On 17 March 1999 6:23, omega wrote to me:
(Subject: Conspiracy theories)
| I forgot to supply Brian with some evidence of
| extreme-leftie-loony conspiracy theories. I am
| reading a book full of them at the moment:
| "Hidden Agendas" by John Pilger; Vintage;
| ISBN 0 099 74151 2.
| Here is some mind food as well to exercise
| Tunnel Vision minds; it requires a little thought to
| find the real meaning, even though it is a nursery rhyme; but
| in the days when people thought
| instead of merely repeating slogans, they came up with
| some mind food that has lasted through centuries,
| instead of millisecond SoundBits designed for slogan-thinkers:
| All around the Mulberry bush the Monkey chased the Weasel.
| The Monkey thought it was all in fun; pop! goes the Weasel.
* * *
This seems like a fanciful variant of the London street song which goes:
"Half a pound of tuppeny rice, half a pound of treacle.
That's the way the money goes -
Pop! goes the weasel"
Recording the need for many to make ends meet by pawning ("popping")
some small garment (weasel).
This has absolutely no connection with Shakespeare's "The weazel Scot
Comes sneaking, and so sucks the princely egg." (Henry V, i, 2) !
While (unsuccessfully) trying to source the Pop! verse in Brewer's
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, I found the following, which might be
useful in Omega's repertory.
"To catch a weasel asleep. To expect to find a very vigilant person
nodding, off his guard; to suppose that one who has his weather-eye open
cannot see what is passing before him."
Regards
Brian Jenkins
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