Re: William poems

Posted by ESC on December 02, 2004

In Reply to: William poems posted by Word Camel on December 02, 2004

: : : Help! I understand it's meaning....but where did it derive? I have also heard "nail your hide to the wall" but after reseaching....I find nothing. The closest I came was "nailing your colors to the Mast" but I don't think its the same. Thanks!!!

: : Guess here. People would nail the hides of animals to a wall so the hides wouldn't shrink.

: Maybe it's a more crass version of "nail your hide...". On a lighter note, this reminded me of the "Little Willie poems"

: I have not been successful in finding the author, but I'll post them anyway because there is nailing involved. From what I can find, they are American. They're obviously old, because this sort of thing wouldn't be allowed in Children's literature today. Finally, I'm fond of them because they are ironic without being cynical.

: On Nailing...

: Willie, with a thirst for gore,
: nailed his sister to the door.
: His mother said, with humor quaint,
: "Willie, dear, don't scratch the paint!"

: And two more just for fun:

: Down the family wishing well
: Willie pushed his sister Nell.
: She's there yet, because it kilt her.
: Now we have to buy a filter.

: Willie saw some dynamite.
: Couldn't understand it quite.
: Curiosity seldom pays.
: It rained Willie seven days.

: Camel

Somewhere I have a moldy (it was taken to Girl Scout camp once) reference book with children's taunts, songs, etc. It has gruesome little rhymes like the above.

• And there is also Mummy mummy Keith Rennie 02/December/04