Subject: Word meaning--rigadoo From: dulcimer Date: 08 Aug 98 - 11:08 PM In the song Little Beggarman, what does the word rigaddo mean? |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Animaterra Date: 09 Aug 98 - 12:02 PM In the Midsummer Celtic Revels. Lincoln, Mass., of 1996, which was centered around tinkers/travelling people, the "rigadoo" was meant as a walking stick. The cast was told, however, that it was also a double-entendre for... well, what do YOU think????!! |
Subject: RE: Word meaning-- bothy From: Kiwi Date: 10 Aug 98 - 01:49 AM 'Nother quick question about a word.. what's a bothy? (i.e. the Bothy Band, "the bothy that was Fionnghuala's", etc..) Slán, Kiwi |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Martin Ryan. Date: 10 Aug 98 - 04:00 AM "bothy" is "rough dwelling" or "shanty", in Scots. Probably related to the Gaelic word "botha/n", which means the same. Regards |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Barry Finn Date: 10 Aug 98 - 07:18 AM A Bothy would be where the hired hands lived, somewhat similar to the bunkhouse on the US ranches. Barry |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: dulcimer Date: 12 Aug 98 - 06:33 PM In another forum, it was suggested that rigadoo in the UK was a knapsack, suggesting the word a"rig" as in carrier or to rig as tie or gather up. The walking stick, etc. was interesting. Any further thoughts? |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Kiwi Date: 13 Aug 98 - 12:49 AM Martin, Barry, thanks for your help! Now the song "Fionnghuala" makes much more sense! Slán, Kiwi |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Cuilionn Date: 13 Aug 98 - 12:33 PM There's a bit mair tae th' definition o' "Bothy". The wee sma' bothies up awa' frae th' hooses were nae jist usit for a plaice tae gae oot o' th' rain. Field-wairkers o' ev'ry kind tuik theirsel's tae th' bothy after sun-doon for guid craic an' th' tellin' o' sic tales as a mither'd nae allow' ben th' hoose. There was muckle passin' on o' guid tunes an' stories thro' th' nichts, an' it was pairt o' th' compensation for sic back-breakin' wairk as they did durin' th' day. Wi' Braid Scots, as wi' ither tongues, th' basic meanin' o' a waird is guid, but th' connotations micht be jist as important. An beannacht ort, --Cuilionn |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: John Hyaduck Date: 14 Aug 98 - 11:05 AM I favor the walking stick definition but a Belfast singer once confidently told me that rigadoo (rioga-dubh?) was a slang term for "line-of-s&^%t" or B.S. Would make sense. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: dulcimer Date: 20 Sep 98 - 09:03 PM I posed the question as to the meaning of Rigadoo to past the information on to another forum I follow. Apparently the meaning of the word generated some additional research. The following might be of some interest and I provide it for your opinion.-- There followed some very well researched and clever responses. The first was that "rigadoo" was a form of the word "rigadun" meaning a French courtly dance. Someone else posed that a rigadoo is a cane or walking stick(that would have been my first guess). Finally, I thought that Wayne Seymour(Conan the Librarian)had put the issue to rest when he maintained(after consultation with a Brit friend)that a rigadoo is a backpack - the term being derived from the word "rig".
Since I'm the one who taught the song to Lynne and gave her the words, I felt duty bound to pursue the question as far as I could. So, after he returned from Ireland at the end of August, I posed the question to Bernard Lane, a true Irishman - born in Ireland and lived most of his life there. Bernard is also the most knowledgeable and respected Irish songster here in Atlanta. He plays accordion
After posing the question to several of the Hibernian patriarchs in Atlanta's Irish community(true Irishmen all), Bernard informs me that the consensus in the Irish community here is that a "rigadoo" is indeed that French dance as it was done in Ireland. It is not a backpack. These are the reasons he gave for the opinion:
1)There is no incidence in song or in common speech that Bernard or any other Irish folk song experts know where "rig" or "rigadoo" means a backpack in Irish-English parlance. A "rig" may be a backpack in England, but it certainly doesn't mean that in Ireland.
