Luck lies here

As I may have mentioned before, I grew up in a very small village in Worcestershire. There were residents that had always lived either in the village or fairly near by and had lovely melodic dialects. Others had travelled from various places and quite a few of those had grown up in Birmingham and so had a sing-song accent that made them into what was called ‘Brummies.’ This meant that youngsters such as myself used a variety of dialects and word pronunciation became a jumble of village and town.

For instance a flowering bush that everyone called lie-l’c (lilac) was pronounced lie-luck by many of the youngsters (others would say lie-lock or even lie-lurk) – we were always told that it obtained its name because it was a lucky plant and the luck lay with it, or luck lies when it is taken into the home. Perhaps it is the only hard wood that country folk actually take in the house as many believe that no woody plants should be cut and placed in a vase because it releases bad luck from the ground and into the home when displayed indoors. A superstition, of course, along with the many others that people worry about.

Here is a little verse that I wrote as a youngster about the lilac bush:

Luck lies beneath the lie-luck tree
  That’s where you stole a kiss from me;
The lie-luck sealed it in your heart
  Which meant that we would never part!

O’er the hills and far away ….

Tom, he was a piper’s son -
  he used to play when he was young;
the only tune that he could play -
  was “O’er the hills and far away.”      

*O’er the hills and a great way off             (*over)
  the wind shall blow my *top knot off.     (*bonnet)

Tom with his pipe made such a noise -
  that he pleased both the girls and boys.
They all stopped to hear him play -
  “O’er the hills and far away.”

O’er the hills and a great way off
  the wind shall blow my *top knot off.

O’er the hills and o’er the dales,
  through England to the coast of Wales;
We’ll follow the tune as we march today
  o’er the hills and far away.

O’er the hills and a great way off
  the wind shall blow my *top knot off.

Note: This is an old English nursery rhyme – Author unknown. There are several versions that are all sung to the same tune which originates from the early 1700’s.

 

 

The above music sheet and further information is available from Flutetunes.com which offers free flute sheet music.

My father taught himself to play the penny whistle when he was a young boy. As he grew older he also learnt how to play the mouth organ, concertina and piano. He was self taught and could play by ear which was a very magical experience for me.

This particular rhyme was one that I learnt to recite and also sing when I was very young. When I was eventually taught to read, I remember being very surprised and quite saddened that the rhyme didn’t, in fact, begin with: “Tommy was a piper’s son.” Perhaps Tommy had decided to leave and go ‘Over the hills and far away!’

Gypsy skipping song – My mother said, I never should .. Play with the Gypsies .. ƸӜƷ

“My mother said,
I never should ..
Play with the Gypsies
In the wood; ƸӜƷ
If I did, she would say,
Naughty little girl to disobey.
Your hair shan't curl,
Your shoes shan't shine,
You gypsy girl,
You shan't be mine.
And my father said
If I did,
He'd rap my head
With the teapot lid.
The wood was dark,
The grass was green, ƸӜƷ
In came Sally
With a tambourine. ೋ
I went to sea -
No ship to get across,
So I paid ten shillings       (shillings pronounced shillins)
For a blind white horse,  (horse pronounced hoss)
I up on his back,
And was off in a crack -
Sally, tell my mother
I never shall come back.”
                                       Anon

 

 

When I was a little girl my favourite pastime was skipping. Sometimes it would be with a skipping rope and sometimes it would be without. My mother was forever telling me to stop as I would hold her hand and skip alongside of her as we walked up the very long lane to what was known as the corner shop.

My mother would tell me mainly the first part of this particular skipping rhyme and if I stayed outside the corner shop which meant I could climb in the very old Yew tree, she would wag her finger and say very firmly - ‘now don’t you go talking to any strangers.’  Talking to strangers or going off with strangers was the very worst thing any child could do and it was every parent’s worst fear!

“Are you listening Polly?”

Difficulty: difficulty rhyme

When I was a little girl my mother would often think of ways of helping me to remember things and one that is probably the best are little rhymes.

The English language is full of pitfalls but there are many ways of remembering information that are probably no longer taught today that have always stood me in good stead. The difficulty rhyme being one of my most favourites:

here’s how it goes ..

