I know what you are thinking, what has
this to do with nursery rhymes? Well on the face of it nothing, however the
phrase “My face is my fortune,” comes from the nursery rhyme “Where Are You
Going To My Pretty Maid?”
“Where are you going my pretty maid?”
“I’m going a-milking sir” she said.
“May I go with you, my pretty maid?”
“You’re kindly welcome sir” she said.
“What is your father, my pretty maid?”
“My father’s a farmer, sir,” she said.
“Say, will you marry me, my pretty maid?”
“Yes, if you please kind sir,” she said.
“What is your fortune, my pretty maid?”
“My face is my fortune, sir” she said.
“Then I can’t marry you, my pretty maid!”
“Nobody asked you sir,” she said.
The origin of this old English lyrical
nursery rhyme appears to be lost. Lengthy research has failed to come up with
any meaning behind it or its origin. I have included it within this series for
the simple reason of the line given by “Killer” Kaminski “Ah take it easy sir
will ya, me’ face is me’ fortune, you might knock it back into shape!” Whether
or not this is a veiled reference to the nursery rhyme is unknown, but I find
it a compelling connection.
Staying with ‘The Girl Who Was Death’ in the derelict village of Wychwood {spelt Witchwood in the episode} there are three shops, the Butcher, the Baker and Candlestick maker, the veiled connection in this case being the old English nursery rhyme “Rub a dub dub.”
Staying with ‘The Girl Who Was Death’ in the derelict village of Wychwood {spelt Witchwood in the episode} there are three shops, the Butcher, the Baker and Candlestick maker, the veiled connection in this case being the old English nursery rhyme “Rub a dub dub.”
“Rub
A dub dub.
Three
men in a tub.
And
how do you think they got there?
The
Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick-maker,
They
all jumped out of a rotten potato,
T’ws
enough to make a fish stare.”
A
variant or alternative of this nursery rhyme is;
“Rub a dub dub.
Three
men in a tub.
And
who do you think they be?
The
Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick-maker,
They
all jumped out of a rotten potato,
Turn
‘em out, knaves all three.”
This nursery rhyme was first published
towards the end of the 18th century.
Sources suggest that this seemingly
innocent nursery rhyme refers to a Medieval peep show! A sideshow attraction at
local fairs used to be three maids in a tub who were presumably unclothed and
were featured in an early version of this rhyme made fun out of the men who
enjoyed visiting them!
The
other alternative version is as follows;
“Hey
rub-a-dub,
Three
maids in a tub,
And
who do you think was there?
The
Butcher, the baker, the candle stick maker;
All
of them gone to the fair.”
‘Hickory, Dickory Dock’ appears in instrumental
form of the nursery rhyme during the episode ‘The Girl Who Was Death’. It is a
nonsense poem using alliteration and allowing children to mimic the sound of a
clock chiming at the relevant point in the song. Hickory, dickory dock is intended to introduce
children to the fundamentals of telling time. Hickory, dickory dock is also known by another
title ‘Hickory, dickory doc’ inevitable perhaps due
to the nonsensical nature of the words hickory, dickory dock!
The first publication date for the poem or
rhyme ‘Hickory, dickory dock’ is 1744. Investigation
into the origins of ‘hickory’ leads to believe that it’s basis lies in America, Hickory is derived from the North American
word for ‘Pawcohiccora’- a kind of milk or oily liquor from pounded hickory
nuts. ‘Pohickery’ is named in a list of Virginia trees, in 1653, and this was finally
shortened to ‘Hickory.’
While the origins of ‘Dock’ is a species of plant which has a
Latin name of ‘Rumex Crispus’ of which are all well known weeds which have a
long tap root and are difficult to exterminate. Other species can be used
medicinally as an astringent and tonic, many of us would have experienced the
healing properties of the Dock leaf after being stung by a stinging nettle.
Nursery rhymes are fascinating don’t you
think, and perhaps not so much Childs play as first suspected. Of course there
is no evidence for my having connected either “Killer” Kaminiski’s line “Me”
face is my fortune,” or for that matter the butcher, the baker, and the
candlestick maker to the above nursery rhymes, but it is nonetheless, an
agreeable coincidence.
This short series concludes next time, and
as they say, once upon a time…………….
Be
seeing you
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