2)The most compelling evidence comes from the last verse of the song:
So all along the highroad with my bag upon my back Over the fields with my bulging heavy sack With holes in my shoes and my toes a-peepin' through Singing "Skin-a-ma-link-a-doodle" with my ould rigadoo Oh I must be going to bed, for it's getting late at night The fire is all reaked and now 'tis out the light For now you've heard the story of my ould rigadoo So good-bye and God be with you, from old Johnny Dhu.
Here the phrase, "Skin-a-ma-link-a-doodle", sounds like something the beggarman would sing to accompany his whimsical dance. Also, the rigadoo is mentioned in conjunction with the reference to the beggarman's shoes and toes, terms most easily associated with dancing. Finally, the beggarman's backpack is referred to as a "bag" and as a "sack" - it is unlikely that "rigadoo" would refer to the same thing outside of the first poetical doublet.
3)There is no problem with the fact that the rigaudon was a French courtly dance. Common dances were frequently patterned after courtly ones, and even more frequently, courtly dances were patterned after common ones. Further, there were many Irish sailors and businessmen who traded with foreign countries in the 17th and 18th centuries, so many elements of French culture were brought to Ireland where they were accepted and practiced. A well-known example of this is the French "gigue" which eventually became the Irish "jig". Bernard knows for a fact that the rigadoon was commonly danced in Ireland from the 17th until the early 19th centuries.
So Bernard's conclusion is that "rigadoo" is a purposefully corrupted form of the English word "rigadoon" meaning the originally French dance "rigaudon" or "rigodon". It was changed for the song so that it would rhyme with the name of the song's main character, Johnny Dhu. My own research has shown that the rigaudon originated as a common dance in the south of France. It became popular as a courtly dance in the late 17th century and eventually spread to become popular throughout Europe. In England it was especially popular where it was known as the "rigadoon" - thus the beggarman's "rigadoo".--So what do you think mudcatters? |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: elektra@gate.net Date: 20 Sep 98 - 11:11 PM According to my somewhat-ancient (1978)unabridged World Book Dictionary (L-Z)...
Rigadoon,n. I tend to concur with Dulcimer, since the beggarman COULD well be dancing with himself (def. 1) sans partner while singing as in definition 2. To top it off, the way I have heard (and learned) this song it could well qualify itself under def. 3! =) |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Martin Ryan Date: 22 Sep 98 - 07:57 AM Right! What about the word "budget" as in a song "The Tinker's Old Budget"? The meaning is easy enough to find - but the origin?
Regards |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Picard Date: 22 Sep 98 - 11:42 PM Bonjour, from Montréal, Québec . Rigodon or rigaudon is indeed an old french dance , my Larousse Étymologique , says the word appeared in 1694 .Later it also meant a military drum call. Today, it is sometime mistaken with "gigue ". (BTW , gigue is from the German " geige " meaning a fiddle or a leg .) As for budget , It comes from an old french word not used anymore :" bougette " wich means a small bag . In modern french "budget" is considered from english origin . |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: steve t Date: 23 Sep 98 - 01:16 AM If anyone has any slick ideas for getting Cuilionn to write some more, please try 'em all. 'Cause I'll never get enough. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Martin Ryan Date: 23 Sep 98 - 05:09 AM Picard
Many thanks! Regards |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Reiver 2 Date: 16 Nov 99 - 06:43 PM Great information, Dulcimer! Thanks for all the hard work in researching this. I'd never thought much about the meaning of the word and tended to think it was just another nonsense word to go with Skin-a-ma-rink, etc. But your explanation makes sense. Thanks again. And, Steve, I second the notion of getting Cuilionn to write some more! Don't think anyone could ever get enough of that! |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: katlaughing Date: 16 Nov 99 - 07:45 PM Reiver 2, we haven't seen Cuilionn here in ages. I wonder if anyone know how she