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Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? |
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Subject: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Joybell Date: 02 May 08 - 11:26 PM I'm trying to find out more about this expression. It was used here in Aus. in shearing sheds as a warning that a woman was approaching. The shearers would then modify their language and stop telling rude jokes etc. My neighbour who has been here in Western Victoria all her life (and her family from the 1840s) remembers it from childhood. Other local people including a shearer and shearer's cook in their 70s haven't heard it. I knew about it from an early age -- I was Melbourne born and bred with no connections to shearing. It turns up in the movie, "Sunday Too Far Away". What I'm wondering is -- How wide-spread is it? How early does it appear in print. It seems it's also a basball term but that is unconnected I believe. Google seems to have less about it than I already know. Any takers? Cheers, Joy |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: katlaughing Date: 03 May 08 - 12:07 AM Did you see this reference, Joy, meant that there were runners on the bases in baseball: The Baseball Hall of Fame website says "ducks on the pond" was a favorite phrase of Arch McDonald, a broadcaster for the old Washington Senators from 1934-1956. Mr. McDonald was from Arkansas. And a University of Illinois at Chicago website says "the ducks is on the pond" was a favorite of Dizzy Dean in his broadcasting days. Mr. Dean was also from Arkansas. I've never heard it except as the title to a mystery novel I started years ago...it was the name of a haunted BnB!:-) |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Joybell Date: 03 May 08 - 12:37 AM Thanks, Kat. That at least gives a date for the baseball reference. Cheers, Joy |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Uncle Phil Date: 03 May 08 - 10:08 AM In response to the "widespread" question, I do not recall hearing "ducks on the pond" as a warning in Texas/Louisiana/Mississippi going back to the 1950's, so it's not in universal usage around here. I have heard the same phrase used in NT bars to alert one's fellow drinkers to the approach of females that, uh, they might particularly enjoy looking at. - Phil |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: GUEST,Chris P. Date: 03 May 08 - 04:17 PM Back in the Eighties we used to play a Henry Reed tune from Virginia, called Ducks On The Pond. Interesting to hear a slant on the title. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 04 May 08 - 12:38 PM When I read the thread title, I too thought it was the banjo piece I'm familiar with, and I thought, "Do they have live music in the shearing sheds?" Dave Oesterreich |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Louie Roy Date: 04 May 08 - 05:54 PM I have been around shearing sheds off and on for 75 years and I never heard this phrase used .I do have two different hoedowns on my computer one is called Ducks on the pond and the other one is Ducks on the milpond both played on the fiddle |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Rowan Date: 04 May 08 - 06:41 PM SInce I'm roughly the same age as Joybell and also spent a lot of time in much the same suburb (G'day Joybell!) I can't add too much to the chronology she seeks but I've heard it used in various parts of Victoria (from the 50s), NSW (ditto) and southern Queensland (early 60s). In some sheds, women were 'prohibited' (at a time when shearers had more industrial clout and were working in regions where they felt the need to exercise it) but this also seems to have had regional variations. In small sheds (only a couple of stands) the shearing team would have been too small to include a cook for the breaks and it was often the property owner's missus who provided the tea, scones and sandwiches. Larger sheds (usually much further from "civilisation than the smaller properties) would have retained a cook until quite recently. The rise of women's lib in the 70s would have pretty well killed off such male chauvinism as an 'officially accepted' practice, to the extent that women have often been non-shearer members of teams since the 70s. Cheers, Rowan |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 04 May 08 - 10:30 PM The autobiography by Anne Summers, "Ducks on the Pond, " apparently was not published outside of Australia (by Viking in Australia with a reprint by Penguin in Australia). Couldn't find if the book was exported and sold in the UK. If the book had been printed also in UK or U. S., the phrase could easily have 'emigrated.' The baseball term and the tune seem to have originated independently. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: GUEST,MeadowMuskrat Date: 05 May 08 - 03:52 PM The Incredible String Band has a track on their 1968 album Wee Tam called Ducks on a Pond. It was one of those long multi-part- multi instrument songs they were so good at.The reference to ducks on a pond seems to be just that-not symbolic of anything else. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Helen Date: 05 May 08 - 05:35 PM Hi Joybell, I don't recall ever hearing this one but someone in Northern South Australian has. You can add your region and comments/question to the Word Map and see what else turns up. Australian Word Map Type "ducks on the pond" in the search box. (This is a very interesting project to map the occurrences of words around Oz and identify regional or cross-regional expressions, e.g. "budgie-smugglers" is found in a wide range of places, but "girl of" or "boy of" isn't, as in "the girl of Smith".) Helen |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Joybell Date: 05 May 08 - 06:26 PM Thank you all. I'll give that link a try Helen. Thanks. Uncle DavO I don't believe the phrase has anything to do with the tune using the same name. True-Love who was born and raised in the American Midwest didn't know it. I've been asking around. So far: One local man in his 40s knew it well from childhood. One man - same age -- knew it from a Southern suburb of Melbourne. He and his mates used it when they were hanging out in the mate's shed and the wife was approaching. 2 elderly men -- farming families -- had heard it used as a warning that the boss was coming. It's begining to look as though the phrase is widespread but not all that common. Cheers, Joy |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Joybell Date: 05 May 08 - 07:09 PM OK. Just submitted my findings to the site recomended by Helen. Rowan -- your comments would be helpful there too. This site gives the phrase as being found in only one area. My neighbour mentioned the phrase as an example of a term that has had its use restricted by the presence of women in shearing sheds. She was sorting and classing their wool while a team of young women did the shearing. She is in her 60s. It's interesting talking to her about the "old days". Cheers, Joy |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Ducks on the pond. First appearance? From: Joybell Date: 05 May 08 - 08:42 PM My informants are not sure when they first heard this phrase and so far I haven't confirmed the use of it from before 1975 when the film, "Sunday Too Far Away" was made. The film is set in 1955. It might turn out that this film fed it back into a wider community including my friend with the urban connection. Interesting. Cheers, Joy |
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