lady bug, fly away home,
>>Your house is on fire, your children will burn."
>>Then it will fly away home.
>>....
>>Pg. 158:
>>My love for you will never fail,
>>So long as pussy has her tail.
>>....
>>So long as grass grows round this stump,
>>You are my darling sugar lump.
>>....
>>(Said to a child who affects a very fainty appetite at table.)
>>"Leave something for Miss Manners."
>>....
>>I beg your pardon, I grant you grace,
>>I hope the cat will scratch your face.
>>....
>>Whistling girls and crowing hens
>>Always come to some bad ends.
>>....
>>A whistling man and a crowing hen
>>Are not fit for gods or men.
>>....
>>Girls that whistle and hens that crow,
>>Gather life's pleasure as they go.
>>....
>>Pg. 159:
>>Needles and pins, needles and pins,
>>When a man marries his trouble begins.
>>....
>>Tit for tat;
>>If you kill my dog,
>>I;ll kill your cat.
>>....
>>Multiplication is vexation.
>>Division is bad,
>>The rule of Three doth puzzle me,
>>And Practice drives me mad.
>>....
>>Whilst we live, we live in clover,
>>When we die, we die all over.
>>....
>>I had a little fod, his name was Rover,
>>And when he died, he died all over.
>>....
>>After breakfast, work awhile;
>>After dinner, sit awhile;
>>After supper, walk a mile.
>>....
>>Pg. 173:
>>Sisters and brothers have I none,
>>But that man's father is my father's son,
>>What relation is that man to me?
>>(My Son.)
>>....
>>Pg. 174:
>>A house full, a hole full,
>>You can't get a bowl full.
>>(Smoke.)
>>....
>>Up and down,
>>Never touches sky nor ground.
>>(Pump Handle.)
>>....
>>Pg.175:
>>Long legs, crooked thighs,
>>Little head and no eyes.
>>(Pair of tongs.)
>>....
>>Round as a biscuit,
>>As busy as a bee,
>>The prettiest little thing,
>>You ever did see.
>>(A watch.)
>>....
>>
>>
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