is? |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Jo Date: 16 Sep 03 - 10:33 PM thank you all I needed to know this informatoin for my choir class and it will a come in handy!! jolene |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 16 Sep 03 - 11:31 PM Talk about time travel- answering a question five years old! Budget, meaning a pouch, bag or wallet is the first meaning given in the Oxford English Dictionary. Meaning number two is a leather or skin bottle. Number 3 is a bundle, or the contents of a wallet. Not until they get to 4 do we find our usual meaning, a statement of revenue and expenditure. A budget is also a leather socket for retaining the butt of a cavalry carbine. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Bob Bolton Date: 16 Sep 03 - 11:53 PM Whipping back a bit earlier, I have a further thought on the idea that the beggar is talking of his "Old Rigadoo" while describing his travels: "So all along the highroad with my bag upon my back Over the fields with my bulging heavy sack With holes in my shoes and my toes a-peepin' through Singing "Skin-a-ma-link-a-doodle" with my ould rigadoo." This has an interesting resonance with the Australia term "Waltzing Matilda" ... derived from the German journeyman's spell roving ... "Auf der walz" ... (with tool/clothing/bedding roll, often called 'mathilde'. That an Irish beggar should characterise his wanderings as a dance is not surprising. Regards, Bob Bolton |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: s&r Date: 17 Sep 03 - 05:03 AM Tamarack sing a Newfoundland version of the beggarman which includes "with me hands in the pockets of me old ragadoo". They described it on the sleeve notes as (if I remember right) a fishermans overcoat or mackintosh. There's a lot of info about "the old ragadoo" in Google. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST Date: 17 Sep 03 - 07:25 AM My father, who came from Cork ,used the word rigadoo in reference to his walking stick. I have heard a number of people use it in that way, but never as a dance. Would we not be taking"scholarship" a bit over the top here. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,RumRiverSchlueter Date: 20 Mar 04 - 07:54 PM Walking stick makes the most sense. I have been looking all across the web, dictionaries, and talking to Irish people - no one seems to really know. Thank you for the info. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 20 Mar 04 - 09:55 PM Rigadoon appeared in English applied to a dance (adopted from France); first printed reference found in 1691, a comment about an illustration: 'Satyr agst. French' Ep A2- "It is an original, I assure you, and drawn to the Life as a Limner could make the Features of one dancing the Rigadoon." Rigadig- Herman Melville, in "Whale," (1851) has the statement "He would hum over his old rigadig tunes." As S&R stated, 'ragadoo' was sometimes used as a description of a coat or wearing apparel. Canadian, but originally from the British Isles? The traditional Newfoundland song, "My Old Ragadoo" (In the Pockets of my Old Ragadoo), sung by Anita Best. Not much help, I'm afraid. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Fsh Date: 11 Nov 04 - 05:05 PM I don't think I agree with a rigadoo being a dance. To me, it seems to make a lot more sense as a backpack. My choir is singing "The Little Beggarman", which is why I'm interested in this. One of the lines is "So all along the road with my bag upon my back/over the fields with my bulging heavy sack/with holes in my shoes and my toes a-peeping through/singing skin-a-ma-rink-a-doodle with my auld rigadoo." To me it seems as if he's focusing exclusively on his backpack, and singing as he travels. It would make sense to me that he would tie in his memories of homelessness with a material object, instead of of a dance. Another quote is "...but to slip around the corner with his auld rigadoo." To slip around a corner while dancing doesn't seem very easy to do, and it would be easier if he just had a knapsack upon his back. Also, on urbandictionary.com, a rigadoo is the shopping cart that a lot of homeless people push around. This could be a modern form of a poor man's knapsack back then. Any part of the song where the word 'rigadoo' is mentioned, it just seems to make more sense as a backpack then as a dance. Hope I've convinced some of you guys. Fsh |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Bob Bolton Date: 11 Nov 04 - 09:01 PM