Lover's pillar

Posted by Joe on October 27, 2009 at 18:42

In Reply to: Lover's pillar posted by RRC on October 27, 2009 at 15:27:

: : Hello. I'm looking for the origin and meaning of the phrase "lover's pillar", used in the lyrics to Yours, Yours, Yours duet sung between John and Abigail Adams in the musical, 1776. I cannot find anything other than references to the song itself on the web. Thank you.

: In my opinion, this version of the lyrics is a mondegreen. I just listened to the soundtrack on Napster and the lyric is (sung by the male character John Adams to his wife Abigail):
: Do you still smell of vanilla and spring air?
: And is my favorite lover's pill-uh still firm and fair?
: There's no 'r' sound. The word is more likely "pillow" using the less common pronunciation in order to give a rhyme to "vanilla". It makes sense that he would ask if her "pillow" (breast) was still firm and fair (I'm hoping Abigail doesn't have a "pillar").
: Lyrics sites are mostly volunteer transcriptions and they copy material from each other. If you search for "June is Bustin' Out All Over" from "Carousel", you will find several versions talking about "doubtin' tonuses" where it should say "doubtin' Thomases".

This is simply dialect of the region (New England) and of the Adams'era. I was born in Cambridge and schooled in Newport.

Also it is Welsh-English as in:
www.yek.me.uk/ gmsynlex.html
pillow (as pillar; and so most such -ow words),

and you know my Mum was Welsh from earlier posts.
John Adams was descended from a Welsh male line called Ap Adam. Amazing that this is noted noted
in discussions of the song.

From Franklin to Lowell: A century of New England pronunciation ...ý - Page 233
Charles Hall Grandgent - Foreign Language Study - 1895 - 33 pages

... now very prevalent in eastern New England after a, a, o, especially when the
next ... calk cork, dust durst, father farther, fuzz furze, pillow pillar. ...

Dialect notesý - Page 233
American Dialect Society - Foreign Language Study - 1896

[Also very common in New England and Michigan, where let's is hardly used except
as a result of education.] pillow pronounced like pillar ...

Joe Cymraeg or y Gymraeg