Little Piece of Whang, The

DESCRIPTION: When the Lord sewed up Adam and Eve, He measured wrong, leaving Adam with a little piece of whang, and Eve with a gap. Ever since then, men have sought to lend women a bit of the whang to fill the gap.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph/Legman-RollMeInYourArms I, pp. 496-498, "The Little Piece of Whang" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8384
NOTES [112 words]: Legman provides citations to a number of folktale antecedents to the modern bawdy song in Randolph/Legman-RollMeInYourArms I. - EC
The earliest of said folktales is apparently found in de Verville's "Le Moyen de Parvenir" (1610). However, one can find something rather similar as far back as Plato. The reference in the song is, of course, to Gen. 2:21-22.
Arnold Kellett, The Yorkshire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition, and Folklore, revised edition, Smith Settle, 2002, p. 197, says that in Yorkshire dialect "whang" or "wheng" means tough leather, or a thong or bootlace." I don't know if that is related to the usage in this song, but I feel as if it should be. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: RL496

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