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31 Mar 10 - 12:35 PM (#2876557) Subject: Folklore: Henry & Liza From: CeltArctic You are probably all familiar with the kids song: There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole. Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it... And so on. I was having a conversation with someone the other day about My fair Lady. It occurred to me that the main characters were also called Henry and Liza. Do Mudcatters think this is a coincidence, or do you think that the play is somehow vaguely linked to the children's verse? Just curious, Moira Cameron |
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31 Mar 10 - 07:47 PM (#2876961) Subject: RE: Folklore: Henry & Liza From: GUEST,Bob Coltman Well, Bernard Shaw wrote the play that was adapted as My Fair Lady. "There's a Hole in My Bucket" is of German Hessian extraction, is not found in Britain as far as I know, but is local to the Mahantongo Valley area in the Pennsylvania Dutch country — see http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=75327 — So I'd say the chances are vanishingly slim that Shaw ever heard the song, or that the song could ever have had anything to do with the play. After all, there are quite a lot of Henrys and Lizas/Elizabeths in the world ... it's not an unlikely pairing of names. Bob |
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31 Mar 10 - 08:05 PM (#2876967) Subject: RE: Folklore: Henry & Liza From: CeltArctic Someone told me the song originated in Ireland. I actually thought it was Canadian, from the East Coast singing tradition. Does anyone know if there are versions from across the pond? |
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01 Apr 10 - 03:04 AM (#2877143) Subject: RE: Folklore: Henry & Liza From: Snuffy It's just as likely to be about Henry VIII and his clever daughter, Elizabeth I |
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01 Apr 10 - 03:12 AM (#2877150) Subject: RE: Folklore: Henry & Liza From: Geoff the Duck Henry the Eighth - not noted for blunt axes... Quack! GtD. |