Mrs D,
Mrs I,
Mrs Ffi,
Mrs C,
Mrs U,
Mrs Lty.

Difficulty

Mrs D, Mrs, Mrs Ffi, Mrs C, Mrs U, Mrs Lty  .. which of course spells difficulty.

 

Summerfly

Each year it is lovely to see the soft silk petals of butterflies dancing on the breeze and welcoming the start of Summer. As a girl I was introduced to my grandfather’s elder sister Ada. Auntie Ada or Great Auntie Ada as she was, still spoke many of the old English words and sayings that have now been lost to us. We occasionally may hear or see them on the odd occasion when they come back to life in a play or tantalizingly in print from some ancient text. One word that she would often use was ‘afore.’ This was the word that was spoken until it was more acceptable to say ‘before.’

I would say “Bye, bye with a kiss on her cheek.” She would answer “Afore, y’ go ….”

 Peacock butterfly on some Buddleia

‘Summerfly wave your petals away;
Summerfly bring the warmth of the day.’

I saw a ship a-sailing ..

When I was a very little girl my mother would tell me the following rhyme. I loved the way that she held me and the ease of the flow of the words. I would ask her to tell it to me over and over and eventually I was able to remember and say the nursery rhyme myself. It has always remained one of my most favourites.

 

I SAW A SHIP A-SAILING

I saw a ship a-sailing,
A-sailing on the sea;
And oh, it was a-laden
With pretty things for thee!

There were comfits in the cabin,
And apples in the hold;
The sails were made of silk,
And the masts were made of gold.

The four and twenty sailors,
That stood between the decks,
Were four and twenty white mice,
With chains about their necks.

The captain was a duck,
With a packet on his back;
And when the ship began to move,
The captain said, "Quack, Quack!"

Anon

 

A ship’s wheel

Lavender’s Blue, Dilly Dilly .. old English love song

When I was a very small child my mother would sit me on her knee and sing songs to me. Sometimes she would rock me gently backwards and forwards. She would hug me, tickle me and love me. The result of my childhood is that many songs, rhymes and stories remind me of my mother. Children are usually sung a shortened version of this particular song thus rendering it into a perfect nursery rhyme. In truth the full version is a most wonderful love song that promises true love between two lovers that will last throughout the whole of their life into the hereafter. Love always and forevermore – a perfect love song.

Here is the version that I enjoy the most – very old fashioned – very loving – beautiful:

 

Lavender’s Blue, Dilly Dilly ..

This I must say, dilly dilly, and it is true,
You must love me, dilly dilly, 'cause I love you.
Lavender's green, dilly dilly, Lavender's blue.
I'll be your Queen, dilly dilly, when I Wed you.
Send for your men, dilly dilly, set them to hoe,
Set them to reap, dilly dilly, set them to mow,
Some to cut hay, dilly dilly, some to cut corn,
Whilst you and I, dilly dilly, keep ourselves warm.

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,
When you are King, dilly dilly, I'll be your Queen,
Who told me so, dilly dilly, how can I know,
I told myself, dilly dilly, love told me so.

When you're away, dilly dilly, work all day through,
I'll be at home, dilly dilly, waiting for you.
Lavender's green, dilly dilly, Lavender's blue.
I'll be your Queen, dilly dilly, when I Wed you.
Whilst you're at work, dilly dilly, I'll brew your beer,
When you come home, dilly dilly, I'll be your dear,
I'll serve your meat, dilly dilly, I'll bake your bread,
I'll share your board, dilly dilly, I'll share your bed.

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,
When you are King, dilly dilly, I'll be your Queen,
Who told me so, dilly dilly, how can I know,
I told myself, dilly dilly, love told me so.

Wedding's for life, dilly dilly, love is to share,
And love must grow, dilly dilly, with joy and care.
Lavender's green, dilly dilly, Lavender's blue.
I'll be your Queen, dilly dilly, when I Wed you.
If you love me, dilly dilly, never to roam,
If I love you, dilly dilly, babies must come.
Blue for a girl, dilly dilly, pink for a boy,
Binding us close, dilly dilly, bringing us joy.

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,
When you are King, dilly dilly, I'll be your Queen,
Who told me so, dilly dilly, how can I know,
I told myself, dilly dilly, love told me so.

