04 Mar 03 - 09:53 AM (#903123) Subject: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: sian, west wales The Treacle Mine thread drew to mind the song, When the Ice Worms Nest Again (here ) and the accompanying explanatory Ode here . Now, I know that the song is discussed in various places, but I'm just wondering what other 'alternate universe' creatures and things exist in song or story in this particular reality? I speak as someone who believed that mohair sweaters were made from the hair of moes well into her teens, because my big sister told me so. Big sisters. Who'd have 'em? sian |
04 Mar 03 - 09:58 AM (#903128) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: MMario Haggi |
04 Mar 03 - 10:37 AM (#903159) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: sian, west wales Being the plural of haggis? (or singular?) I've never hunted one, being convinced that you should never kill something you're not prepared to eat. sian |
04 Mar 03 - 10:46 AM (#903169) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: MMario Haggi being the plural of Haggis; I prefer the domestic variety myself, far less gamy. |
04 Mar 03 - 10:50 AM (#903174) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: MMario The Haggis of Dunbar The Haggis season (thread) |
04 Mar 03 - 10:54 AM (#903178) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: GUEST Could this be transferred to BS please? |
04 Mar 03 - 11:02 AM (#903186) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Nigel Parsons Guest; The heading "Folklore" seems to cover the discussion nicely. The idea of having separate headings is to make it easier to identify the underlying text of the thread. I think this should stay here. Nigel |
04 Mar 03 - 11:39 AM (#903210) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: sian, west wales Thanks, Nigel. As far as I'm concerned, the concept of ice worms, haggi, treacle mines, et al. fit snuggly into the Tall Tale tradition. sian |
04 Mar 03 - 11:46 AM (#903216) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: JennyO We have a wonderfully talented duo here in Australia, called "Us Not Them", who sing the iceworms song. I had never heard it before until they did it. And what of polyesters? How many died to make this thread? ;-) |
04 Mar 03 - 11:47 AM (#903218) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Nigel Parsons Of course Siân you've avoided mentioning the one fabulous creature that should be here. Y Ddraig Goch! or his effeminate relative 'Puff'. While I am typing this the CD player is churning out the marvelous sounds of songs and tunes based on Anne McCaffrey's Dragon books. Where the songs written in the numerous books have been put to music by Tania Opland and Mike Freeman (of Alaska and England) Nigel |
04 Mar 03 - 03:36 PM (#903400) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Rapparee Like it or not, believe it or not, ice worms actually exist. See here , for instance. Scientists have found ice worms near methane sinks at the bottom of the ocean, and hope to find evidence of them on Europa. |
04 Mar 03 - 03:43 PM (#903407) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Tinker One of my husbands favorite tall tales is about his childhood in the south where he spent long hours in the hot sun picking polys of ester. The price of polyester being higher and more profitable to share croppers in the south... Scary/ funny on several occaisions folks actually have joined in the conversation glad to finally know where that fabric came from. Tinker |
04 Mar 03 - 03:46 PM (#903411) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: sian, west wales Ah, Rapaire,Thou hast burst my bubble! Nigel, think - our Dragon is a girl (y DDraig). Apparently Welsh is the only language with a gender system where 'dragon' is Welsh. Interesting, eh? Also screws up heraldry, as it would seem that dragons are supposed to show ... ummm ... errrr... their 'manhood'. JennyO - I'm riddled with guilt. I'm sewing a costume for the little boy next door and I've just opened a new reel of poly thread. Oh, the shame! sian |
04 Mar 03 - 04:08 PM (#903433) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Bill D yep...iceworms are all-too-real, and there are complex pages on the web explaining more than you ever wanted to know about them... but my favorite creature is the Nauga....I have several hides downstairs I intend to re-upholster some furniture with. They are shy creatures, though, and one needs to lure them gently from hiding in order to capture one. I find that 'folding money' is excellent bait. |
