Lyr Req: King Karactacus / Caractacus

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Shula
Date: 14 Sep 97 - 06:29 AM

Dear Dusterjim:

Do, please, let's have your version, (unless actual religious scruple bars you from enscription)! Thanks.

Shula

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: dusterjim
Date: 13 Sep 97 - 03:33 PM

I learned this song a few years back from Richard Mitchell a friend from Canada. He told me that he had learned it from a friend in Australia. When I first heard it, I asked him to write the words down for me, but he told me that you never write the words down, you just learn them. He repeated each verse three times, increasing the speed each time until at the last, he went through it at breakneck speed. I have carried on with the no writing thing (because it's fun to see people try to learn it by singing it),but it would be interesting to see the original words just to see how much it has changed. The verses that I have are just slightly different than the ones that I see here. For one (do I dare write it down) I have stichilating.

dusterjim

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Susan of DT
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 06:33 PM

Thanx Jon and Alan. As I read the first postings, I was going to put in the historic note. I bookmarked that page, Jon, it's lovely.

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Shula
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 06:27 PM

Earl: Nice save!

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Earl
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 05:57 PM

I thought she must have learned it from her mother.

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Shula
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 05:23 PM

Bless you all!

Alrighty then, now that we have some lyrics, could someone possibly refresh my memory of the tune? (Perhaps a recording, somewhere?)

Thanks to: Rechal, for the whole megillah! Allison, for "stitches." Murray, for Intro. Judy, for "scintillating." (Sounds right to me, too!) Alan of A., for spell check and bio. (Surprised to know he was a Brit.; recently informed Wenceslas wasn't! Scandalous,eh? 'Pon my word! Zut Alors!) Jon W., for the dandy history page.

Now, Earl -- Tsk! Tsk! What has the world come to when a lady can no longer promulgate a gentle fiction regarding the vintage of her memories?!

Thanks, again, to everyone! Shula

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Earl
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 12:36 PM

rechal, I'm pretty sure I heard that song at least 30 year ago.

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 11:41 AM

Don't you just hate it when you make a mistake & can't get back on for hours? Jon, you are right of course, at least I spelt it right :) and got the right country. Oh well, it's been a long time and memory fades. (Stick to Electronics Alan, you're a better engineer than historian.)

Wes Hael,
Alan

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Jon W.
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 11:25 AM

This page has a short bio of Caratacus - he was actually a Briton leader resisting the Roman invasion at the time of Emporer Claudius. I remembered something about that from the PBS mini-series "I Claudius." The person Alan describes sounds more like Ambrosius Aurelianus, also bio'ed on the same page.

Not to beat a dead horse, or anything.

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: rechal
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 10:34 AM

I believe "scintillating" is the version I learned (20 years ago--yikes!)

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 03:05 AM

G'day,
Caractacus (I think the spelling is a bit closer) was a real person,not oriental. He was a native Briton and Roman citizen (I think) who attempted to defend his country against the invading Saxons when the Romans pulled out of England.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Judy
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 02:54 AM

"Oh, the fascinating witches who put tantalising stitches in the britches of the boys ............."

I seem to remember it was scintillating stitches.

I have heard the song sung by Rolf Harris (The bearded Australian singer / wobble board player / painter)

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: Murray
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 01:18 AM

--But you have to start with "The King of Karactacus is just passing by" [three times], then [I have no court in my version, but you can have] "The court of the K of K is just passing by" [three times}, etc. etc. I haven't seen all those fascinating variations though.

Subject: RE: King Karactacus (?)
From: alison
Date: 27 Aug 97 - 11:31 PM

Hi

I seem to remember it as

"Oh, the fascinating witches who put tantalising stitches in the britches of the boys ............."

slainte

Alison

Subject: Lyr Add: KING CARACTACUS
From: rechal
Date: 27 Aug 97 - 11:06 PM

KING CARACTACUS

Oh, the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
Were just passssssssing by.
Oh, the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
Were just passssssssing by.

Oh, the noses on the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
Were just passssssssing by.
Oh, the noses on the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
Were just passssssssing by.

Oh, the boys who powdered the noses on the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
Were just passssssssing by.
Oh, the boys who powdered the noses on the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
Were just passssssssing by.

Oh, the fascinating witches who put the stitches on the britches of the boys who powdered the noses on the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
Were just passssssssing by.
Oh, the fascinating witches who put the stitches on the britches of the boys who powdered the noses on the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
Were just passssssssing by.

And if you want to see the fascinating witches who put the stitches on the britches of the boys who powdered the noses on the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Karactacus
YOU CAN'T!
They just passed by.

That's all I remember.

Subject: King Karactacus (?)
From: Shula
Date: 27 Aug 97 - 10:43 PM

I'm looking for the words to a children's song called (?) "King Karactacus," a nonsense song about an oriental potentate whose entourage increases with each verse. Can anyone remember this oldie, and share the lyrics?