quote:

Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire

Ah, I must have misremembered. "Wooden hill" makes much more sense!

Does anyone know how far back the saying goes? Vera Lynn must have got it from somewhere???

Great question, Purpletoe, and it's always nice to see new people here.

quote:

Originally posted by Proofreader:

quote:

Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire

Here are the lyrics

Listen to the song here.

From Wikipedia

quote:

On 13th September 2009, Dame Vera became the oldest living artist to make it into No. 1 in the UK album chart, at the age of 92. Her collection We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn entered the chart at number 20 on 30th August, and then climbed to number 2 the following week, before reaching the top position.[7] In doing this, she beat out the re-mastered Beatles' album of songs.[8] In its third week the album went gold with sales of over 100,000.

From The AnswerBank.

quote:

• Marsh
  (Mon 00:46 16/May/05)
  
  "Up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire" was Vera Lynn's first recorded song, on the Crown label in 1936. I haven't managed to locate the lyrics, I'm afraid.
  
  
• 
  Octavius
  (Tue 14:43 17/May/05)
  
  It was a nursery rhyme before Vera got her hands on it, and it and changed it. Originally it was Blanket Fair, not Bedfordshire it went:
  
  UP THE WOODEN HILL TO BLANKET FAIR
  
  Up the wooden hill to Blanket Fair,
  What shall we have when we get there?
  A bucket full of water,
  And a pennyworth of hay,
  Gee up, Dobbin, all the way!
  
  
• Octavius
  (Mon 12:23 23/May/05)
  
  I would guess that blanket fair refers to the bedding.
  Perhaps the version you heard was...
  Up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire
  And down Sheet Lane to Blanket Fair

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,

Vera Lynn must have got it from somewhere?

She got the lyrics and the music from the chaps who wrote the song, Nixon Grey and Reg Connelly, (link). Phyllis Robins and Judy Shirley both covered the song in 1936 as well. It wasn't until the '60s of the last century that recording artists started to write their own songs to record. Most relied on professional song writers.

Blanket Fair was the name of an actual fair held on the Thames during the great frost of 1683-4 (link). It also seems to have become a dialectal term for bed (link).

[Corrected typo.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

To get back to the original subject, here is something (middle of page) that may be connected.

quote:

Originally posted by neveu:
That's a new one for me. I've heard of choking the chicken, and that probably explains the peculiar look.

You rock, guy. That has to be the explanation.

quote:

Originally posted by Proofreader:

quote:

Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire

Here are the lyrics.

If you want to see a horribly-designed website, click on the link at the bottom of the page.

Sure nailed it with the "horribly designed Website" comment--someone wants flogging.
BTW Vera Lynn's singing chokes me up to this day. What a motivator! "We'll meet again/Don't know where, don't know when". Oh man I'm a mess.