Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/519

 ii. DEC. 24, '98.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

511

Most of 'nominny" thus :

CHRISTMAS-TUP" (9 th S. ii. 348). The Christmas-tup " is another name for the old tnend 'The Derby Ram,' and under this head with introductory note a complete version is given by the late Llewellynn Jewitt in ' Bal- lads and Songs of Derbyshire '(Derby, Bern- rose & Sons, 18C7). In his note Mr. Jewitt says that Derbyshire folk have "been fond of their Earn for more than a century." He states that the origin has yet to be ascer- tained, and its age is unknown. " The Darby Tup " is in evidence all over the county at Christmas time, arid it is known here in North Notts and Yorkshire immediately adjoining. There are many different render- ings, but the best, as Mr. Jewitt says, is the version he gives in his book. In this district it is called "t'owd tup," "Darby tup," and "a little tup" by the various bands of boys who each Christmas take it round. The lads get themselves up as " guisers," and the "tup" wears a dried ram's head. - ^ -* the boys here begin their

There is a little tup, sir,

A-standin' at your door, An' if you'll have 'im in, sir, He '11 please you all the more. Fayley, fayley, Laddy, faladdy iday. And they end :

An' aw t' owd women i' Darby Came beggin' for his tail,

To ring the Darby passing bell That hangs upon the nail. Fayley, &c.

Mr. Jewitt's version is well worth quoting in full, but it is somewhat too long for 'N. & Q.' I give the commonest version used here because the last verse is different from any other that I have met with, for the " tail " in this is wanted for the purpose of ringing "the Darby passing bell. In Mr. Jewitt's version :

And of this tail so long, sir, 'Twas ten miles and an ell, They made a goodly rope, sir, To toll the market bell.

Daddle-i-dav, daddle-i-day, Fal-de-ral, fal-de'ral, daddle-i-day.

The lads also make "t'owd tup" the centre of a " mummering play," in which there are five chanters besides " t' tup," one of them in woman's dress. In this play there is a good deal of dialogue between the verses, wnich are " sing-song'd." An attempt is made to sell the "tup," which was "bought at Darby." The owner fails to make a bargain, and says, " Then Ah '11 hay sum mutton fer my supper." The fourth actor is a butcher, and here he comes in to " stick t' tup," and is allowed to do so, after he has detailed his ability for the butchering business. The

tup's " right left eye" is "bluffed," and the tup is "stuck":

Th' blood run seven mile, sir,

Seven mile or more ; It turned th' watter wheel, sir, That ne'er war turn'd before.

All the men i' Darby, sir,

Come beggin' for his tail, To ring the Darby bell, sir,

All on a market day.

The fifth character is dressed as a " female

devil ":

In comes owd Betsy Belzebub :

" On my showder Ah carry a club,

In my hand a drippin' pan,

Don't yer think Ah 'm a jolly wo-man ?

Ah '11 sing yer a song,

It 's not very long, But Ah think it 's as good as enny :

Put yer hand i' yer purse,

An' think it no worse, An' give poor owd Betsy some money !

Money Ah want an' money Ah '11 have ;

If yer don't give me money

Ah '11 sweep yer aw t' th' grave ! "

By the way, Derbyshire men call each other " Darby tups ! " " Tha owd tup tha ! " both in appreciation of a "mate" and to express contempt of some of his doings.

Here, and in some parts of Derbyshire, "th' poor owd hoss" is taken round at Christ- mas time, much after the fashion of " t' owd tup," but I have not secured a complete version of the doggerel used.

THOS. RATCLIFFE.

Worksop.

" Tup o' Derby " was such an animal as is required. It was represented by a man going on all fours and wearing the necessary hirsute covering. The ram's horns were often gilded. The words sung by the accom- panying mummers, which endow the ram with abnormal properties, are to be found in a collection of old Derbyshire ballads com- piled by the late Llewellynn Jewitt. The book, though out of print, is still obtainable from second-hand dealers. AETHUE MAYALL.

MIDDLESEX (9 th S. ii. 469, 494). The first of He thinks that the county of London is still n the county of Middlesex because London Parliamentary freehold voters vote in Middle- sex. They vote in Middlesex, Kent, or Surrey Because Parliament never allows a change of voting is regulated by an Act of 1885 ; the iounty of London was created by a later Act. Voters of a county of a city do not vote in when a bit of the adjoining county is added
 * he arguments of W. X. is without weight.
 * ounty to affect Parliamentary elections. The
 * he surrounding county, but in the city. But