I've been a-courting Mary-Jane

[venta]

So, an important point, I'm sure you'll agree.

Please fill in what, if anything, you would sing/shout between verse and chorus:

(Edit: sorry, polls play merry hell with formatting and can't be edited after the fact.)

[Poll #1304903]

I think I learned this song from my parents. They sang an extra line in between the verse and chorus, but not one between the chorus and the verse.

Years later, singing this round a campfire with the Scouts, I learned a new set of fill-in lines. These are now the ones I'd sing without thinking (and the ones I filled in on the poll[*]). I thought no more about it, and decided it was another strange thing my parents had made up to fool me.

Recently (at oxfordgirl and mejoff's wedding, no less) someone started singing On Ilkley Moor and I was quite astonised to hear libellum yelling[**] something quite different in between the verse and the chorus.

I was talking to someone else recently, who came up with a third set[***] (which I have annoyingly now forgotten) and it got me wondering. How many variants are there ? Are they geographically distributed ? If you have friends who like a bit of a sing and might know On Ilkley Moor, send 'em along here to fill this poll in and I'll be most grateful.

I'm sure that there will be a moral to this tale.

[*] By which, of course, I mean will have filled in, since at the time of writing the poll doesn't yet exist.
[**] That's a bit unkind. It was quite a melodious noise. Not quite singing, though, so let's go with yelling.
[***] Though, interestingly, despite knowing the song she didn't know that the words to While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks fit really well to the tune. If you didn't know this either, give it a try. While glory shone around, while glory shone around, while glo-ry shone a-round.

Comments

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

I just made them up. It seemed the sort of thing one sings in folk songs.

I happen to like folk songs, but I've never heard that 'un.

[venta.livejournal.com]

!
Good heavens.

During the conversaion with the third-person (mentioned above) it was revealed that ChrisC (my other half) didn't know the song. I was boggled to find one person who didn't know the song, but now two!

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

I was never in Scouts, or for that matter a Brownie. (My mum wouldn't let me because she took offence at the uniform, not because it was militaristic, but because it was ugly.)

And yes, I have no idea what you're talking about.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

The Brownies wouldn't let me join Rainbows because I was terribly, terribly rude to Brown Owl in the library car park at the age of four. I can't even remember what I said but it better have been good.

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

I was in the Scouts, but we never sang this there.

Next people will be telling me they've never heard "Bestialiy's best boys!"

Incidentally, my sister left the Brownies after she burned her hand doing some kind of home safety badge. Funny world.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Shag a wallaby ?

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

Curiously i was singing some of the lyrics from "It was on the good ship venus" the other day and a couple of friends didn't know that and it was covered (if softly) by the pistols !