Fwd: Re:A Cow's grass in heaven and other items

[Joel S. Berson]

 From another correspondent.  Insightful comments, I think.
Joel

>Date:         Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:15:12 -0400
>From: jstuart at YORKU.CA
>Subject: Re: [C18-L] Fwd: A Cow's grass in heaven and other items
>...
>In my rural youth, "barrows" (wooden wheelbarrows) were often used for moving
>heavy loads. Usually single-wheeled and not particularly stable,
>they roll when
>lifted by the two wooden-shaft handles. A door blocked from the outside with a
>barrow would not be secure; an empty barrow would likely tip over if it was
>blocking the inside of a door. The plaintiff's door was clearly
>insecure, since
>Eiles attained at least "the beddside." As well, I read the original post's
>"Timbern," not "Tinbern," so I'd speculate that the expression is "timber
>[wooden] [wheel]barrow"
>
>Depending upon who says it to whom, could it be that the "cow's
>grass in heaven"
>is either mindless, consequence-free enjoyment (said by one who
>half-admiringly
>notes the copulation between this intergenerational group) or a critical
>observation that the fornicator will not eat manna in heaven, but
>merely "cow's
>grass"?  ("To" could be read as "so," or "to the end that.") It seems odd that
>the man accuses the woman of having fucked mother and daughter; is there more
>context available?
>
>"Hops" as "crazed" (likely by overindulgence in liquor) remains in the
>vernacular as "hopping mad." Might it mean "drunken" here?
>
>Could "pungent" be a pouch for tobacco?  Tobacco's scent is acrid enough to be
>described as "pungent"; perhaps this is metonymy at work?
>
>Interesting stuff in your depositions! I hope you'll let us know about the
>publication when it appears?
>
>Judith
>____________________________
>Judith Anderson Stuart, PhD
>Department of English
>York University
>Toronto, Canada

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