Close we will live, dilly dilly, and when we die,
Both in one grave, dilly dilly, close we will lie,
Lavender's green, dilly dilly, Lavender's blue.
I'll be your Queen, dilly dilly, when I Wed you.
If I die first, dilly dilly, and that may be,
You must live on, dilly dilly, thinking of me.
If you die first, dilly dilly, maybe you will,
I will live on, dilly dilly, loving you still.

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,
When you are King, dilly dilly, I'll be your Queen,
Who told me so, dilly dilly, how can I know,
I told myself, dilly dilly, love told me so.

Little note: only in recent times have girls been dressed in pink and boys in blue.

As I pointed out above there are many versions of Lavender’s Blue, Dilly Dilly – this is the nearest version I could find to the love song up above – click here for a beautiful, natural version.

 

Lavender’s Blue

Small additional note:

If choosing to use the spoken words for an eternity party, engagement, wedding, partnership or funeral then part of the rhyme is more appropriate usually with the words ‘dilly, dilly’ left out. For example:

This I must say, and it is true,
You must love me because I love you.
Wedding's for life, love is to share,
And love must grow,with joy and with care.
Close we will live, and when we die,
Both in one grave, close we will lie,
Lavender's green, Lavender's blue.
I will be true, when I Wed you.
If I die first, and that may be,
You must live on,thinking of me.
If you die first, maybe you will,
I will live on, loving you still.
Who told me so, how can I know,
I told myself, love told me so.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The Washing Song

 

As I was going to the fair,
I met a maid with golden hair.
The sweetest smile on rosebud lips;
The bluest eyes to sail the ships.
Where did she come from?
Where did she go?
I’ve often wondered ..
But I’ll never know.
With a heigh-nonny-nonny-nonny-nonny-nonny-no
With a heigh-nonny-nonny-nonny-no!

The hump

My mother often told me that we all occasionally have ‘off’ days. Days, when we feel something – we cannot necessarily put our finger on it – but something is making us out of step with the world. For no reason that we can think of, we especially when children, become mardy. I was a very lucky child as I was usually light in spirit, laughed at the clouds and ran with the wind. Sometimes ‘the hump’ would reach out, slap me down and suck me up. It was on occasions like this that my mother would take me up and hold me tightly in her arms and recite straight out of her head, Rudyard Kipling to me. I’m not sure when she was taught it, or quite how she remembered it, but she managed to convey every syllable to me in a lovely motherly way and I always felt so much better after she said it, as it brought back the sunshine and the giggles … It should always be remembered that a little industry in the garden brings out the angel and pushes the devil away! If you have never read any Kipling before then this little poem should make you an ardent fan for it shows he knows his fellow man better than most:

The Camel's hump is an ugly lump
Which well you may see at the Zoo;
But uglier yet is the hump we get
From having too little to do.

Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo,
If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo,
We get the hump-
Cameelious hump-
The hump that is black and blue!

 
We climb out of bed with a frouzly head,
And a snarly-yarly voice.
We shiver and scowl and we grunt and we growl
At our bath and our boots and our toys;

 
And there ought to be a corner for me
(And I know' there is one for you)
When we get the hump-
Cameelious hump-
The hump that is black and blue!

 
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or frowst with a book by the fire;
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And dig till you gently perspire;

And then you will find that the sun and the wind,
And the Djinn of the Garden too,
Have lifted the hump-
The horrible hump-
The hump that is black and blue!

 
I get it as well as you-oo-oo-
If I haven't enough to do-oo-oo!
We all get hump-
Cameelious hump-
Kiddies and grown-ups too!

 

The birds have kindly scattered some of their bird food around the garden and this is one of the flowers that has grown from their stray peckings – a beautiful sunflower. If you look closely you can see that a sunflower is in fact many tiny flowers gathered together in a head and adorned with a halo of golden petals.

Centre of the sunflower or helianthus

Tongue twister tale

Timothy Tate turned the tollgate

  Twenty-two times each Tuesday;

Titania Teeton tossed her tuppence

  Tiptoed pecking timid Tim's countenance!

