Wick (John More): Week 1 – 17 October

I was reminded the other day of that song—I think it’s from Hamlet—the chorus of which goes, “Back in Nagasaki/ Where the fellers chew tobaccy/ And the women wicky-wacky woo”. It was one of those lyrics that I didn’t understand as a child, a sort of secret handshake for grownups, who, when you asked them what it meant, just used to waggle their eyebrows mysteriously. If you were very unlucky, they might even sing it at you too. I just assumed it was something Japanese women learned as part of geisha training (“Lotus Blossom, full marks on your wicky and your woo, but I’m afraid you just weren’t wacky enough. Try the tea ceremony again, only this time with the clown shoes and the revolving bow tie”).

Narrow boats on the Grand Union Canal

Of course, the lyrics of most songs were a mystery to me as a child. Folk songs in particular were a minefield. I couldn’t understand why the young man who was helping the farm girl look for her spotted cow first laid her down upon her back; it’s the job that’s never started that takes longest to finish, I thought disapprovingly. Nor could I understand why the young maid and the sportsman decided to hunt the bonny black hare under her apron; a most improbable place to find specimen of the genus Lepus, surely. As for the foggy, foggy dew, well, that presented few difficulties: if you wish to avoid dampness and cramps and get a good night’s sleep, obviously it’s best to lie indoors in the warm.

King of the hill

Of course, even I got the meaning behind some songs: anyone wanting their lemon squeezed probably didn’t have pancakes on their mind, and as for playing with their ding-a-ling, well, let’s just say it rang a bell. Even the classic folk and Morris tune The Cuckoo’s Nest didn’t leave a lot to imagination for the budding ornithologist. But then, in most cases, as the saying goes, sometimes a double entendre really only has one meaning…

Northampton Market

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TECHNICAL STUFF

This new gansey project is another pattern charted from an old photograph in the Johnston Collection of Caithness fishermen—in this case, three young boys. The pattern is hard to make out, as the original is a little blurred, but we think it’s a relatively simple combination of chevrons and a variation of moss stitch. But I’ll say more about that in a few weeks when I reach the yoke; meantime, there’s the body to do. This one’s for me, in Graeme Bethune’s Caithness Yarn (natural colour “gansey gold”). I cast on 328 stitches for the welt, knit 4.75 inches of ribbing, and have just increased to 360 stitches for the body, which will be 12 inches of plain knitting.

Finally this week, Judit has shared with us another stunning gansey: she’s taken the George Bremner pattern I recently knit in navy, and has run with it, this time in a light shade which really shows the pattern. It’s going to be a Christmas gift for her grandson, and very splendid it looks. (And can I just say, how great it is to see these old patterns get a whole new lease of life?) Many congratulations again to Judit, and many thanks for sharing this with us, as ever.