Trooper Watering His Nag, The

DESCRIPTION: Euphemistically, a man and a woman describe their sexual organs as a horse (pony) and a fountain. The horse drinks at the fountain, "An' I reckon you know what I mean."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1992 (Legman); the concept is found in 1707 (_Pills to Purge Melancholy_, v.iii p. 55, according to Farmer)
LONG DESCRIPTION: "There was an old woman lived under the hill, And it's green so green the leaves...." "It was a bold trooper rode up to the inn." He beds the woman's daughter. The girl, "fever in her belly," looks over his body and repeatedly asks "what is this here." The man and a woman describe their sexual organs as a horse (pony) and a fountain. The horse drinks at the fountain, "An' I reckon you know what I mean."
KEYWORDS: sex bawdy
FOUND IN: Canada Britain(England(South)) US(MA,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "TROOPER'S HORSE, THE"
Randolph/Legman-RollMeInYourArms I, pp. 44-52, "The Trooper Watering His Nag" (9 texts, 2 tunes)
Gilbert-LostChords, p. 71, "You Know Very Well What I Mean" (1 partial text)
Dallas-TheCruelWars-100SoldiersSongs, pp. 60-61, "The Trooper's Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Purslow-MarrowBones, p. 91, "The Trooper's Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, TROOPNAG* TRPHORSE*
ADDITIONAL: Thomas d'Urfey, Wit and Mirth, or, Pills to Purge Melancholy (New York: Folklore Library Publishers, 1959 (facsimile reproduction of 1876 reprint of the 1719-1720 edition ("Digitized by Internet Archive"))), Vol V, pp. 13-14, "The Trooper Watering His Nagg" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1613
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shoemaker's Kiss" (chorus lyrics)
cf. "Ye Ken Pretty Well What I Mean, O" (lyrics, style)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I Reckon You Know What I Mean
Green Leaves So Green
NOTES [50 words]: I'm tempted to lump this with "Ye Ken Pretty Well What I Mean, O" -- the lyric and sly tone are obviously quite close. But Roud and Ben Schwartz both leave them separate, so I am very tentatively doing the same. But almost all authorities seem to confuse them somehat; you had better see both songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: RL044

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