Folk-Lore from Maryland (1925)

Thu Mar 17 00:48:15 UTC 2005

Living in Target A, "stories" didn't bother me so much as did the evening news, and the sound of air raid sirens being tested once a month. (Ours was atop the building across the street !)     I still can't look at footage of nuclear tests.

I had a student not long ago who thought who thought H-bomb blasts were aesthetically pleasing.  She planned to buy posters for her room.

JL

Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: Folk-Lore from Maryland (1925)
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The "ladybug/ladybird" story, together with the story of the
one-legged rooster that wound up making a living as a weathercock,
was one of the horrors of my childhood, too. I can still remember the
accompanying illustrations (can you believe it?!) well enough that,
even now, the memory makes my flesh crawl.

My mother told me that her childhood horror story was that of
Snow-White and Rose-Red, who were sent to gather strawberries in
February. I remember this one, too, But, I knew that there would be
some magic that would save the girls, whereas the ladybug/ladybird
and the one-legged rooster were just plain bleeped.

-Wilson

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>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Beverly Flanigan
>Subject: Re: Folk-Lore from Maryland (1925)
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>
>For me: "Your house is on fire, your children all gone" (or maybe "are
>gone"). Gruesome by inference.
>
>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
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>>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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