Lyr Req: Capt Woodstock's Courtship (Ian & Sylvia)

14 Mar 99 - 07:10 PM (#63032)
Subject: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Allan Samuels

The courtship Of capt woodstock by Ian and Sylvia. I've got all the words but one phrase!! And as many times as I listen I can't quite make out that one. Sung by Sylvia. (and I have looked in the DATABASE!) "Now answer my questions all, Before I'll lay one night with you and Aye (or neigh?)the starforth??? or starbord? Wall"

And what does it mean????

Thanks all....Allan

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14 Mar 99 - 07:17 PM (#63033)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From:

Try search at top right for Capt. Wedderburn's Courtship in DT (Child ballad)

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14 Mar 99 - 08:49 PM (#63053)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Liam's Brother

Hi Allan!

It's difficult when you ask for the words exactly as sung by a particular singer(s), especially when it's from a recording made in the 1960s. As it happens, I have the LP you ask about but it's in storage and some miles away.

My guess on this is that the words you're looking for are "before I'll lay one night with you at either stock or wall."

My recollection is that Ian and Sylvia sing this very fast making your job harder. These words should work for you however.

All the best, Dan Milner

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14 Mar 99 - 09:29 PM (#63063)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Lonesome EJ

Dan M is right, Sylvia sings "at either stock or wall."

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14 Mar 99 - 11:07 PM (#63082)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: lesblank

For 25 years I've heard "before I lay one night with you and eye the stark four walls". Hope this helps, Doc !

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15 Mar 99 - 01:38 AM (#63110)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Allan Samuels

Thanks all....I did check the other song in the data base. Still not sure what she means..stock (in bed, sounds kinky!).....but I can live with the mystery of it.

Les...thanks especially for the growing, changing and therefore "folk" tradition of passing along a personal version!

My nephew used to sing one line from "God Bless America" with these words..."stand beside her, and guide her, through the night with a light from a bulb"

Allan

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15 Mar 99 - 10:20 AM (#63161)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Felipa

See also the following threads in the archives: help with vocabulary

Priest unborn

You and I in One Bed Lie

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15 Mar 99 - 08:53 PM (#63286)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Susan of DT

At either stock or wall:
This is just which side of the bed she won't lie on with him - either the bedstock (ie outside) or against the wall.

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15 Mar 99 - 09:25 PM (#63290)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Bruce O.

I can't remember where I saw an account of this. My fuzzy recollection is that, the beds of the time being narrow, the favored position was next the wall, so that the one there wouldn't get pushed out if the other started thrashing around in the night. Murray on Saltspring could undoubtably tell us more about this (or correct me).

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15 Mar 99 - 09:27 PM (#63291)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Lonesome EJ

Good job, Susan! I have wondered about the meaning of that line for some time.It's also rather amazing that our forebears actually had names for the sides of the bed.

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15 Mar 99 - 09:33 PM (#63293)
Subject: RE: Lyric, Capt Woodstock's Courtship-Ian & Sylvi
From: Bruce O.

Favored position for sleeping, that is.

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28 Jul 10 - 10:03 PM (#2954205)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Capt Woodstock's Courtship (Ian & Sylvia)
From: GUEST,F. Beal

I always sang "before I'll lay one night with you at either stucco wall."

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17 Jun 14 - 07:16 PM (#3634084)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Capt Woodstock's Courtship (Ian & Sylvia)
From: GUEST,diplocase

"At either stock or wall"
Beds in cold countries were often heavily curtained or partially enclosed. There sometimes was a canopy (tester) suspended over the bed, and heavy bed curtains all around, to retain the body heat of the occupants. When the bed could be placed head to the wall, which requires a fairly large bedroom, then both sides of the bed would be accessible. If the bed has to be placed against the wall, however, as it must be in the typically small room used as a private bedroom, then one sleeping spot is against the wall and one is on the outside. Typically, the man slept on the outside so that he could respond in an emergency, see the door, and reach his weapons, and the woman slept on the inside, where it was warmest. I haven't found a reference for calling the outside the stock, but I speculate that the outside was called the 'stock' because it was often lined with chests for valuables and clothes, which served as a step up to what was usually quite a high bed platform, and they provided a place for visitors to sit--people received visitors in their bedrooms more freely when houses were smaller.

In Scotland this tradition was taken to the extreme of building a wooden box accessed on one side only, at the head. These box beds were common in Scotland from the 14th century, but are part of a much older nordic tradition. You can see the remains of a stone box bed built right into the wall at one of the excavated houses at Scara Brae.

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17 Jun 14 - 11:10 PM (#3634142)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Capt Woodstock's Courtship (Ian & Sylvia)
From: Howard Kaplan

There is still an original box bed on view in the Tenement House museum in Glasgow. (Note that a "Tenement" was a comfortable middle class flat in a multi-unit building, with none of the connotations of poverty the word later acquired in places like New York City.) This bed was essentially built to fill a small closet, and it could be entirely hidden behind a closed door. I believe that the building dates from around 1890, and the museum part is interpreted as mid-20th-century. In fact, the rest of the building is still occupied by current residential tenants.

There's a photo of the bed on the Trip Advisor site, found here. (There's no direct link to the bed photo; you'll need to click the miniature version to see an enlargement.) The image is also near the center of the page here. In either case, look for the photo with an interior door in the center of the background.

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