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Author Topic: 'Maggot'?  (Read 8258 times)

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uofdoboe

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'Maggot'?
« on: September 11, 2012, 02:27:53 AM »

If you'd tolerate a potentially dumb question from an American:

I see a lot of tunes, primarily in the English folk music vein I think, with the word 'maggot' in it.  E.g., "Isaac's Maggot", "Dick's Maggot", "O'Neill's Maggot", etc, etc.  I'm assuming this is some sort of British english slang that's been lost en route.  On this continent, "maggot" is used exclusively to mean the larval stage of a fly, generally not a much-loved creature.  What an earth does this word mean in these tunes' contexts?  You can only imagine the ridiculous pictures the titles conjure up using my definition!
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Steve_freereeder

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2012, 07:34:03 AM »

Far from being 'some sort of British english slang', maggot is a respectable Middle English word meaning a whim or fancy, and was often used in the context of dance music and dance in the 17th and 18th centuries.

See also http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/maggot

There are lots of maggots to be found in Playford's English Dancing Master.
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AnnC

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2012, 07:36:41 AM »

 :D think of it as meaning 'favourite tune' something that sticks in your memory and has you humming it all day .... the 17th century equivalent of our 'earworm'   :||: :D
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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2012, 07:48:33 AM »

On this continent, "maggot" is used exclusively to mean the larval stage of a fly

For completeness, it should be added that we Brits use it with that meaning as well.
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malcolmbebb

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2012, 08:15:45 AM »

On this continent, "maggot" is used exclusively to mean the larval stage of a fly

For completeness, it should be added that we Brits use it with that meaning as well.
I would add that outside of dance and music, that is its normal use. Most people would know it in that context.
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rees

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2012, 09:11:37 AM »

An old English word for bassoon is "faggot" and there is a indeed a tune called "The Faggot's Maggot".

Now that should throw up some different meanings on opposite sides of the Atlantic.  ::)
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Lester

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2012, 09:23:57 AM »

An old English word for bassoon is "faggot" and there is a indeed a tune called "The Faggot's Maggot".

Now that should throw up some different meanings on opposite sides of the Atlantic.  ::)

A faggot is also a bundle of wood or the act of bundling up wood.

It is also a meatball of bits of animals you would not eat if you knew what is they were but are actually really tasty.

Bessie Dodd

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2012, 10:27:59 AM »

Maggot is also a (very) old shortened form of Margaret. No idea why it's not used so much these days...
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Steve_freereeder

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2012, 10:58:20 AM »

Maggot is also a (very) old shortened form of Margaret. No idea why it's not used so much these days...
My friend Margaret has called herself 'Maggit' all her life, as far as I know because when she was a baby and just learning to talk, that's how she rendered her name, and it has stuck for 58 years.

I guess 'Maggot' for Margaret is not too dissimilar from 'Margot'.
(evokes memories of "The Good Life" - ahhhh! Felicity Kendal  :-*  :|bl )
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IanD

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2012, 01:25:14 PM »

An old English word for bassoon is "faggot" and there is a indeed a tune called "The Faggot's Maggot".

Now that should throw up some different meanings on opposite sides of the Atlantic.  ::)

A faggot is also a bundle of wood or the act of bundling up wood.

It is also a meatball of bits of animals you would not eat if you knew what is they were but are actually really tasty.

For a Smiffs meal some years ago Gordon came up with a sort of fusion cooking variation on faggots spiced up with lime and coloured a pale red with (I think) chilli and paprika.

Mainly so he could serve up that dish ever-popular with our American friends... Pinko Limey Faggots :-)

Ian
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Matthew B

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2012, 04:28:19 PM »

there is a indeed a tune called "The Faggot's Maggot"

Don't tease us, give us the dots.
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uofdoboe

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #11 on: September 11, 2012, 05:44:08 PM »

Thanks, all!  Much clearer now.  Sort of a parallel to the term "earworm".  I can stop envisioning 19th century folks with strange and slimy pets when I play these tunes now!
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oggiesnr

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2012, 06:11:29 PM »

And just to link the "Maggots", here's a simple tune I wrote in the style of a Maggot to celebrate the maggots that saved one of my friends having his leg amputated when his foot ulcerated.