04 Mar 03 - 04:38 PM (#903454) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Allan C. It is a well-known fact that the fur-bearing trout, found mostly in the Arkansas River of Colorado, is can be lured from the depths by use of ice worms. It is not certain if the two creatures are genetically identical to those found in Michigan, Pennsylvania or Maine. There is some question as to whether the fur-bearing trout is a result of cross-breeding between the more common varieties of trout and the silver foxes. Some say the foxes weren't silver until after the crossbreeding. My understanding is that the Arkansas River Basin habitat of the fur-bearing trout has begun to become usurped by the Spiral Mango-bats. However, I haven't yet been able to find substantiation. |
04 Mar 03 - 04:43 PM (#903461) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: MMario Not that long ago we also had a discussion of the fur bearing fresh water dolpins and whales of the Great Lakes. |
04 Mar 03 - 09:17 PM (#903651) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Rapparee I've heard of the furbearing trout, but where and when I was a-growing, we used to capture furbearing catfish. This was on the Upper Mississippi (above, that is upstream of, St. Louis) and the fish had developed their fur as a defense against the cold of the last Ice Age. Long and very silky, much like the underhair of the muskox, it was greatly in demand by those who made fur coats. Naturally we didn't shear the poor fish; we would capture them in Spring and hasten their shedding of the underhair with curry combs and then turn them loose. Unfortunately, these fish are now either extinct or, more probably, in hiding, ashamed of being classed with such creatures as the Fauxfur Carp. Ah, well.... |
04 Mar 03 - 10:23 PM (#903681) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Ebbie Rapaire, I believe they have survived in Alaska, USA. Their fur is in as much demand as qiviut and is often mistaken for it. Incidentally, honey bees in Alaska also wear fur coats. They look just like a bumblebee. What I don't understand is the generations old 'snipe hunt'. Since snipe actually exist, why was their name used for the trick? |
04 Mar 03 - 11:46 PM (#903726) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Troll Ah, Ebbie, the common snipe is a diurnal creature and goes to roost when the sun goes down, just before the time that the Night-running Snipe leaves its burrow and goes on the prowl for food. There's no trick involved. The Night-running Snipe is extremely good eating but incredibly difficult to catch as witness by the myriads of people who have been taken on a Snipe Hunt only to return with an empty sack. The idea that it is all a trick has been fostered by these inept greenhorns to such an extent that most of the world now believes -as you yourself have indicated you do- that the Night-running Snipe is a myth. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the population is burgeoning isnce the hunting pressure has been taken off. In fact, there are several snipe borrows within walking distance of my house. The population is so healthy that I am able to supply my family with plump, suculent snipe on a regular basis. Needless to say, I only take them is season and with proper attention to size, sex, and limit restrictions. I hope that this clears this perplexing point up for you. troll |
05 Mar 03 - 02:43 AM (#903779) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Ebbie I am chastened (if not chaste), troll. I didn't realize the common (you could even say, vulgar) snipe was so different from its cousin. I should have thought of it, though, because even the common snipe has an unusual burrow. |
05 Mar 03 - 05:39 AM (#903837) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Nigel Parsons Siân: Nice try, but you don't catch me that easily. Y Ddraig Goch may well be of the male persuasion. Mochyn is a masculine noun, although the term describes a pig irrespective of gender, although 'baedd' (boar) is masc. and 'hwch' (sow) is fem.. Presumably 'Ddraig' is the generic form, and there are alternate words for the cock dragon & the hen Dragon. Alternately, someone may have considered the dragon to be a mere legend, and as with inanimate objects, assigned a gender at random. However, the best solution is to ascribe the expression "Y Ddraig Goch Ddyry Cychwyn" to a description of the Welsh coat of arms, or to the Welsh flag. In which case, 'flag' translates as 'baner' a fem. noun. "I bob un sydd fyddlon Gan ei faner ef" Hwyl Fawr Nigel |
05 Mar 03 - 08:29 AM (#903905) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Rapparee Ebbie, the dinosaurs all moved to the other side of the Brooks Range. I know, 'cause I told my neices and nephews so. |
05 Mar 03 - 01:36 PM (#904108) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Ebbie Rapaire, you say the 'other side' of the Brooks- would that be the underside? Because I don't think they have been sighted (sited?) lately. |
05 Mar 03 - 01:49 PM (#904117) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Allan C. I think most of those dinosaurs may have been buried inadvertently when Paul Bunyan dug the Puget Sound. |
