The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #57991   Message #915431
Posted By: CapriUni
21-Mar-03 - 12:34 PM
Thread Name: Origins: rathlin bog / Rattlin' Bog / Rattling Bog
Subject: RE: Origins: rathlin bog
Nigel Wrote: (translated from Welsh)

7, From the feathers came a bed, Oh fine bed !

A version of Rattlin' Bog that I learned in highschool, for our May Day celebration, went on from there:

8) and on that bed there was a maid

9) and with that maid there was a man,

10) and from that man there came a babe (I, personally, switch "maid" and "man" for obvious reasons)

11) and from the babe there grew a man

12) and on that man there was an arm

13) and on that arm there was a hand

14) and in that hand there was a seed,

15) and from the seed there grew a tree (a rare tree, a rattlin' tree!)

So it really does go into an "Everlasting Circle" -- and is nearly everlasting to sing; depending on how fast I go, I time the song out at 15-20 minutes to sing all the verses... I play the song through my head when I'm stuck waiting somewhere.