Well, first Little John, do a word search on hurdies and you will find several references to hurdies being buttocks or loins, including a site of Burns complete works which has a linked glossary, found at http://www.robertburns.org/works/. Also, the original version of John Anderson, my Jo, the female singer refers his flke or worried hurdies, and she ain't talking aobut dancers. Careful on your searches on the word or you will get into some old erotic powtry and I won't be responsible if you are under 18.

Yes, in the context of the song, the dancers, the word is a contraction of Hurdy Gurdy the instrument that they once danced to. (I have been able to find no documentation to show the instrument was ever used in the goldfields of California, Montana or British Columbia.) But, I believe, having studied the author for some years, that James Anderson meant this as a play on words. He was very familiar and often stole lines from Burns, who did not write about the dancers. Interestingly Anderson write in negative terms about the hurdies, but speant much of his money on them and "the dirnk." He has also written enough that we can identify some of the individual dancers by name.

In North American they usually danced to fiddles and whatever else happened to be in town including pianos

Now, as to Sawney. Saqwney was Jamed Anderson. The tile of the booklet produced in Barkerville, B>C> in 1868 is "Sawney's Letters and Cariboo Rhymes by James Anderson. Anderson was a Scot who came to Barkerville to mine about 1863 and stayed until 1871.

In his Sawney's letters, again similar to a style he may have adopted from Burns he says, after the song; "What think ye, Sawney, o' my sang? A good thing, it's no very lang; The name I've gied's "The German Lasses." The air's the same's:Green grows the Rashes,"...

As to this song of Burns, which I find on page 49 of my "The Poetical Works of Robert Burns, London & Glasgow Collin' Clear Type PRess [n.d.]

Anderson's work is hard to read and so has been shuffled aside in history and song as he writes in dialect. However, when we had Duncan Bell read it aloud for narrations on our CD the words leaped to life. Duncan also sings this song on the CD, with accompaniment on a 1889 pump organ that leaked so much air the keyboardist almost got leg cramps. When I sang Anderson's "Rough But Honest Miner" based on the tune CAstles in the Air, I had to write oout a "translated version". There is a lot of good historical information in his work and some interesting cultural observations that are still being uncovered. We want to produce a CD and book of his work but the market is small, miniscule, so it will have to wait.

The reference to the "Rustic song" of earlier years is from Phil Thomas, a collector of songs for decades and I am sure not one to argue with him, though I do not know where he got the ref. Phil lurks on this list. Maybe he will come forth. I'll send him a note about the thread. Murray on Salt Spring also knows Phil so maybe he will join in.

Enough for now.

Good thread.

Richard Wright