In yesterdays Daily Mail there was an article on a newly published book - adapted by Deborah Collcutt from 'Pop Goes The 'Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes' by Albert Jack. I was interested to read the following explanation of one old rhyme as the line is found on some old lace bobbins.
"There has been much debate over the years about the meaning of Pop Goes The Weasel. A hugely popular music-hall song, its memorable and seemingly nonsensical lyrics spread like wildfire throughout Victorian London. But is there more to the rhyme than meets the eye? In the 1680s, the poor and immigrants lived outside the walls of the City of London in Spitalfields, Hoxton and Shoreditch and slaved away in London's textile industry, which was based there. Packed with sweatshops, it was also the site of many music halls and theatres. In the textiles industry, a spinner's weasel was a mechanical thread-measuring device in the shape of a spoked wheel, that accurately measured out yarns by making a popping sound to indicate the correct length had been reached. The mind-numbing and repetitive nature of the work is captured in the final line of each verse, indicating that whatever you were doing, or wherever your mind had wandered to, reality was never far away with the weasel to pop you alert again." Very interesting! Diana in Northants - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