05 Mar 03 - 02:00 PM (#904121) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: weerover Mario - surely all dolphins and whales are fur-bearing (even if the fur is pretty short and fine)? Isn't that what makes them mammals? wr |
05 Mar 03 - 02:10 PM (#904129) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: MMario But only the (nearly-extinct) Great Lakes Dolphin had a pelt that was usable for knitwear. |
05 Mar 03 - 02:50 PM (#904153) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: CraigS Ciumnich an tabhartas Blarneia |
05 Mar 03 - 02:55 PM (#904155) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: delphinium And don't you forget the un-i-corn... There's the hunting of the snark, that mentions the song of the jub jub. But maybe Lewis Carroll isn't folklore. |
05 Mar 03 - 03:54 PM (#904179) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Rapparee Ah, Ebbie! There are more sides to the Brooks Range than are dreamt of in your philosophy. As mountains, they have a "corrugated" sort of surface, which makes them topologically interesting -- so much so that they have actually intersected more planes than ours. I could describe the geometry involved, but doing so would require me to make use of higher math, like the square root of negative imaginary numbers and even that would require an n-dimensional computer screen. Here's good question for you all: there is something with only one (1) side, and I'm sure you've all seen it. What is it? |
05 Mar 03 - 04:00 PM (#904188) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: MMario besides opinion? Celtic Soul has a muffler with only one side - but I don't think everyone has seen it. |
05 Mar 03 - 04:21 PM (#904200) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Rapparee Nope, it's out there in the so-called real world. Naturally, you can't touch it, smell it, or taste it. You can only see it from one side. |
05 Mar 03 - 04:22 PM (#904202) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: MMario bigotry fits that definition - but of courswe your probably mean "rainbow" |
05 Mar 03 - 04:43 PM (#904214) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Rapparee That's it! Got it. Only one side to a rainbow. |
05 Mar 03 - 04:59 PM (#904225) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: sian, west wales So ... the fauxfur carp was so named because its fur was very similar to that of the faux which inhabits Ply forests (from which we get plywood)? Speaking of trees, we must remember Richard Dimbleby's famous coverage of the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest in 1957: "... the British news show, Panorama, broadcast a segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed to an unusually mild winter. The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show's anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched a rural Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. "The spaghetti harvest here in Switzerland is not, of course, carried out on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry," Dimbleby informed the audience. "Many of you, I'm sure," he continued, "will have seen pictures of the vast spaghetti plantations in the Po valley. For the Swiss, however, it tends to be more of a family affair" Yum. Swiss Spag-Bol. sian |
05 Mar 03 - 07:23 PM (#904324) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Rapparee Fauxfur carp feed on polyesters that fall into their deadly traps. This is becomes the essence of their fauxfur, but it's much inferior to the real thing. Here in Kentucky, this is the time of year when the bourbon trees are tapped for their sap. This is first reduced by boiling and then diluted with "branch water," producing the State's signature tipple. To see the bourbon makers out with their teams of horses or mules, pulling the sledges of sap barrels, is reminiscent of maple syruping in Vermont or palming in Florida or Arizona. |
06 Mar 03 - 08:14 AM (#904685) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: MMario The fire hazard of bourbon reduction is much higher though! |
04 Sep 03 - 08:25 PM (#1013009) Subject: Ballad of the Ice Worm Cocktail From: Joe Offer I saw real, live ice worms at Portage Glacier south of Anchorage Monday. In my Internet travels today I found this poem that Micca linked to, and I thought it would be appropriate to post it. The Website where Micca found it says it's by Robert W. Service - I'm not sure I believe that, but several other sites give (or repeat) the same information. Anybody know which Service collection it's in?. One of our tour guides explained why glacier ice is blue - all the iceworms have blue eyes.... -Joe Offer- The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail(Robert W. Service?)
