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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,mairin Date: 11 Jul 07 - 10:26 PM sorry to revive it again but it has been asked what dainty might mean.. when my mother took out her giant dictonary( i think from around 1800s) dainty meant dear and sweet. althouggh i had never before this thread realised the naughtier connotations, that is what i would like to hold true. i think i like the love song version bettter, splashin' gravy sounds rather nasty to me. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Linda Mattson Date: 12 May 07 - 10:19 PM Sorry I didn't discover this thread seven long years ago. -Linda |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: SINSULL Date: 07 May 07 - 09:14 PM This almost dropped off the bottom... |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Gurney Date: 06 May 07 - 09:36 PM Don't hold your breath whilst you are waiting for agreement here, Jim. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Jim Lad Date: 06 May 07 - 08:13 PM So we're all agreed then? |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Effsee Date: 06 May 07 - 07:57 PM Quite right Guest. Pow, AKA poll, as in tax. Head, Curly hair, nothing to do with hairy regions further south! |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST Date: 06 May 07 - 03:40 PM Curly pow, curly head, 'nuff said. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Jim Lad Date: 06 May 07 - 01:14 PM At the risk of raising the ire of Catspaw; Curly pow, unfortunately, does refer to a hairy region, further south than the forehead and the version which the original poster was referring to was by The Flying Column back in the early seventies. Light Ragade, as I'm sure someone has by now pointed out is actually "Life Brigade". It's a good wee song apart from the disguised reference to the hairy region. I would tend to explain that it means Hairy Chest if asked but so far, no-one has. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: SINSULL Date: 06 May 07 - 12:27 PM Curling iron in hand - here I come, Spaw! I love this thread! |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: catspaw49 Date: 05 May 07 - 06:48 PM .......awferchrissakes..............Refreshing this dumbass thread to give an answer that has already been given..............and then followed another already given as well..................geeziz......Curly Pow my ass............. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Big Phil Date: 05 May 07 - 05:56 PM Curly Pow, pubic area I was always lead to believe. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,iewnw Date: 05 May 07 - 03:00 PM Pow means head, either the lump on top of your body or the head of a clan was called a pow |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST Date: 05 Aug 06 - 03:57 PM |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar Date: 17 Jan 05 - 06:15 AM "But turned and in a verra crack" Shouldn't that be "craic"? ;-) Oops, sorry, wrong thread. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Gurney Date: 17 Jan 05 - 02:16 AM Thought I'd keep this going, just so that 'spaw could moan some more. 'Lease', according to my old dictionary, means/meant a pasture or to pasture, but 'leath' has four meanings, two of which are 'ease' and 'intermission,' both of which make sense, considering poetic licence and the liklihood that there is some sexual meaning in there. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,ButterflyJulia Date: 16 Jan 05 - 11:13 PM Burns would often produce a number(6, 7, etc ) of versions of the songs he collected or wrote and some were indeed bawdy and directed towards pals who liked a bit of that with a drink or twa. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: catspaw49 Date: 16 Jan 05 - 09:09 PM Dear Lord, Send help. Please. Maybe a nephew this time? Anything. The Vibrating Turkey told me to ask you. And Lord? Be sure they don't have a curley pow, if you know what that is. Thanks Lord. Amen Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: SINSULL Date: 16 Jan 05 - 06:40 PM Justine sang this at the Press Room on Saturday. It provoked some discussion between Barry and Jacqui which Jeri, I think, termed "foreplay". Didn't want any of the new members to miss this one. And, Spaw, a sports channel is advertising a gross beer sucking doll who shouts out numerous neanderthal sayings as he belches and farts. When it is reduced from $44.99 or shows up at a local yard sale I will get same for you. A perfect shelf mate for your singing lobster and bass. Love, SINS |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Jeri Date: 17 Nov 04 - 01:56 PM Was it the Songcatcher threads, or was it OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU ??? (Just wondering) Curley pow, Larry bam, Moe kerthunk... |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Reiver 2 Date: 17 Nov 04 - 01:55 PM This thread is really incredible! Reiver 1 and I used to sing a version of this. Lovely melody. I don't remember whose singing we learned it from -- possibly Finbar and Eddie Furey. Reiver 1, though a Liverpudlian by birth was from a Scots family and explained to me that "curly pow" was a reference to a head with curly hair. I always thought that the "dainty" term was just an alliterative expression. I had no idea that in the original the song might have been based on an actual event and real people. I always took it to be just a bawdy ballad. We first learned a badly bowdlerized version which I haven't seen here. Perhaps because it's poorly done (even to the point where Dainty Davie is given as the man's name!): DAINTY DAVIE Once there was a tender maid She was mistress of her trade She fell in wi' a roving blade And his name was Dainty Davie. CHO: Leeze me on thy curly pow Bonnie Davie, dainty Davie Leeze me on thy curly pow He was her Dainty Davie. In through the window brought Weel's the pleasure she might tote The sweetest kiss she ever got Was from