The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #1141 Message #4056031
Posted By: Lighter
30-May-20 - 11:01 AM
Thread Name: Origins: Blue Tail Fly (Jimmy Crack Corn)
Subject: RE: Origins: Blue Tail Fly (Jimmy Crack Corn)
Like other members of the blow fly family, the bluebottle lays eggs in excrement and in the wounds of animals, thus the association with “ponies” and the erroneous idea that the insect "stings."
An English bawdy song to the "Blue Tail" tune (and related to Hugill’s “Oh, Aye, Rio”) appears in Bob Pegg’s "Folk" (1976).