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What is a Royal O

08 Nov 15 - 03:49 AM (#3749187)
Subject: What is a Royal O
From: threelegsoman

In the song "Loch Maree Islands" the last line of the chorus mentions ... a fine ten pointer or a royal 'o'
I believe a 'ten pointer' is a stag with ten points on its antlers, but I do not know what a 'royal o' is.
Please could someone enlighten me.

08 Nov 15 - 04:29 AM (#3749189)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: MartinRyan

A "royal stag" has twelve point antlers - may be the connection.

Regards

08 Nov 15 - 05:32 AM (#3749194)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: GUEST, topsie

Maybe "or a royal 'o'" is really "or a royal, oh".

08 Nov 15 - 06:31 AM (#3749203)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: GUEST,Allan Conn

No I think Martin is correct and the lyric is a royal-o. The singer in the song is hoping to bag a stag with ten point antlers or even better one with twelve which is known as a 'royal'. An imperial" has 14 points and a "monarch" 16. Just a quick google on deer stalking terms confirmed that.

08 Nov 15 - 08:50 AM (#3749230)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Steve Gardham

The Geordies have a song called 'Drucken Bella Royal-o'.

I'll get me coat!

08 Nov 15 - 09:59 AM (#3749243)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: GUEST, topsie

Allan Conn, I think you are agreeing with me - it is just a question of spelling.
We are not talking about something called an "o", which happens to belong to a king, queen, prince or princess. We are talking about something known as "a royal", with the "Oh" or "O" being there to fill up the line of verse, as in "Green Grow the Rushes":

I'll sing you one, oh
Green grow the rushes, oh
What is your one, oh?

08 Nov 15 - 10:21 AM (#3749249)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Megan L

nah nah yer aw wrang this is a secret Jacobite song sung by supporters of the prince to let others know that he had passed through their area safely.




Mind you if ye believe that ye'll believe onythin :) Its stormy and ahm bored so blame it on the weather

08 Nov 15 - 10:36 AM (#3749253)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: MartinRyan

Actually, it's to do with the takeover of the world by royalist rabbits - Bunny Prince Charlie...

Regards

08 Nov 15 - 01:45 PM (#3749295)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Steve Gardham

Nay, nay, nay.....Roy Aloe wiz George Aloe's brither and they hed this sweepstake.......or so I heard.

08 Nov 15 - 01:50 PM (#3749299)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Gallus Moll

--- and here's me thinkin' Topsie (05.32am) wiz suggestin' hunting aristocratic humans as an alternative tae stags! hahaha

08 Nov 15 - 02:16 PM (#3749306)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Vic Smith

I think that a Royal O may be a pub sign with the last two letters 'ak' missing.

15 Aug 20 - 08:09 AM (#4068429)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Johnny J

When I first heard the song, I always thought it said "fine ten pintas at the The Royal O".

Misheard lyrics, of course, but it seemed appropriate that he would go to the pub afterwards.

:-)

15 Aug 20 - 08:12 AM (#4068430)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Johnny J

If you are wondering why I resurrected this thread, I've just been watching "The Queen" on STV where a stag was sadly shot.

15 Aug 20 - 09:35 AM (#4068440)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: GUEST,Observer

"I've just been watching "The Queen" on STV where a stag was sadly shot."

Why sadly?

Cannot think of any worse fate for a Stag, particularly a Red Deer Stag, than dying of "old age", which equates to dying from starvation. After they have passed their "prime" deer go through a process of what is called "running back", their teeth wear down to a point where they cannot feed and they lose strength, vitality and condition, they can no longer maintain their position or even a place in the herd and they suffer a long, lingering solitary death.

16 Aug 20 - 04:00 PM (#4068581)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Stilly River Sage

I have to agree - hunting isn't a cruel death, but starving animals hit in traffic along the interstate highways is a horrible way to die, and the meat isn't often usable after an impact death and lying on the road for a while.

19 Aug 20 - 02:56 PM (#4068865)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: JHW

Being a single person I may well eat things supplied in a single portion.
Often they bear a little commendation from the Queen, 'Serves One'.
The Royal OK

19 Aug 20 - 06:48 PM (#4068874)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: meself

Re: hunting. As my old dad used to say, There's no Sunset Manor in Nature.

