Monday, March 31, 2014

A Farting Contest

Catch that Catch can, or A Choice Collection of Catches, Rounds & Canons for 3 or 4 Voyces Collected & Published by John Hilton (London: John Benson & John Playford, 1652), p. 64 (attributed to "Mr. William Ellis"):
My Lady and her Mayd upon a merry pin,
they made a match at farting, who should the wager win.
Jone lights three Candles then, and sets them bolt upright,
with the first fart she blew them out,
with the next she gave them light.
In comes my Lady then with all her might and maine,
and blew them out, and in, and out, and in, and out againe.
Also (without music, without author's name, and with slight differences) in An Antidote Against Melancholy: Made Up in Pills. Compounded of Witty Ballads, Jovial Songs, and Merry Catches (London: Mer. Melancholicus, 1661), p. 86.

Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. pin, n.1, phrase P1.a:
in (also on) a (merry, etc.) pin : in a (good, etc.) mood or state of mind; of a disposition indicated by the modifying word.

No comments:

Post a Comment