To Dawson Town came Percy Brown from London on the Thames.
Now Skipper Grey and Deacon White were sitting in the shack,
Within the Malamute Saloon were gathered all the gang;
"And now," continued Deacon White to blushing Major Brown,
"By Gad!" responded Major Brown, "that's ripping, don't you know.
"A toughish yarn," laughed Major Brown, "as well you may admit.
So Barman Bill got busy, and with sacerdotal air
The Major took another look, then quickly closed his eyes,
And ere next night his story was the talk of Dawson Town,
|
04 Sep 03 - 09:33 PM (#1013035) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: GUEST,ozmacca On the subject of folklore, I couldn't resist posting this item which was discussed on the Annexe a little while back. Haven't you all ever wondered where all those plastic bags come from? You probably think that they're made in factories, but actually we grow them in plantations out here in Oz. There's a particularly famous commercial plantation at Coffs harbour in NSW, where this photo was taken. http://www.bigbanana.com/html/plantation_walk.html The plastic bags grow in layers, like skins on an onion, and when the outer skin goes blue, the fruit is ready to pick. In the factories, the fruit is dried and then each layer is peeled off to form a complete bag slightly smaller than the one before. Then they are graded and packed together, and the natural fine fibre helps them to nest together. Australian plastic bags lead the world production because of the climate and the excellent growing conditions. The tree is often grown as a companion plant with bananas and is a member of the same family as the spaghetti shrub which is grown commercially in Italy. Also discussed were Drop Bears, which are a real danger in the plantations. You will notice that the people in the photo keep well together for safety as they pass through the plantation, and try to keep on the path, away from the tree canopies. Drop bears are members of the koala family, but have a particularly well padded rump. They're mainly nocturnal, and wait until some animal walks under the tree and drop on top of them, usually causing unconsciousness, then begin feeding on the prey. It's not wise to go out after dark in the plantations. In fact there was an old Oz folk tale to that effect, which was, I believe, adapted for use in other countries as a children's nursery song. |
04 Sep 03 - 09:34 PM (#1013036) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Alaska Mike Sure enough, there are Ice Worms that live in the cracks of glaciers up here in Alaska. Although they are kind of fantastic, they also are quite real. Mike |
04 Sep 03 - 09:56 PM (#1013042) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: GUEST,Cookieless Rapaire Out here in Idaho they grow potatoes, lentils, and other things. The fields are full of sagebrush, and tumbleweeds can be seen rolling across the open spaces. Along the fences can be seen the fruits of the bagworms. These are not webworms as they are generally thought of, but a still-undiscovered species that spin literal plastic bags as nests. These bags break away from the trees and are blown willy-nilly and hither and yon, finally coming to rest in fences. The worms which create the bags are thought to have been mutated by Canadian atomic bomb testing during the 1950s. |
04 Sep 03 - 10:01 PM (#1013044) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: Alaska Mike OK, all we have to do is cross the Ice Worms with the Bag Worms and we all become millionairs by selling "bags of ice"? Man, that is fantastic. Mike |
04 Sep 03 - 11:05 PM (#1013073) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: LadyJean I thought I might mention the giant catfish found in our famous three rivers. These whiskered piscines find their way into the locks along the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers, and are trapped there. Lacking space to move, the little suckers grow, and grow, and grow, sucking up the slime on the bottom, until the reach the size of Volkswagon Beetles, which they sometimes swallow. Now, I've neve seen one of these creatures, but many locals swear they exist. |
25 Oct 11 - 12:28 PM (#3244583) Subject: RE: Folklore: Of Treacle Mines, Ice Worms and ??? From: GUEST,derek stanton ex Bluwater Folk How do folks you can now watch two new videos I have posted on Youtube. I'm A Rover song about Blackburn Rovers Football Club Sabden Treale Mines Raid. yours gradely derek stanton |