10 Apr 21 - 05:24 AM (#4101698)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Georgiansilver

'O' is used in many songs only to accentuate te last word used.... as in 'She's off with the raggle taggle gypsies o!.    The fox is away to his den 'o'! etc etc.

10 Apr 21 - 08:01 AM (#4101716)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Felipa

If it's about poaching or hunting, it could be the royal "yowe" , a ewe.

perhaps derived from an old pronunciation of the Gaelic for a yew tree, but I don't think that makes much sense in the context of the line.
"agh" makes a lot of sense, as in "agh-fèidh" a hind, a female deer Agh = heifer; in deer "agh" it can be used for a hind or a fawn. Look up "agh" at https://learngaelic.scot/dictionary/index.jsp and click the icon to hear the sound file. You can also look up agh-fèidh or fawn.

",oh" doesn't make much sense either as it leaves the word "royal" hanging. I think "agh" in reference to a deer is most likely.

10 Apr 21 - 02:18 PM (#4101789)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: GUEST,#

Found the following

"Show me Airigh N Eilean
Below me Loch Maree
Leave me to my solitude
And let me wander free

To climb the rocky mountains
And search the Glen below
For a fine ten pointer
Or a Royal oh

heh heh, part of a song, the ten pointer and Royal refer to stags"

That is from

https://www.bigtrailie.co.uk/index.php?threads/loch-maree.1910/

**************************

Martin Ryan's post at 08 Nov 15 - 04:29 AM is the answer I think.

10 Apr 21 - 05:45 PM (#4101803)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Felipa

thanks Hash Mark. I understand Martin Ryan's suggestion noq. If you say a ten-point or a twelve-point, you don't need to say "stag" so you don't need a referent for "royal" (a twelve point) and then just saying "...,o!" makes sense.

10 Apr 21 - 06:49 PM (#4101807)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Pappy Fiddle

gives the lyrics as the man searching "for a fine ten pointer or a royal 'O' -- the O in quotes meaning, if I understand English, it represents a word that starts with O, popularly abbreviated by an O, or it might be something shaped like an O, I don't know what.

I realized this morning that in all my years I've probably spent less than an hour with a dictionary. All my knowledge of words comes from hearing and reading, from context. So I've gotten pretty good at figuring things out that way. So I figure a royal 'O' is an animal that you could hunt, and someone hunting deer wouldn't be also hunting bugs or little birds, it would be a largish animal.

gives a list with animals that start with O, from the Oahu Amakihi to O’shaughnessy’s Keeled Iguana. I think we can rule out fish, most birds. This is Scotland, right? You don't have alligators, crocodiles or other big lizards so I think we can rule out reptiles and amphibians. Would you have the Ostrich?

As for the royal part, it reminds me of the wisent. The Czar had a herd of these bovines, the Bolsheviks said he loved them more than he loved the people, so as they were getting control of Russia they went and shot them all. So a royal 'O' might be some animal under protection of the king. We'll remember Robin Hood who became an outlaw by shooting a royal deer.

11 Apr 21 - 08:25 AM (#4101839)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Steve Gardham

Georgiansilver, as usual, hits the nail on the head. The rest is good fun but , dare I say 'pointless'!

11 Apr 21 - 09:23 AM (#4101850)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: GUEST,Felipa

Steve, what we needed was to understand "Royal" being used as a noun. And then the addition of "o" (or "oh" or "ho") is no longer a problem.

11 Apr 21 - 10:02 AM (#4101854)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Steve Gardham

The meaning or 'royal' was explained clearly 3 days ago and Gs explained the addition of the 'o/oh' in very simple clear terms. Anything else, as I say, is good fun.

11 Apr 21 - 01:48 PM (#4101879)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch

A "royal" is a 12-point stagg.

A "royal-o" is the same as a "name-o" in B-I-N-G-O.

11 Apr 21 - 04:15 PM (#4101903)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Steve Gardham

And the little ones picked on the bones-o

11 Apr 21 - 04:45 PM (#4101907)
Subject: RE: What is a Royal O
From: Steve Gardham

Among the leaves so green-o
My deery-o