Pop goes the weasel

[Kristen L Harbeson]

: >I have a Pennsylvania Dutch weasel in my home. It's a machine used by
: >spinners to put their yarn/thread into hanks. The thread comes off the
: >spinning wheel or spindle onto the winding wheel of the weasel; as the
: >wheel goes around, it keeps track of the number of revolutions. When it
: >has gone around 100 times (usually the wheel's diameter is 1 yard) it
: >makes a loud popping noise, to let you know that your hank now has 100
: >yards of thread. Thus: pop! goes the weasel.

: Negatory I'm afraid. Nice as it would be to think that. The real reason is
: that pop is on old english slang expression meaning to pawn, and a weasel is a
: tool used by hatters. ie the hatters (who really were mad btw) used to pawn
: their gear for beer money.

: The rhyme runs up & down the city rd - in east end of london
: in & out the eagle - pub see above
: that's the way the money goes - see above as well
: pop goes the weasel

: the east end used to have a lot of hatters at one time.

: it is of course possible that the spinning weasel got it's name from the rhyme
: and the fact it goes pop like you say

It seems to me that both of these interpretations may be correct,
depending on the version that you know, and we've had at least three so
far. I worked at a historic estate in NY this past summer. I learned
there the explanation about the spinning wheels, but the hatters
explanation is also interesting. Niether one of these explanations,
though, explains the mulberry bush or the monkey. Anyone have any ideas?

One of the fascinating things about folklore is that there can be
several equally valid explanations, since certain rhymes and stories can
transform over the generations to mean entirely different things.

-kristen

[G.W.Matthews]

'pop goes the weasle stuff'

kristen wrote....

>.... I worked at a historic estate in NY this past summer. I learned

>there the explanation about the spinning wheels, but the hatters
>explanation is also interesting. Niether one of these explanations,
>though, explains the mulberry bush or the monkey. Anyone have any ideas?
>

[snip]
>

round and round the mulberry bush is in fact a totally different nursery
rhyme.

[kei...@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu]

> : >wheel goes around, it keeps track of the number of revolutions. When it
> : >has gone around 100 times (usually the wheel's diameter is 1 yard) it

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> : >makes a loud popping noise, to let you know that your hank now has 100
> : >yards of thread.

Presumably your skein would then have 314.159265358979..... yards of
thread. Unless the wheel's *circumference* was one yard.

Kevin "or, 320.0 yards in Tennessee" T. Keith