feed of what???

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:22 AM -0400 10/22/09, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>There is a ribald song about Aladdin sung widely in the Royal Navy for the
>past sixty-odd years that employs the following refreain:
>
>
>Fa la la la, fa la la lee,
>
>Sixteen annas, one rupee,
>
>Feed of arse up a sycamore tree,
>
>Poor bugger Janner!
>
>
>
>Remarkable, wot?  "Janner" is a West Countryman, a name often used in
>reference to Plymouth dockyard workers. But nobody seems to know what "feed
>of arse" means.
>
>
>  Or do they>
>
There was a posting about this song, and verse, on the Straight Dope
message board, but without relevant clarification:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=189398

and 11 actual (which apparently counts as "about 3,800") hits on
google for "feed of arse" without the sycamore restriction, but I'm
not sure any resolve the query.

LH

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