G'day Fsh, We Aussies have no problem with the confluence of dance and pack of belongings ... the basic reference to Waltzing Matilda is about the swagman carrying his "Matilda" - his swag - his bundle of possessions with the observation that carrying a side-slung bundle looked a bit like dancing. (Plus the Germanic input ... "auf die walz" is travelling the roads with all your living and trade gear in a bundle.) Regard(les)s, Bob |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST Date: 12 Nov 04 - 03:34 PM Steve T., ye maun screive a bit in the Scots, an' nae doobt ye's hear frae her. It's no sae verra hard like the Erse. Stephen |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,GUEST Date: 09 Mar 06 - 05:40 PM Thanks for the information ... our chorus class is singing the little beggar mand and we were all wondering what a rigadoo was so we could better understand what we were singing! thanks!! |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Jacob B Date: 09 Mar 06 - 11:16 PM In eighteenth-century American Colonial dance (and, by implication, English dance of the time as well), the term "rigadoon" referred not to a couple dance but to a step that would be done as part of a country dance. It was a "footing" step, a step that would be done in place facing partner. It is now believed to have been done with a syncopated rhythm. Jacob |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Gurney Date: 09 Mar 06 - 11:43 PM Rigadoon: French dance. Dictionary of Archaic Words. I've always regarded it as one of those words that take any meaning you want it to; stick, bag, penis, loot, etc. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Riggy Doo Date: 10 Mar 06 - 06:05 AM What's a penis? |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Splott Man Date: 10 Mar 06 - 11:27 AM Rigadoo It's what happens when you watch film musicals on a narrow TV screen. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Mo the caller Date: 10 Mar 06 - 04:41 PM We use "rigadoon" as a setting step in some Playford dances. If a rigadoo was a stick I can see the link with knapsacks, I can picture all those fairy story illustrations of the youngest son with his belongings done up in a red-spotted handkerchief which was tied to a stick and carried over his shoulder. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: dozy rozy Date: 10 Mar 06 - 04:59 PM A penis a thing that you write with. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Joybell Date: 10 Mar 06 - 05:20 PM Has any real (as opposed to Faerie-tale) person ever been seen with their belongings tied up in a spotted hankie on the end of a stick? Always thought it was a bit strange. Tied in a bundle on your back would make sense but on the end of a stick? Just wondering. Cheers, Joy |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,thurg Date: 10 Mar 06 - 05:30 PM Not since Paddy - or was it Buddy - quickly looked behind; no bundle did he find, upon his stick a-wobbling - |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Mo the caller Date: 11 Mar 06 - 09:02 AM what would you tie it to if not a stick? |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Guest-Aussie Date: 02 Jul 07 - 10:29 AM Anyone thought of asking 'an Gaeilgeoir' - an Irish language specialist? I've been told "riocht go dubh" means "a black/dirty/dismal shape/state/condition" so {phonetically) rigadoo/rigodoo translates simply as "mess" |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Christhefiddler Date: 03 Jul 07 - 12:54 PM Well, here in Yorkshire a Reet Good Do is a music session with singing and stories as well! |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,jdjantzi Date: 03 May 08 - 03:49 PM Rigadoo is a pushcart used by homeless people. Today's version would typically be a shopping cart. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Anathema Date: 20 May 08 - 06:39 AM "Has any real (as opposed to Faerie-tale) person ever been seen with their belongings tied up in a spotted hankie on the end of a stick? Always thought it was a bit strange. Tied in a bundle on your back would make sense but on the end of a stick? Just wondering. Cheers, Joy " The Swag (which is the word for what you're referring to) is an old Australian tradition. The great wandering peoples of the bushlands of Australia would take to the road with their swag, loaded with some of the more important items they might carry with them, memories from whence they came. