"Grandma's Feather Bed"

[KAZIMER]

Hi!

My husband and I are having an ongoing debate regarding the lyrics to
"Grandma's Feather Bed," specifically the lines in the chorus. If you
could fill in the blanks, I would appreciate it.

"It was nine feet high, and six feet wide, soft as a downy chick, it was
made from the feathers of ______________ geese, took a whole board of
cloth for to tick.

If you could e-mail the answer directly to kaz...@aol.com, this would
definitely serve to settle this disagreement. Thanks.

[Robert Travis Lewis]

Howdy,

.....it was made from the feathers of forty-leven (like eleven) geese,
took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick. Forty-leven is an old term
meaning "a lot". Tick or ticking is the heavy cloth used to make
matress covers & sometimes old pillow covers.

Robert

[Rory K. Young (Yes, the *Real* Rory!)]

KAZIMER wrote:
>
> Hi!
>
> My husband and I are having an ongoing debate regarding the lyrics to
> "Grandma's Feather Bed," specifically the lines in the chorus. If you
> could fill in the blanks, I would appreciate it.
>
> "It was nine feet high, and six feet wide, soft as a downy chick, it was
> made from the feathers of ______________ geese, took a whole board of
> cloth for to tick.
>
> If you could e-mail the answer directly to kaz...@aol.com, this would
> definitely serve to settle this disagreement. Thanks.

FORTY-'LEVEN

It was made from the feathers of forty-'leven geese,....

Or, 51, to those of us who don't speak Mountain-ese!
-Rory

[William [Billy] Harrison]

KAZIMER (kaz...@aol.com) wrote:

: "It was nine feet high, and six feet wide, soft as a downy chick, it was

: made from the feathers of ______________ geese, took a whole board of
: cloth for to tick.

I hear 'four and eleven' myself. And it's 'whole bolt of cloth for the tick'.

: If you could e-mail the answer directly to kaz...@aol.com, this would

: definitely serve to settle this disagreement. Thanks.

--
_________________________________________________________________
| William Harrison harr...@ug.cs.dal.ca |
| |
| Student at Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada, |
| e-wrestling participant, video game lover and Internet junkie |
|_________________________________________________________________|

[David]

Well the answer is fourty 'leven geese. Whatever that means.

Here are the lyrics:

GRANDMA'S FEATHER BED

When I was a little bitty boy
Just up off the floor
We used to go down to Grandma's house
Every month end or so
We'd chicken pie and country ham
And home made butter on the bread
But the best darn thing about Grandma's house
Was her great big feather bed

It was nine feet high and six feet wide
Soft as a downy chick
It was made from the feathers of forty-'leven geese
Took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick
It'd hold eight kids 'n four hound dogs
And a piggy we stole from the shed
We didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun
On Grandma's feather bed

After supper we'd sit around the fire
The old folks'd spit and chew
Pa would talk about the farm and the war
And my Granny'd sing a ballad or two
I'd sit and listen and watch the fire
til the cobwebs filled my head
Next thing I'd know I'd wake up in the morning
In the middle of the old feather bed

(Chorus)

Well, I love my Ma, I love my Pa
Love my Granny and Grandpa too
Been fishing with my uncle, I rassled with my cousin
I even kissed Aunt Lou - OOOOOH
But if I ever had to make a choice
I guess it ought to be said
That I'd trade them all plus the gal down the road
For Grandma's feather bed

(Chorus)

[DWells3527]

...it was made from the feathers of forty 'leven geese and a whole bolt of
cloth for the tick.

[Jennifer Hester]

.........................It would hold eight kids, four hound dogs and a
piggy we stole from the ship.

[Robert Reck]

I believe that should be "a piggy we stole from the shed". Shed rhymes
with bed.

Colleen

[Sharon D.]

Jennifer Hester <Clo...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

|>.........................It would hold eight kids, four hound dogs and a
|>piggy we stole from the ship.

Uh, I believe the piggy was stole from the shed. (After all, it has
to rhyme with "bed" in the next line.) <G>

[Sue Marquez]

That's a piggy we stole from the SHED. Not the ship.

[Mark R. Peterson]

In article <507qqm$9...@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
Clo...@worldnet.att.net says...

>
>.........................It would hold eight kids, four hound dogs

and a
>piggy we stole from the ship.
>

I always thought it was a "piggy we stole from the SHED"?