Explain nursery rhyme

[K. Edgcombe]

>On Thu, 17 Jul 1997 09:49:34 +0100, Stephen Lewis <S.L...@ftel.co.uk>
>wrote:
>
>>In the nursery rhyme, "Oh dear, what can the matter be?", what is meant
>>by the line, "She promised to buy me a fairing should please me"?

A fairing is a gift brought back from a fair - in earlier days the regular
hiring fairs would be one of the major events of the year, and a rare occasion
to buy trinkets and presents not available the rest of the year. A father
visiting the fair would be expected to bring back fairings for his children;
similarly a young man for his girl.

It may be a Northern word (North of England, that is). There is a charming
novel by Constance Holme called "The splendid fairing", set in Lancashire, I
think; I don't on the other hand, remember seeing the word in Hardy, where you
might expect it. It's a word I have known since childhood but I think this was
only from reading; it has pretty much died out in speech.

There are other minor oddities about the line:

It means, of course, "a fairing that should please me", and the omission of the
"that" was acceptable in earlier centuries, I think - and allowable anyway for
the sake of scansion.

We'd also be unlikely to use "should" in exactly this context now. I believe
it means no more than "would", and has no implication of "ought" - as one might
still perhaps hear "He promised you should have some pudding".

So "a present that would please me" is an approximate modern equivalent, but
won't fit the tune.

Katy

[Stephen Lewis]

> I have found the rhyme but the above line does not appear in my version.
> I believe there are a number of variations including parodies.e.g.

>
> Oh dear, what can the matter be?

> Three old maids locked up in the lavatory
> Won't come out from Monday to Saturday
> What can the matter be.

The version, I learned as a child was:

Oh dear, what can the matter be?

Three young ladies locked in the lavatory,
They were there from Monday to Saturday,
Nobody knew they were there.

This seems to be very similar to your version. And my mother (now 70)
certainly learned this as a child.

I will look for the correct verse, but from childhood memory, the
version to which I referred goes something like this:

He promised to buy me a fairing should please me,
And then for a kiss, he vowed he would tease me ....

If I guess further, I will mix verses. But, I also remember, "A little
staw hat to set-off my blue riband, .......... my boony brown hair."

Stephen Lewis

[Gary Williams, Business Services Accounting]

In article <5qm775$rqb$1...@noc.van.hookup.net>, r...@island.net
(Robert M. Wilson) writes:

> I have found the rhyme but the above line does not appear in my version.
> I believe there are a number of variations including parodies.e.g.
>
> Oh dear, what can the matter be?
> Three old maids locked up in the lavatory
> Won't come out from Monday to Saturday
> What can the matter be.

I recollect it as more of a nursery song than a nursery rhyme:

Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.

I don't recall hearing the line mentioned; but it fits the meter. I do recall
there was/were a stanza/stanzas beginning "He promised to...."

And I don't know if he ever returned from the fair at all.

Gary Williams
WILL...@AHECAS.AHEC.EDU

[s.l...@ftel.co.uk]

A previous correspondent referred me to "The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery
Rhymes" [Opie, Iona and Peter]. Now I have a copy.

There are five verses. And the second, I have reproduced below:

He promised he'd buy me a fairing should please me,
And then for a kiss, oh! he vowed he would tease me,
He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons,
To tie up my bonney brown hair.

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[The Chocolate Lady (Davida Chazan)]

On 18 Jul 97 09:10:58 MST during the alt.usage.english Community News
Flash, will...@ahecas.ahec.edu (Gary Williams, Business Services
Accounting) reported:

>In article <5qm775$rqb$1...@noc.van.hookup.net>, r...@island.net
>(Robert M. Wilson) writes:
>

<snipped the variation of an old nursery rhyme>

>I recollect it as more of a nursery song than a nursery rhyme:
>
>Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
>Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
>Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
>Johnny's so long at the fair.
>
>I don't recall hearing the line mentioned; but it fits the meter. I do recall
>there was/were a stanza/stanzas beginning "He promised to...."

He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbions } x4
To tie up my bonny brown hair.

>And I don't know if he ever returned from the fair at all.

These are the only two I recall from my Childcraft (printed in 1950)
which did not indicate that Johnny *ever* returned from the fair.

(He certainly should have appeared on a milk carton by now.)

The Chocolate Lady
Davida Chazan <davida at jdc dot org dot il>
~*~*~*~*~*~
De chocolatei non est disputandum! Ergo, carpe chocolatum!
~*~*~*~*~*~
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[Markus Laker]

j...@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman):

> It used to be possible to suppress "that" when it was the
> subject as well as when it was the object in the dependent clause.

It still is, in some British dialects, and it works with 'who' as well
as 'that' and 'which':

Hey, Joseph! There's a man here wants to speak to you!

Markus Laker.

--
My newsfeed is dropping messages again.
*Please* send an emailed copy of any reply.

[Joseph C Fineman]

la...@tcp.co.uk (Markus Laker) writes:

> Hey, Joseph! There's a man here wants to speak to you!

I have heard that in America too, come to think. But it is a bit out
of the way.

--- Joe Fineman j...@world.std.com

||: Sometimes I think I am happier than I think I am. :||