Rattling Bog

A traditional song so widely varied that tracing an "original" version would be difficult, if not impossible. "Rattlin' Bog" belongs to a family of songs common to several European cultures, with examples noted in Welsh, Breton, Yiddish, and German, as well as several English-language versions from the British Isles and North America, among others. Titles include the traditional Welsh song "Y Pren ar y Bryn" ("The Tree on the Hill"), the Appalachian "The Green Grass Grew All Around", "The Everlasting Circle", "The Rattling Good Yarn", or any number of other pieces. Similar songs and texts have also been noted in Asian cultures. The concept is simple enough that it's often impossible to say with certainty if certain versions are related to others or independent inventions.^[1]

The Longest Johns perform a variant of it on their livestreams, and it is a festival favourite. The lyrics vary in most performances, but the format is cumulative, with each verse growing progressively longer and the tempo increasing throughout, with generally frenetic results.

Factoids

"Rattling" here is a slang usage meaning "remarkably good".^[2] Some folk etymologies claim a connection to Rathlin Island in northern Ireland, but no known evidence supports this claim.

Lyrics

These lyrics are based on the versions performed by the Longest Johns in their livestreams.

{Chorus}
Oh, ho, the rattlin' bog,
The bog down in the valley-oh,
Rare bog, the rattlin' bog,
The bog down in the valley-oh.

And in that bog there was a hole,
A rare hole, a rattlin' hole!
Hole in the bog, and the bog down in the valley-oh

{Chorus}

And in that hole there was a tree,
A rare tree, a rattlin' tree,
Tree in the hole and the hole in the bog and the bog down in the valley-oh

{Chorus}

And on that tree there was a branch,
A rare branch, a rattlin' branch,
Branch on the tree and the tree in the hole...

{Chorus}

And on that branch there was a limb,
A rare limb, a rattlin' limb,
Limb on the branch and the branch on the tree...

{Chorus}

And on that limb there was a nest,
A rare nest, a rattlin' nest,
Nest on the branch and the branch on the limb...

{Chorus}

In that nest there was an egg,
A rare egg, a rattlin' egg,
Egg in the nest and the nest on the branch...

{Chorus}

And in that egg there was a bird,
A rare bird, a rattlin' bird,
Bird in the egg and the egg in the nest...

{Chorus}

And in that bird there was a worm,
A rare worm, a rattlin' worm,
Worm in the bird, and bird in the egg...

{Chorus}

And on that worm there was a tick,
A rare tick, a rattlin' tick,
Tick on the worm and the worm in the bird....

{Chorus}

And on that tick there was a louse,
A rare louse, a rattlin' louse,
Louse on the tick and the tick on the worm...

{Chorus 2x}

Recordings

Gig Videos

Full Band Streams

Chill Streams

JD and Andy Chilltime - 03/02/2020

Gaming Streams

↑ https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=57991
↑ "rattling, adj. and adv." OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2022, www.oed.com/view/Entry/158573. Accessed 29 May 2022.

[1] ttps://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=57991

[2] "rattling, adj. and adv." OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2022, www.oed.com/view/Entry/158573. Accessed 29 May 2022.

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