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It's hard to get a feel for the difference because we (or most of us) no longer use it. See if this feels right: the "a-" forms an intransitive, naming just the activity of the verb, without a specific object. (In this case it would be conversive of transitivity.)
"Froggy goes a-wooing" vs "Froggy goes wooing the widow next door"
"Papa is a-hunting" vs "Papa is hunting woodsnipe"
But I don't know, and you might well find counterexamples. Just an idea.
Froggy went a-courting, and he did ride-- a woo, a woo,
Froggy went a-courting, and he did ride,
Sword and pistol at his side, a woo, a woo.
(as i recall the wedding party was a tragedy-- a cat came along and ate the bride.... )
I agree, ledasdottir.
I am a-greeing
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone,
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
Kitty alone and I.
There was a frog liv'd in a well,
And a farce mouse in a mill,
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
This frog he would a wooing ride,
Kitty alone, Kitty alone,
This frog he would a wooing ride,
Kitty alone and I.
This frog he would a wooing ride,
And on a snail he got astride,
Cock me cary, Kitty alone,
Kitty alone and I.
... numerous following stanzas
This has a footnote:
Much better known today is the more recent version of this old song that begins:
A frog he would a-wooing go,
Heigh ho! says Rowley,
A frog he would a-wooing go,
Whether his mother would let him or no,
With a rowley, powley, gammon and spinach,
Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley.
The Baring-Goulds state that the original version was printed in Gammer Gurton's Garland, first printed in London in 1784. I have read somewhere that there have been efforts to prove that the later version alludes to some English notable, but I forget what that was all about.
(words, and real audio or midi or aiff files) http://www.smsu.edu/folksong/maxhunter/0085/ the music is not the same.
and the uh hu change with each local dialect.
Musick-- or anyone else--is this one of the song collected by Childs?
Froggy went a courting, he did ride, uh-hu
Froggy went a courting, he did ride
Sword and a pistol by his side, uh-hu
He rode till he came to masters hall, uh-hu
He rode till he came to masters hall
There he did both knock and call, uh-hu
Took Miss Margy on his knee, uh-hu
Took Miss Margy on his knee
Says to her, will you have me, uh-hu
Old uncle Rat, he's gone from home, uh-hu
Old uncle Rat, he's gone from home
And I cain't tell till he's does come, uh-hu
Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat sides, uh-hu
Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat sides
To think his niece would be frogs bride, uh-hu
Old Uncle Rat, he galloped off to town, uh-hu
Old Uncle Rat, he galloped off to town
To buy his niece a wedding gown, uh-hu
Where shall th wedding supper be, uh-hu
Where shall th wedding supper be
Way down yonder in a hollow tree, uh-hu
What shall the wedding supper be, uh-hu
What shall the wedding supper be
Two black beans an' a blue-eyed pea, uh-hu
First came in was an old black bug, uh-hu
Th first came in was old black bug
He had his whiskey in his jug, uh-hu
The next come in was a little black flea, uh-hu
The next came in was a little black flea
Had his fiddle on his knee, uh-hu
Th next came in was an old sly cat, uh-hu
The next came in was an old sly cat
She says, I'll put up a stop to that, uh-hu
Then Miss Mousy started up th wall, uh-hu
Then Miss Mousy started up th wall
Her foot slipped an' she did fall, uh-hu
Th Frog was left a wider then, uh-hu
Th Frog was left a wider then
He swore he never would marry again, uh-hu
Started swimming across th brook, uh-hu
Started swimming across th brook
And an old black snake took him down his crook, uh-hu
You may lay this all upon th shelf, uh-hu
Lay this all upon th shelf
And if you want 'ery 'nother one, you must sing it yourself, uh-hu
I don't know what it's called, but in this case the "a-" is, to me, merely a syllable added to enhance (or perhaps more precisely enforce) scansion. With the a in place you have "JOHN Brown's BOdy LIES a MOULDring IN the Grave." If you take out the a it would be "JOHN Brown's BOdy LIES MOULDERring IN the GRAVE," which does not have the same "foot" print.
I suspect a poet or songwriter would know a word for this added syllable, just as I suspect there really is such a word. After all, we've found a word for just about everything we've ever looked at, thanks usually to tsuwm.
On the subject of John Brown, I lived near Harper's Ferry at one time, and absorbed a bit of the history of John Brown and his ill-fated raid on the armory there. His short-lived rebellion ended in a hanging at which Robert E. Lee was commanding officer of the Army detachment involved in the hanging. Lee was in the US Army at the time, and I'm not certain what his role was, since if I remember correctly the charge for which Brown was convicted and executed was treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Federal Government was only peripherally involved.
I attended an auction in WV about 20 years ago at which there was up for sale the wooden chest Brown sat upon while being transported to his hanging. I actually put in the first bid ($1,000), but it went for far more than that. This auction will figure somewhat peripherally in the plot of my next novel, entitled The Great Copter Caper, though the item up for sale in the story will be not the chest but the wagon itself. In real life the wagon is in a small museum in Charles Town, now West Virginia rather than Virginia.
Iamb your humble correspondent
Ted
TEd
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