her Dainty Davie. CHO: Doon amang her faether's leas E'ee below the cherry trees There he kissed her as he pleased He was her Dainty Davie. CHO: (twa times) Later we found this, obviously earlier, version which we took to be the original. I think now that it wasn't, but at least it makes more sense than the "expurgated" version above. We Reivers always referred to this version as "Dirty Davie." The girl is speaking in this version. I'll only print the verses as the chorus is the same. DAINTY DAVIE Bein' pressed by the Dragooons In my bed he was laid doon Weel, I wat, he was worth his room My ain dear, dainty Davie My mither laid him at my back I trow he lay nae lang at that But turned and in a verra crack Produced a dainty Davie. In the field amang the pease Behin' the hoose and cherry trees Again he won atweesh my thies And, splash, gaed oot his gravy. Had I gowd or had I land It should be a' at his command I'll ne'er forget wha' he pat i' my hand It was a dainty Davie. Reiver 2 |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Greyeyes Date: 17 Nov 04 - 06:59 AM All we need now is for someone to resurrect a Songcatcher thread, or possibly all 27 of them, and Spaw's happiness will be complete. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Noreen Date: 16 Nov 04 - 04:53 PM Yeehah! The 'Curly Pow' alarm awakes the Catspaw from his elongate slumbers! |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: SINSULL Date: 16 Nov 04 - 04:14 PM So "leeze me on your curly pow" means "Please let me extinguish your flaming pubic hair"? Or "let me coat your singed member with butter"? |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: catspaw49 Date: 16 Nov 04 - 08:13 AM Light Brigades were specially trained in night fighting and carried torches into battle. After encountering initial successes against Buddhist Monks they were assigned to battalions fighting against the Curley Pow Warriors in Crimea. On the night of September 15th they devastated the entire Daintey Davey Division, setting fire to their curley pows and sending them running in flaming retreat across the battlefield with the Light Brigade in chase. The "blunder" oft referred to was that the Light Brigade followed too closely. When the flaming Curley Pow Warriors stumbled through an unseen fourth dimensional time warp encountering a future supply dump of the Nazis in WWII, the whole place blew up killing the remaining Daveys but also a goodly number of the Light Brigade as well. I hope this has been helpful and puts an end to this fuckin' thread. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,Polish Boy Date: 15 Nov 04 - 09:45 PM Hey, neat threads. Been singing this song, among many, to my daughter since she was an infant (she's 6 now)and was singing it tonight; she asked me again what a "curly pow" was. Mystery solved; I'll use the "I'm fond of your curly head" version to expalin it to her tomorrow. (Nice to know the "tirliewirlie" bit too; thought it was 'teary-weary'). Have a nice version on an old tape by a group of Scots/Irish/Boston musicians called "Tit for Tat" that has a variant on the last verse: When he was chased by the dragoon That's when I took him in my room I deemed him worthy of my ruin For he's my own dear Dainty Davey Question on the light brigade/Reverend Williamson bit. Was a "light brigade" not a military figure, as in "The charge of the Light Brigade" in the Crimean War? And what does this have to do with the Reverend Williamson? Am not a scholar just a guy in Cleveland who loves all manner of folk music and the stories bhind it. Would love to know. Peace to all. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: SINSULL Date: 27 Sep 04 - 07:36 PM refresh |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,diana Date: 04 Jan 04 - 04:53 AM peg, how was the singin at the banquet? When I heard Dainty davey on the bridge above the Laune, it was sung seriously, sincerely and with a great deal of confidence. There was nothing bawdy about it. It has certainly had a lasting impression on me. I only heard it once but I remembered the tune from over thirty years ago. It has stood the test of time and rings true. All you singers keep singin this one. When sung properly, the exact words don't matter anyway. Diana |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Snuffy Date: 15 Oct 03 - 06:46 PM So Emily Dickinson is an English poet? |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Peg Date: 15 Oct 03 - 10:13 AM Just to clarify for you purists, the conference's title refers to poetry in the English language; this includes Scots (several papers on Burns) and translations... |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Noreen Date: 15 Oct 03 - 05:42 AM Accepted, Boab and Wolfgang - just felt it needed noting though. Anyway, that was an aside from he question Peg was asking. Anyone any thoughts? I would say no, sing it straight in this context. Listeners will surely be aware of understated subtexts in songs of this nature. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Wolfgang Date: 15 Oct 03 - 03:49 AM I hate to contradict you, Noreen, but Peg is singing at a university on the continent: In our understanding, Burns had written 'English poetry'. Otherwise the words used would have been 'poetry from England' with Burns not being eligible. Peg, your choice meets the expectations of the host snd that's here the main thing. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,Boab Date: 15 Oct 03 - 12:55 AM Much of Burns' work is in English, Noreen. Nearly all of it employs more elements of the English language than would actually be employed in the everyday language, or dialects of the language, of the man-in-the-street [or the hills, or the fields, or the glens...]. Rabbie quite cheerfully mixed Scots and standard English where he found the need, or convenience, in order to achieve rhyme or meter. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: SINSULL Date: 14 Oct 03 - 06:26 PM This is among my favorite threads. I hope someone decides to post a summary for those unable to read through all of it. I just interviewed with a guy named David. Maybe if I hum Dainty Davy (what will Spaw make of that?), I will get the job. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Noreen Date: 14 Oct 03 - 06:04 PM Peg, the songs of Robert Burns are not English poetry. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Peg Date: 14 Oct 03 - 01:23 PM ahem, sorry Spaw, but...I needs to know. I have offered to perform at a conference later this month, "And Never Know the Joy": Sex and the Erotic in English Poetry." (at the University of Leiden, Netherlands). Though my topic is not Burns, I have offered to sing two Burns songs at the banquet, and this is one of them... so my question is: should I act as though there is bawdy, secret meaning to these words? Or no? I see it as a sensual love song. I always assumed "dainty" referred to one of two things: his petite shape, i.e. small hands, etc. or the fact that he was gentle of manner and nicely groomed, what some these days might call slightly "effeminate" or somewhat feminine-looking...which some women find very attractive. The version I will sing will be essentially the lyrics found in the Digitrad, with a few lines borrowed from the Warlock Knowe version... peg |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: catspaw49 Date: 17 Sep 03 - 06:26 AM "This could go on forever..." Yeah Gurney, that's my greatest fear............ Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Gurney Date: 17 Sep 03 - 06:23 AM This could go on forever... I looked up the (originally) requested words in my 'Dictionary of Archaic Words,' archaic in 1840, that is, and... Lese = gather, collect, among other and similar meanings. Powe = finger, claw. Which could mean "crook your finger and I'll come" or something more personal as conjectured above. As for Arthur McBride, Didn't they 'knock that wee drummer as flat as a shoe?' |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: catspaw49 Date: 16 Sep 03 - 11:08 PM .......geeziz......... Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: dbranno Date: 16 Sep 03 - 07:56 PM Here's another tuppence worth! 'Well-born' shentlemen didnae wear their ain hair in those days, they wore powdered wigs, elaborately curled, after the fashion of monarchs who had 'bad hair' or bad heids! Remember that washing the body wasnae verra popular in those times, and close cropped hair was less of a temptation to vermin. As to gibberish versions...I heard someone (who'd obviously heard only the Furious bros.) sing "Heave me on your burly prow" ! Ahhhh, the Mudcat!!!! where else? not very dainty Davo |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,damascus@ap.net Date: 16 Sep 03 - 06:55 PM I was brought up to understand that the young man was put into the maiden's bed with a "bundling board" between them. His penis being small, it fit through a knothole in the board and impregnated the girl. This was the "dainty" part! After all, it fit in her hand.... |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Tattie Bogle Date: 02 Sep 02 - 07:36 PM Just another name my mother used to call me (curly pow, I mean, not dainty Davie) as well as Tattie bogle. Sadly lost the curls by the age of 5! Davie seems to be the popular version of David in Scotland but don't know wht he was dainty! Tattie B |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Shonagh Date: 02 Sep 02 - 04:03 PM I always thought curly pow was just his hairy head!! ive half looked into this one and in all my scots dictionarys it said pow was a head, or forehead and curly im just guessing is his curly hair! |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: diana Date: 01 Sep 02 - 05:02 PM Have you really killed this thread? I hope not. From an anthro. perspective, this has been very interesting. diana |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,diana Date: 25 Aug 02 - 12:50 PM Thanks, Gurney. Where was this Warlock Knoll? Perhaps this is the reason the clergy did not want this song to be heard. I find it curious that Dainty Davey is always referred to as "he". When sung by a man, does he refer to Davey as "she?" I'm confused. Did Burns often write from the female perspective? One more question - Is Davey a common name in Scotland? Is it gender specific? I remember hearing, "She stole the heart of the light brigade." Maybe its very old and Burns changed it into a bawdy tale for his day and age. Seems that Davey and Devi sound alot alike. I think this song has gone through many revisions. I wonder if anyone knows the original version or at least which version is the oldest that we know of. Keep singing your song. Diana
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,Gurney Date: 25 Aug 02 - 05:16 AM About half-way down to here there was an post by guest Julia, and that was the version I've heard most, usually sung in female voices. The songbook I consulted way back when said a 'Warlock Knowe' was Warlock Knoll(hill), and even said where it was. Wassail. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,Allan Dennehy Date: 24 Aug 02 - 06:00 AM I've sung Dainty Davie for a long time now and think that its one of the most beautiful songs of all time. I'm glad to know a little bit more of what I'm singing about now! |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,Boab Date: 24 Aug 02 - 02:50 AM A curly prisoner of war?---Aw---c'mon!!!1 |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: SINSULL Date: 23 Aug 02 - 09:31 PM Yum Yum? Sorry Spaw. I couldn't help it. |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: GUEST,diana Date: 23 Aug 02 - 04:34 PM O.K. so a pow is some sort of head but why was davy "dainty" ??? |
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Subject: RE: Dainty Davey: What's a curly pow? From: Mr Happy Date: 23 Aug 02 - 05:38 AM POW?= prisoner of war |
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