The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #54663 Message #4192594
Posted By: Richard Mellish
30-Nov-23 - 03:53 AM
Thread Name: Origins: The Bows of London
Subject: RE: Origins: The Bows of London
> Anyone able to illucidate the meaning behind the refrain 'Hey the gay and grinding'.
> Sounds like an old saying, but of course, the modern meanings for both keywords make it nigh ungoogleable.
Reinhard reminds us of Malcolm Douglas's comment that the refrain is probably of very little significance. Nevertheless those words must have come from somewhere and perhaps they did once mean something or are corruptions of words that meant something.
I myself sing a version with the very similar 'Hey with the gay and the grinding' (which I got from Pete Nalder) so I would be interested in any hypotheses that anyone can suggest.