'Local Rustic Rhymes'
A Talk given to
Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves Local History Group
November 2000
By
Brian Axon
'I'll sing you a song
It won't be very long
But I'll sing it as pretty as any.
Put your hand in your pocket
And pull out your purse
And give a poor ploughboy a penny'
The speaker at the November 2000 meeting of the Local History Group was the Rev. K. Wayne from East Leake. His fascinating subject was 'Local Rustic Rhymes' One of these was the above 'story' which apparently emanated from Woodhouse Eaves many years ago, probably in the days when a poor ploughboy could take a young shepherdess out for the evening, and still have change from his penny!
Many of these rhymes go back as far as 300 and possibly 400 years in their origins, quite a lot of which made references to villages in Leicestershire, some were favourable, while other villages sometimes received rather dubious reputations, which hopefully have improved in the last 300 years. For example: '
Markfield on the hill.
Newtown in the vale,
Groby for silly beggars,
Ratby for ale!'
Sorry about that Groby!
A rhyme that Rev. Wayne was not aware of came to light during the meeting:-
'If you can see Billesden Coplow from Woodhouse Eaves, it's going to rain.
If you cannot see Billesden Coplow, it is raining'.
Also, we discovered that Woodhouse Eaves appears to be known in some villages as 'Crowtown', with the villagers being known as 'Crows'. Why? Does anybody know the answer to this?
If you can remember any "Local Rustic Rhymes" rhymes or know why we are called "Crowtown" then please let us know by emailing :-
Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves Local History Group
