Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

I have often wondered about the origins of the old classic fairy tales we all know and love. An Aunt in Los Angeles sent the brother and me three original hardback copies of Andrew Lang’s collection of tales when we were kids, we lent them out to all the other kids in the street and they were in bits when we finally got them back, had they been in the state we got them in they would have been worth a few quid today, but in the days before TV a lot of kids got enjoyment from them and that’s worth a lot.
The Blue Fairy Book (1889) The Red Fairy Book (1890) The Green Fairy Book (1892)

I found an interesting piece on the BBC news site from an article in 2016, no author’s name to credit. Here’s an extract from it.

Fairy tale origins thousands of years old, researchers say

“Durham University anthropologist Dr Jamie Tehrani, said Jack and the Beanstalk was rooted in a group of stories classified as The Boy Who Stole Ogre's Treasure, and could be traced back to when Eastern and Western Indo-European languages split more than 5,000 years ago.
Analysis showed Beauty And The Beast and Rumpelstiltskin to be about 4,000 years old and a folk tale called
The Smith And The Devil, about a blacksmith selling his soul in a pact with the Devil in order to gain supernatural abilities, was estimated to go back 6,000 years to the Bronze Age.
Dr Tehrani, who worked with folklorist Sara Graca Da Silva, from the New University of Lisbon, said: "We find it pretty remarkable these stories have survived without being written.
"They have been told since before even English, French and Italian existed. They were probably told in an extinct Indo-European language."
In the 19th Century, authors the Brothers Grimm believed many of the fairy tales they popularised, including Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel and Snow White, were rooted in a shared cultural history dating back to the birth of the Indo-European language family.
Later thinkers challenged that view, saying some stories were much younger and had been passed into oral tradition, having first been written down by writers from the 16th and 17th Centuries.

Dr Jamie Tehrani said: "We can come firmly down on the side of Wilhelm Grimm.
"Some of these stories go back much further than the earliest literary record and indeed further back than Classical mythology - some versions of these stories appear in Latin and Greek texts - but our findings suggest they are much older than that." BBC news.

My favourite was always Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, and because of my deep creepy voice (I used to do Boris Karloff impressions in the local at Halloween time) I was asked by Fr. Flaherty to voice play the magic mirror in the parish pantomime, these were some of my taped lines that I’ll never forget.

Queen to magic mirror, when she has her doubts about the Huntsman’s account of Snow White’s death.

“Oh mirror mirror tell me tonight
Whatever happened to Snow White?”.
Mirror:
“Snow White lives in a Forest Glen
In a pretty little cottage with seven little Men”

Seems a girl living with seven men was OK back then because nobody objected to the pantomime, and that was back in the sixties, I mean even by today's liberal standards seven men all at the same time is a bit over the top.

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

Seven blokes, one lass, nature is cruel there were bound to be fights.

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

High Ass Crack.

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

That's very interesting about the possible early origins of Faerie Stories.
There is a very popular religious book that originated a few thousand years ago in spoken word only before it was ever writ in the writing of an old dead language, and then re-written in several more long dead languages until translated into just about every language in the world.
I can easily understand a different set of stories starting that way and still being around today, having initially been spoke only, then writ and re-writ and translated and tinkered with to adapt it for a contemporary audience across the millennia.

My parents had a book called Aesops Fables that I enjoyed reading in my younger days.
I even plagiarised one of the stories about a stork removing a bone from the throat of a fox, having been promised a reward only to be told afterwards, "isn't it reward enough to have put your head down the throat of a fox and survived?

I used that as the basis for a short English essay about the saying, "You can't have your cake and eat it", hoping that the English teacher was not familiar with the works of Aesop. I believe I got a good mark.

Did you know that in the "original" version of Snow White by the brothers Grimm, the dwarfs did not have names? That was purely an invention by the US film industry.


Many of these stories were about good versus evil, often being about morals and how people should or shouldn't live.
A Mister Dickens was quite good at that as well.

However, quite often the stories were not as nice and fluffy as current film and book producers will would like you to think.


I believe that in one of the early versions of Sleeping Beauty, the girl was ravished in her slumber by a passing prince, only to awake nine months later to find herself in labour.


As for a young girl (well a female of perhaps indeterminate age) living with seven men, a similar thing happened to a sixteen year old girl/woman (played by a twenty two year old woman) in the film, The Wizard of Oz. Her two best friends were local men much older than she.

If you know my history, then you know I am in no position to comment about relationships between a young girl and a grown man.

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

Hollywood always had their own special way of dealing with fairy tales and history Fruity, but I must admit I loved all of Disney’s interpretations of the tales as a child, always the happy ending that made you feel the triumph of good over evil, and as far as I’m concerned good and evil are alive and still battling it out to this day.

I used to read a lot of biographies of film stars and authors in my earlier years, usually books I borrowed from the library, I like to know more about the person behind the film or book, what makes them tick, I already know what makes me thick— old age and lack of education.
I picked up some little tit bits along the way.

For example, I read that they had to tape Judy Garland’s breasts down when she was making the Wizard of Oz film, and Clark Gable , who had cauliflower ears had to have them sellotaped to the back of his head for some close up love scenes.
I’m imagining Marilyn Monroe kissing Gable in The Misfits “Sorry Clark dear, but your ears are blocking the moonlight from my face” and Fats Waller singing “I don’t love ya cos your ears too big”

My brother and me as kids tried to write a story based on a boy we knew, who when he came to the age to switch from short trousers into “longers” refused to do so, when anyone asked this lad what he wanted to be when he grew up he always said bluntly “I don’t wanna grow up”
Fair play to him, he went on to be a scoutmaster where he could wear his shorts all he wanted.

