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KeithD
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 Tupping / Wee Free Men - 2004/04/30 11:05 Spot on, Neil. A tup is a ram. To tup (of a ram) is to copulate (with a ewe, my Chambers helpfully adds for the avoidance of doubt!). It also means to put a ewe to the ram.

The lump of red dye used to be a bag of coloured chalk, if you trust Terry Pratchett (and I do).

Which reminds me: in "Wee Free Men", Terry Pratchett says that the heroine's grandmother sometimes calls her her "jigget", which means "twenty" in the "yan tan tethera" way of counting sheep, because she was her twentieth grandchild. (I have a vague feeling someone posted this before on Topica.) I believe he took a little licence because the action takes place on "The Chalk", which Granny calls "the wold", which is presumably the Kentish Downs. Cracking read, though, full of Pratchett's penetrating insights into universal truths, and not a kids' book despite the marketing and having a nine-year-old heroine.
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Judith
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 Re:In which song were these words? - 2004/04/30 11:11 mcdonaldneal wrote:
I will say now, I havn't checked the facts of this explanation so take it with a pinch. I went to school in Skipton (North Riding of Yorkshire) and many of my friends were farmers sons. Visiting one such friend I saw a 'sheep' with a lump of red dye strapped to it's chest, 'what's all that about, then?' He patiently explained that the young ram was a 'tup' and when they let him loose to do his 'tupping' they needed to know who (or 'ewe') he had tupped (hence the red dye).
Hope that helps (it's probably bollocks).

To the best of my knowledge your explanation is bang on ... (err... so to speak). I've heard the process described often enough to believe it, although I don't recall ever actually seeing a 'tup' with his lump of dye strapped on, in my days of country living . I've seen plenty of ewes with coloured patches on their backs, however. These farmers are practical fellows.

I should go for the peacock variation by the way!
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Malcy
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 Re:In which song were these words? - 2004/04/30 12:08 Peacock Variation ? Is that a similar euphemism to "riding on the other bus" or "bowling from the Pavillion End" ? As in "I hear he opts for the Peacock Variation"... Eranu !
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philreckless
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 Re:In which song were these words? - 2004/04/30 22:54 'Peacock Variation'? Surely we're getting into the realms of Mornington Crescent, here. (Eh, Neil W?).
I'm glad I've managed to steer this topic on to one of my favourite subjects. Dent Brewery has a fine ale called 'T'owd Tup' www.philmcginity.co.uk
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Steve
Visitor
 
 Re:In which song were these words? - 2004/05/14 22:27 Thanx for pointing me in the right direction. There was me thinking that I would just be able to buy the compilation CD that contains "Fine Bay Pony" from HMV ...... but it's unavailable!
Let's hope EMI release another CD. I think their best bet is a complete box set of Jake's stuff, as I would not have thought any person would want to buy a Jake CD without hearing everything else he had done!!!
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aliasmacalias
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 Re:In which song were these words? - 2004/05/15 18:37 Steve, I'd continue to keep my eyes on HMV if I were you - at least here in Edinburgh they usually have Jake cds in abundance in their seemingly perpetual sales and last time I looked I seem to recall that included the 'Easy' cd compilation.

Cheers

Ian I got boogie, boogie, in my socks
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