Web Page 1076
15th September 2012

Bottom Picture: An unfortunate air crash at the Portsmouth Gas Works in 1955. The pilot survived

Top Picture: USS Scorpion in Portsmouth Dockyard in the 1960’s

Folk Lore at Home

What strange phrases were used at home by our parents and grandparents and other relations when we were kids? How many can you remember? Let’s just take a look.

We all remember that the ‘Sandman’ was coming and having to ‘Climb the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire’ but here are some not so obvious ones. One of my Grandmother’s favourite phrases when she did not want to do anything was ‘I can’t do it because I’ve got a bone in my leg’. Of course she had a bone in her leg, we all had, but we always swallowed this excuse. Another of her phrases when she got a bad hand at Whist was ‘Back to Missay’ and I have no idea what that meant, but she was Cornish and this is where, she said, that ‘they put the pig on the wall to see the band go by’, again I have no idea why.

If something or someone was rambling on he was said to be ‘Going all round Jack’s fathers’ Well who was Jack and better still who was his father and where on earth did the phrase come from?

A sustained belief was that if children did not behave they would be given away to the local gypsies and also that gypsies were well know for stealing children. Where did that belief come from? As far as I am aware there were no local gypsies; and if there were why would they want to steal children any way, those that we saw around the countryside always seemed to have more than enough of their own!

Another saying was ‘Don’t talk to a tramp, you’ll get fleas!’ Just possible I suppose.

‘Once round her, is twice round the Gas Works’. Well I know what it means, but why the Gas Works, why not the water works or the Dockyard?

Here’s a local one. ‘To lift it (or him or her) you will need the Dockyard Crane. Now I assume that this referred to the floating Hammer Head crane acquired from the Germans after World War One. And while we are talking about the Dockyard why were all the Dockyard workers always called ‘Matties’?

One odd phrase was used by a friend of my Grandmothers; is a phrase I had never heard before or since. She always referred to balloons as air balls, has any one else ever heard that phrase before?

One of the other favourites was as ‘straight (or long) as a yard of pump water’, why a yard and shouldn’t that be a metre these days?

My father used to say 'I'm just off to push back my ears' (ie to go and wash his face). Or he said he was going to ‘Have his ears lowered when he went for a haircut. When I used to ask him where he was going he always said 'there and back to see how far it is'. And sometimes when I asked how long until we get there Dad? 'As long as a piece of string' was normally the answer. And the universal excuse for lost items was that it was ‘Up in Annie's room behind the clock'. Who was Annie?

If the sky was a little dark or stormy and it was likely to rain my Dad would say that, "It's looking black over Bill's mothers" Who was Bill?

When I asked for a cheese sandwich for supper I was told that cheese in the evening would give me nightmares.

And now girls do you remember the shout Charlie's dead which was said at school? I know this referred to showing a length of petticoat.  But why Charlie?

And finally lads, you knew when you looked grown up because after your haircut the barber asked you if you ‘wanted anything for the weekend?’

I am totally confused now!!!!!

Stay in Touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

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News and Views:

John Lennon’s murderer, Mark Chapman, was denied parole for the seventh time after appearing before a 3-man Department of Corrections board in Albany, New York. The 57 year-old will be eligible to try again in two years.

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On this day 15th September 1960-1965

On 15/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane - A Hundred and One Strings. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was MoT test introduced.

On 15/09/1961 the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 15/09/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 15/09/1964 the number one single was You Really Got Me - Kinks and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 15/09/1963 the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was 35 British tourists die in Pyrennees plane crash.

On 15/09/1965 the number one single was (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.