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Rowan Date: 20 May 08 - 06:50 PM Mo's question what would you tie it to if not a stick? makes sense if you've never seen a swag. In Oz, a swag is your bedroll and, traditionally, was not bulky the way modern ones are; thy used to be ~6-8" in diameter and 2-3' long when rolled tight. The most comfortable way to carry a traditional swag was to centre it on one shoulder so its weight was balanced fore and aft. These day, with vehicle transport, its rare to see one less than 2' in diameter and 4' wide when rolled up. Rigadoo as a stick rather than as a dance? Many's the time I've danced (in play, mind) with a stick as my partner, so I see no conflict arising from dulcimer's scholarly etymology and others' view of it as a stick. Cheers, Rowan |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Rickguitarpicker Date: 30 Mar 09 - 02:59 PM I tend to follow the reasoning of those with a working knowledge of the Irish. But I think the explanations here, taken within the context of the song, only allows two explanations. First, the song Little Beggarman, or any of the other names it goes by (Red-Haired Boy) mentions "with me pack on me back." so out goes the explanation that the rigadoo is a stick used as a carrying device. And to help out those that want to know how do you keep it on your back, watch the 1922 production of Nosferatu, and you'll see that a pack was actually two packs, or sacks, tied together and slung over the shoulder. This brings us to three explanations: Walking stick, dance, or drum. Where he "slips around the corner with his auld rigadoo" could easily be a dance step, but most versions I've seen say "Singing skin a ma rink (or link) a doodle on me auld rigadoo." To sing on something would likely indicate an instrument of some sort, and the drum fits here. So until we find this guy, we won't really know. Got a time machine? Maybe an Irish nursing home. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Rickguitarpicker Date: 30 Mar 09 - 04:27 PM Update. I am convinced it is a walking stick, not a drum or dance. Here's why: In the song the lyrics are "Singing skin a ma rink a doodle on me auld rigadoo." there are variations on this of course, but I think what the meaning could be is that he's tripping on his walking stick. It's getting in the way sometimes, therefore he's "Singing skinnin' me wrinkled doodle on me auld rigadoo." Obviously, the doodle is the part of his anatomy we shant discuss. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Darowyn Date: 30 Mar 09 - 07:18 PM Or it could be a watsit, a thingy, a doofer, a nonsense word to fill in for a word that one is groping for. The verbal equivalent of playing a joker. Cheers Dave |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: GUEST,Tanja Date: 12 Dec 10 - 08:30 PM My dad told used to tell that rigadoo meant an outside toilet. When I was a child, Dad used to recite a ditty to me, which I have never forgot: 'The cats and the rats they played peek-a-boo, they scratched and they scampered round the old rigadoo' |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: Iona Date: 25 Mar 12 - 02:18 PM So when they say 'I'll buy a pair of goggles' are they talking about the same thing as we'd mean by 'goggles' today? I always have a hard time thinking that the Little Beggarman would want to dress up his lady with a pair of eye protectors that he'd dyed blue. :D |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: MGM·Lion Date: 25 Mar 12 - 11:14 PM Goggles here just means spectacles. In my student days, ex-public-school boys would occasionally recall their old school slang and refer to a spectacle-wearer as a 'gogglehead'. ~M~ |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: meself Date: 26 Mar 12 - 10:37 AM Maybe when he's singing "skinny-ma-rink-a-doodle" on his old rigadoo, he's picking up his stick and pretending it's an electric guitar. He's probably contorting his face in bizarre ways at the same time. |
Subject: RE: Word meaning--rigadoo From: weerover Date: 04 Dec 21 - 07:38 AM According to the sleeve notes provided for a CD of Fred Redden songs, "...a 'rigadoo' is a forked rod used to divine water or metals." The song in which the term is used is "The Bold Watler" and the suggestion is that the literal meaning cloaks an allegorical reference to male genitalia. wr |
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