Origin: Shakin' o' the Pocky

Subject: RE: Shakin' o' the Pocky
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 25 Apr 01 - 10:02 AM

From the sleevenotes to My Roots Are Showing:

6.  The Shakin's o' The Pocky
This slow air, which was composed by James Scott Skinner, has been a longtime favorite of Natalie's uncle, Buddy MacMaster.  It is found as a slow strathspey in "The Skye Collection".

The original story about its composition may be seen through the link I gave above.  Two abc transcriptions may be found through  JC's Tunefinder:

The Shakin's o' the Pocky  One was made by Nigel Gatherer from Aly Bain's playing of the tune, the other is a transcription by Richard Robinson from Skinner's published music.  Due to a peculiarity of coding, the midi option for the latter does not play all the way through.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Shakin' o' the Pocky
From: Whistleworks
Date: 25 Apr 01 - 08:13 AM

Dear Friends,

I too have "used" Natalie's version to literally march a bride down the aisle. The way she tells it, this version is truly inspired when either a friend or relative was in a pub and was "stiffed" for the tab at the end of the night. The "shaken o' the pocky" referred to his placing his hand in his pocket looking for money to pay the bill. I do not know why this inspired such a beautiful air as this, but it was worthy to play at a wedding as an alternative to the usual bridal march. I do not think that Natalie's version comes from a strathspey, rather this may be an air that she either heard or was given by someone. The shakin' o' the sheets is a totally different song about death. Best version is dear Maddy Prior's singing on a Steeleye CD, the title currently escaping me right now. Good luck with "pocky". It is truly a beautiful tune.

Bob

Subject: RE: Shakin' o' the Pocky
From: GUEST,Moleskin Joe
Date: 25 Apr 01 - 03:57 AM

In Lanarkshire a pocky is a mitten.

MJ

Subject: RE: Shakin' o' the Pocky
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 24 Apr 01 - 08:07 PM

"The Shaking of the Sheets", B421 among the broadside ballad tunes given as ABCs, on my website is a 16th century tune. It's theme code (reducing 10/4 to 4/4) is C 5761H 1H576.
An older Pocky is "Knit the Pockey" which first appeared in Bremner's 'Reels' (part 11) 1761. Theme code Dm 1557b 4242.

Subject: RE: Shakin' o' the Pocky
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 24 Apr 01 - 08:01 PM

The strathspey The Shakin's o' the Pocky was composed by the renowned Scottish fiddler James Scott Skinner, in collaboration with his former teacher, Peter Milne.  "Pocky" has nothing at all to do with the Pox; in this context, it just means "a bag" (same word as "pocket", basically).  For more information, see the entry at The Fiddler's Companion:  Results of Search for Pocky

The song Shaking of the Sheets seems to be completely unrelated.  Of the two sets in the DT, The one recorded by Steeleye Span appears to be a modernised re-write by them of the other.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Shakin' o' the Pocky
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Apr 01 - 06:02 PM

Please post replies to this thread and consider the others duplicates. My thread-renaming server isn't working this afternoon, so I can't rename the other threads.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Shakin' o' the Pocky
From: GUEST,Bill
Date: 24 Apr 01 - 05:49 PM

My friend and I are working on a tune from one of Natalie Mcmaster's discs called "Shakin' o' the Pocky". I did a search on the digitrad archive, (and, by the way, what a great resource this site is; you're doing a super job!), and I found two songs, both titled "Shaking of the Sheets" and /or "Dance of Death". Are these all the same tune? Is the "Pocky" a reference to the pox? i realize that the Dance of Death was a common image used in medieval times in reference to the black death, but if anyone knows for sure about the Pocky thing I'd love to hear about it. The tune Mcmaster plays I assume is traditional Cape Breton tunes, but it could easily have been added to the Cape Breton repetoire over the last couple of hundred years,right? Cheers, Bill