We were going to write a fairy tale about a tadpole who refused to turn into a frog, but the idea was as far as we ever got.

I’m just a talker and that’ll do me.
I never had the skill nor the persistence needed to write a short story, I’ve tried but I always packed it in after a few sentences, it’s such a lonely task and too much like hard mental labour to me, besides you have to do everything yourself.

That’s probably why I admire and respect all writers, published or unpublished, good or bad, it’s s very brave thing to do, they put themselves on the line for the amusement of others, a noble consideration by all accounts, so long may they continue.

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

Two low down bums fighting.

It was all over after the first round Spitty, “The Doorman” O’Connor had the measure of yerman right from the start, he was just toying with him to draw it out for the crowd after that.

I enjoyed looking at the two board-girls between rounds, lovely figures on the pair of them, they say the day a man stops admiring female beauty is the day to throw in the towel.


I see there was a recent new discovery at Pompeii, they found a complete ceremonial chariot, I also read this

“Mount Vesuvius eruption: Extreme heat “turned man's brain to glass”
Now that’s what you’d call a real pane in the head.

There’s a thought, the shoe manufacturing business must be having a very bad time of it now with nobody going anywhere. Ah but what about those who make slippers says you?, I’ve worn a few pairs out since this thing started, swings and roundabouts I suppose.

I cut me own hair and the daughter cuts the wife’s hair, handy during this pandemic. I like to look respectable and clean even if I can’t get out at present.

I saw this cape thing advertised and thought it was a good idea for saving the hair from going all over the place so I ordered one for the wife and one for meself, you can’t go wrong at only €3 each from Aliexpress.

Maybe you’ve seen these before but I haven’t, I use a black plastic bag opened up as a sheet, but I can never prevent the tiny hairs from getting through at the neck part, very irritating, this thing has a velcro collar so it will secure the neck area much better.
The ladies cape comes in different colours too.

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

Yep Jem, a Fit Bird can get away with murder, take that "High Ass Crack Gal", all the guys are so focused, no one has noticed, she is carrying a "Number Two" above her head, around the ring.

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

Don’t get me started on number two, or even number one for that matter Spitty.
God knows we get enough of those constipation and leaky bladder ads on the TV as it is.
From the old nylon stocking days of running ladders right up to leaky bladders, there’s a poem in there somewhere.

Funny how you don’t see fellas moaning about leaky bladders on the TV.

Carrying a number two around, be it over your head or the usual place can be very frustrating at the best of times.

Those who are regular sh..s, and there are plenty of them around, are blessed, they can plan the dropping off zone well in advance and avoid having to make those excruciating “I gotta go” faces at meetings, outdoor functions, parades, group country walks, etc., the faces are such a give away aren’t they.

Although I knew a fella who looked like that all the time, never a smile, perpetual anxious face that was on the alert at all times, poor soul, horrible way to be when you think about it.

Victor Mature had one of those faces, to me he always looked as if he was in need of sound bowel relief.

“Doctor to patient: “Did you have a bowel movement today?”
“No, me bowel is still in the same place it was yesterday”
Doctor: “Well did you pass water today?”
“Yes, I had to cross the Liffey to get here”

Victor Manure the kids here used to call him back in the Saturday afternoon matinee days.
I remember he starred in a film called “Bad Odour” with Greta Garbage, Dean Fartin, and that German actor Maximum Smell, Engelbert Lumpofstink sang the title song.

Enough of that lot for one day.

Here’s Victor singing a soundtrack song from the film ‘Samson and Delilah” entitled

“Take these chains from my waist and set me free, I’m in agony and I’ve gotta have a pee”

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

Jem, your posts never fail to make me laugh!

You come out with some crackers!

Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)

Thank you Mags for your kind words.


My good wife Phyllis has a habit of “jumping the gun” and answering a question with another question.
I’m well used to it now I can tell you, but it’s harmless, just a habit she’s always had.

For example if I shout into the kitchen when she’s in there and ask is the kettle on, she’s shout back “Why, do you want a cup of coffee?”
Actually today I just wanted some hot water to have a shave because the water in the boiler wasn’t hot enough at that time.

I don’t think people who do this jumping the gun thing mean to be smart or clever, they are just trying to be helpful and sort of pre guess what your asking for, it’s the kind of natural thing one does when talking to folks who have a bad stammer, you are anxious to put the word in their mouth, you are not thinking of yourself only them, and giving a hand to the person stammering.
Phyllis had a sister who suffered from this ailment when they were both growing up.

Here’s an old classic example of answering a question with a question, I just remembered this one from 1961.

A lot of Dublin lads joined the British army during the 1950’s and early 60’s, this was years before the troubles broke out and they all had to travel up to Belfast to enlist.

A cousin of mine, who was never too quick to catch on, was one of those men, but he wasn’t interested in joining the army, he wanted to be in the navy.

He was given the physical examination then sat facing the recruiting officer.

He was asked the usual general questions, and when the officer had the form filled in he said to cousin Joe.

“That looks alright to me Joe, one final question, can you swim?”

“Why?... have yiz no boats?”

For some strange reason the Sea has been on my mind all day, perhaps it was me hearing about the tsunami warning in New Zealand on the news? who knows how the mind works.