Notes and Queries, Number 28, May 11, 1850 by Various
page 40 of 67 (59%)
page 40 of 67 (59%)
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"_A Frog he would a-wooing go_."--In answer to the inquiry of "B.G.J."
(in No. 25, p. 401.), as to the origin of "'Heigh ho!' says Rowley," I do not think it is older that thirty of thirty-five years, when Liston sang an altered version of the very old song,-- "A frog, he would a-wooing ride, With sword and buckler by his side," and instead of the usual chorus[5], inserted "Heigho, says Rowley," as burthen. Liston's song was published by Goulding and Co., Soho Square, entitled "The Love-sick Frog," with an original air by C.E.H., Esq. (_qy._ Charles Edward Horn?), and an accompaniment by Thomas Cook. The first verse is as follows:-- "A frog he would a-wooing go; 'Heigh ho!' says Rowley; Whether his mother would let him or no, With a rowly, powly, Gammon and spinach, 'Heigh!' and Anthony Rowley," R.S.S. April 23. 1850. [Footnote 5: In my interleaved copy of Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_, I have the original song of the "Frog and Mouse" with three different |
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