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Seligor's Castle, fun for all the children of the world. Blogs
Mon, 28 Apr 2008
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NEWS FLASH, WEASEL BEEN POPPED IN A LONDON TAVERN. NEWS FLASH
Pop Goes the Weasel
'Round
and 'round the cobbler's bench The monkey chased
the weasel, The monkey thought 'twas all in
fun Pop! Goes the
weasel.
A penny for a
spool of thread A penny for a
needle, That's the way the
money goes, Pop! Goes the
weasel.
A half a
pound of tupenny rice, A half a pound of
treacle. Mix it up and make it nice, Pop!
Goes the weasel.
Up and down the London
road, In and out of the Eagle, That's the way
the money goes, Pop! Goes the
weasel.
I've no time
to plead and pine, I've no time to
wheedle, Kiss me quick and
then I'm gone
Pop! Goes the
weasel.
What does "pop goes the weasel"
mean? --Birdaire, via AOL
Dear Birdaire:
Who knows? It's basically a folk song and nursery
rhyme that later saw service as a
music-hall ditty. It's tough enough deciphering
rock lyrics written in 1975; what do you
expect with a tune going back to the 17th century?
But Straight Dope curator of music Tom
Miller said he'd give it his best shot.
Tom collected two dozen versions of "Pop Goes the
Weasel" from both sides of the
Atlantic. Many were similar, with one key
difference: in North America, the opening line
was generally "all around the mulberry bush,"
possibly due to conflation with
the similar tune "Here We Go Round the Mulberry
Bush." In the UK, however, it
was usually "all around the cobbler's bench." This
gives us a better idea of the
song's original meaning. Most authorities think
"Pop Goes the Weasel" describes
the acts of weaving, spinning, and sewing. A
weasel, Tom reports, was a mechanism used by
tailors, cobblers, and hatters that "popped" when
the spool was full of thread.
Some argue that to pop the weasel is also cockney
slang meaning to pawn one's coat. This
makes sense in light of the second verse of the
kids' version: "A penny for a spool
of thread / A penny for a needle / That's the way
the money goes," etc. A version
popular in 19th-century English music halls makes
things even clearer: "Up and down
the City Road / In and out the Eagle / That's the
way the money goes," etc. The Eagle
in question was a London tavern; clearly the
lyricist was describing the consequences of
spending too little time at the cobbler's bench and
too much on a barstool.
--CECIL ADAMS Found this in images on Google, here is
the link
www.straightdope.com/
Posted 18:04
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