 

 

 

 

 

A cat

 

The daisy few

Feverfew daisy – an old remedy for a nasty headache … it is claimed that just two small leaves of Feverfew cures a migraine headache

St George’s Day

The George Cross – The Flag of England

We wave our flag for victory, we wave our flag for joy; for every new born baby; for every girl and boy. We wave our flag for freedom, our voice it will be heard; our flag it will protect us; our country gives its word. We wave our flag for honour, we wave our flag for pride; our soldiers are the bravest their arms stretch far and wide. We wave our flag for wisdom, our love it knows no end; for every person on our soil is treated as our friend. Our flag it knows no colour, our flag it knows no creed; it is the envy of the world and we its precious seed. Kloggers 23.04.2010

I wish each and every one of you a most happy St George’s Day!

St George the English Flag

Daffodil

Finally spied a beautiful, solitary daffodil …

Daffodil

 

Daffodil Spell

‘I smelt your perfume through a crack in the pane; the sweetness propelled me away to a time in my youth when I ran with the wind in my face and with you at my feet.’ Kloggers

Little prayer

Don’t clone me when I’m done,

I am the only one.

God broke the mould when he made me;

So when I’m gone, I’m gone.

                                                 Kloggers

Always remember that there is nothing as precious as an individual. No matter who you are be yourself. We are all different and meant to be that way. That is why life is so rich and interesting. If we were all the same what a very boring place this heavenly planet might be.

Mr Mann

Here is a lovely poem that it is believed to be dedicated to a lovely gentleman by the name of Mr Mann of Worcestershire:

 

*  *   *   *  *

For those who wish to copy and share it – here it is in straight type:

Mr Mann

I once met a fat man, the kindest man I knew; He was always very happy and - never, ever blue. His eyes they always twinkled in a merry sort of way - And his smile lit a room up on the most depressing day. His temperament was placid, his beauty lay within; His door always open, he'd welcome you right in. Remember when you see him to offer him a wave; Say 'hello,' 'how are you?' you know how to behave. One day you could be like him - born in another life; You may be fat and jolly so don't pierce him with your knife. We all come from the heavens and all end up as dust; All like a good wine that's created from the must. Be wise, tolerant, kind and true to everyone you meet.... For - that fat person some day may be you people pass by in the street! Anon

Tight knit

 

Just a lovely little rhyme.

Cool for cats

November came in with a cut and a slash as the cooler winds sliced through clothing almost unexpectedly after a very balmy October. The cat’s habits changed overnight and for the last few days she has snuggled deep in her little bed sleeping for a good proportion of the time. A little older, she now has developed a rather soothing soft, melodic snore as her chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm. Sometimes her front legs shoot out and remain stiffly in position other times it’s her back legs that stray from her soft, round basket. Occasionally both front and back legs pour out at peculiar angles but still she sleeps, very deeply … In fact, it is the only place where she manages to grasp very deep sleeping periods, if she falls to sleep anywhere else in or around the house her eyes very quickly prize open at the slightest noise. Her basket, apparently offers a much safer place to reside as she rarely wakes up from her deep dreams whilst rolled up asleep, cuddled on the soft, padded bottom.

As a young child my mother would tell me the following rhymes about cats which I passed on to my own children …

Pussy cat Mole

Pussy cat Mole Jumped over a coal, And in her best petticoat Burnt a great hole.

Poor pussy is weeping She’ll have no more milk Until her best petticoat is Mended with silk.

I Love Little Pussy

I love little pussy, Her coat is so warm, And if I don't hurt her, She'll do me no harm.

So I'll not pull her tail, Nor drive her away, But pussy and I, Very gently will play.

Oh my tail and whiskers – that brings back some very happy memories!

Friendship

“To take a hand -

  or offer advice;

Iron a frown -

give a smile, or nod.

Has anyone said

just how lovely you are -

My dearest of friends,

you open your heart.

The distance between us

although it is far -

Gives us strength to our friendship,

love with no bounds.

I will always be here for you -

and when my time comes

From this earth to depart,

I'll carry our friendship

For I know it is strong and

my love it will wrap you

With warmth when I'm gone."

                                         Kloggers

‘The difference between a man and a beast, besides the ability of being able to reason, is that man can write his language down so that others may learn from his knowledge.’ Kloggers