X:1
T:Mr MacGillivray's Maggots
C:Steve Ogden
M:3/4
L:1/4
K:G
| : g2d | B>AG | EFG | DEF | G>AB | c>de | d>cB | A3 |
g2d | B>AG | EFG | DEF | G>AB | c>de | dcA | G3 :|
|: gbg | fef | e>ge | dBG | c>de/>c/ | dBG | dcB | A3 |
gbg | fef | e>ge | dBG | c>d(3ecB)|  dBG | d>cA | G3 :|

Steve
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Pete Dunk

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #13 on: September 12, 2012, 12:33:32 AM »

And just to link the "Maggots", here's a simple tune I wrote in the style of a Maggot to celebrate the maggots that saved one of my friends having his leg amputated when his foot ulcerated.

I love the idea that other creatures can feast on our corruption and make us whole again, symbiosis at work! Possible error in your abc Steve, tried to fix it but my logic might be wrong as there are other ways to make the measures correct in a musical sense.  ;)

X:1
T:Mr MacGillivray's Maggots
C:Steve Ogden
M:3/4
L:1/4
K:G
|: g2d | B>AG | EFG | DEF | G>AB | c>de | d>cB | A3 |
g2d | B>AG | EFG | DEF | G>AB | c>de | dcA | G3 :|
|: gbg | fef | e>ge | dBG | c>de/>c/ | dBG | dcB | A3 |
gbg | fef | e>ge | dBG | c>d (3e/c/B/|  dBG | d>cA | G3 :|
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Steve C.

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #14 on: September 12, 2012, 01:56:45 AM »

I really really really want to write a song:  The Faggots Maggot.
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Malcolm Clapp

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #15 on: September 12, 2012, 05:22:02 AM »

No one yet mentioned the Swedish punk band "The Maggots".
But there again, why would you?
Doubt any of them play melodeon, or English dance music, but you never know....   >:E
« Last Edit: September 12, 2012, 05:23:47 AM by Malcolm Clapp »
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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #16 on: September 12, 2012, 09:04:53 AM »

Small confession:  until Dolly May attained the age of 4-5 months her mother used to swaddle her (old fashioned, but recommended) and with her head popping out of the top of a roll of warm cotton blanket she looked like .. let's say she was "Dolly Maggot" for a while  :|glug
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TedK

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #17 on: September 12, 2012, 11:55:51 AM »

I remember reading somewhere that this term (in the sense of "whimsy") may have started from people finding maggots in the brain of dead bodies. Not understanding how they came to be there (as they were not known to be the larvae of flies), they came to believe that brains were partially composed of maggots, or capable of spontaneously generating them.

Sounds unbelievable but this (sort of) fits in with the theory of "Spontaneous Generation", which originated with Aristotle and wasn't entirely discredited until the 19th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation
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Owen Woods

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #18 on: September 15, 2012, 10:29:04 PM »

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oggiesnr

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Re: 'Maggot'?
« Reply #19 on: September 17, 2012, 07:20:08 AM »

And just to link the "Maggots", here's a simple tune I wrote in the style of a Maggot to celebrate the maggots that saved one of my friends having his leg amputated when his foot ulcerated.

I love the idea that other creatures can feast on our corruption and make us whole again, symbiosis at work! Possible error in your abc Steve, tried to fix it but my logic might be wrong as there are other ways to make the measures correct in a musical sense.  ;)


Thanks for the heads up, I've altered the most offending bar by inserting a tilde to approximate what I play.

X:1
T:Mr MacGillivray's Maggots
C:Steve Ogden
M:3/4
L:1/4
K:G
|: g2d | B>AG | EFG | DEF | G>AB | c>de | d>cB | A3 |
g2d | B>AG | EFG | DEF | G>AB | c>de | dcA | G3 :|
|: gbg | fef | e>ge | dBG | c>de/>c/ | dBG | dcB | A3 |
gbg | fef | e>ge | dBG | c>d~d|  dBG | d>cA | G3 :|

Steve
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