Virgins on the ridiculous

[undyingking]

I guess you're all probably familiar, if only by repute, with the traditional song that starts:

Four-and-twenty virgins came down from Inverness;
And when the ball was over, there were four-and-twenty less.

It will not have escaped the sharp-eyed, though, that the second line contains what some consider a grammatical solecism.

I suggest the following improved version:

Four-and-twenty virgins came down from Invermuir;
And when the ball was over, there were four-and-twenty fewer.

Alternatively:

Four-and-twenty virgins came down from Invergordon;
And when the ball was over, there were four-and-twenty more o'dem.

(although arguably that one doesn't make much sense…)

Any more for any more? I guess it doesn't necessarily have to begin with 'Inver', probably any town somewhere in the Highlands would do.

Comments

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

I apologise for the crudeness, but since no one else has contributed yet:

Four and twenty virgins came down from Inverclyde
And when the ball was over they had four and twenty rides.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, maybe everyone's out picketing Vodafone... (or maybe just ignorning this as beneath their contempt)

This is a good one, very much in the spirit of the original!

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

And and!

Four and twenty virgins came down from Aberdeen
And now the ball is over, there's no virgins to be seen.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Ah, good shift of tense.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

(Four and twenty virgins came down from Aberdeen;
The Earl O'Moray caught them with the Lady Mondegreen.)

[ninthcouncil.livejournal.com]

Four and twenty virgins came down from Aberdour,
But once the ball had started they were gone within the the hour. ;)

I think it rhymes as long as both lines are pronounced consistently...

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

We need a native Highlander to record a reading of each of these, ideally.

Four and twenty virgins came down from Aberfeldy,
But that required a rhyming that was rather unwi-eldy.

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

That is pedantary of the highest order, getting in the way of one of the truly well known english vernacular lyrics.

You should be ashamed of yourself :-)

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Don't blame me, blame the people who leapt all over me last time I posted about this particular pedantry!

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

Ouch! And you went back?

I think it is one where live usage is different to the rules (and not just when being "sloppy"): Even for countables, "less" often sounds better to me, particularly for a relative comparison.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, good point re relative comparison, I think in practice 'less' would be almost always be preferred there.

(Reworded because it kept coming out like a joky point about wanting less relatives. Which was not my intent, although on another occasion it might have been.)

[jackfirecat.livejournal.com]

Four-and-twenty came up from Brighton
And when the ball was over, four-and-twenty went on

[(Anonymous)]

You don't have to look that far. The song is entitled "The Ball of Kerrymuir" (Or sometimes "The Ball of Ballyknure"), both of which can be made to rhyme with "fewer", especially in an affectedly Scottish accent, so all you have to do is say "... came down to [Kerrymuir]" rather than "... came down from Inverness", and Bob's yer Mother's brother.

Vulgar Rugby Songs is something of an area of expertise of mine, although I rarely get called upon to demonstrate that these days (I don't drink as much as I used to, and I haven't been to a bike rally for years).

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

You probably guessed (you did last time I inadvertently posted anonymously), but that was from me!

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Thinking about it, I once started to write a ditty with a Gloranthan theme, entitled "Four and Twenty Storm-Khans Went Up to Dragon Pass"*, but I never managed to finish it.

*"And each bestrode a hairy beast, upon his hairy arse!" (in case you wondered).

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I did hazard a venture that it might be, yes...