Leg over leg, as the dog went to Dover

[conuly]

When he came to a stile
Jump! he went over.


Hangman, stay thy hand
Stay it for a while
For I fancy I see my father
Coming over a stile.


Doggy won't bite pig, pig won't go over the stile, and I shan't get home tonight.


Do you have any idea how many years I languished, reading nursery rhymes and fairy tales, until I gave in and looked up the word stile? Never seen one myself, and still kinda think it's silly - why not just make "leaving the gate open" a hanging offense and be done with it?

Comments

[sayga.livejournal.com]

Every farm I've every been on in England made use of stiles, and some had no gates at all (some have a gate and a stile, which seems silly, but others have only a stile). I guess I've never questioned what it was before, which now that I think about it, I've never seen one in the US...

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

I had a similar problem with "pop quiz" - it seemed to come up in every American book I read, but I couldn't for the life of me work out why these kids had quizzes on pop music at school. When I found out, I wondered why they'd bothered to give them a name; our teachers didn't call them anything.

[conuly]

Torch. Stile, I just didn't understand. Torch, though - I kept picturing kids staying up late reading with an open flame, and wondering how on earth that was safe!

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Around here they use either stiles or a narrow gap in the fence made by setting two posts close together. And it's usually in the other fences besides the one where the gate's at, because sometimes you have to exit the pasture in other directions. They're much easier to build than a whole gate, too. (Think about it--I'd much rather build one gate and three stiles than go through the headache of building four different gates into one field.)

[sayga.livejournal.com]

Every farm I've every been on in England made use of stiles, and some had no gates at all (some have a gate and a stile, which seems silly, but others have only a stile). I guess I've never questioned what it was before, which now that I think about it, I've never seen one in the US...

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

I had a similar problem with "pop quiz" - it seemed to come up in every American book I read, but I couldn't for the life of me work out why these kids had quizzes on pop music at school. When I found out, I wondered why they'd bothered to give them a name; our teachers didn't call them anything.

[conuly]

Torch. Stile, I just didn't understand. Torch, though - I kept picturing kids staying up late reading with an open flame, and wondering how on earth that was safe!

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Around here they use either stiles or a narrow gap in the fence made by setting two posts close together. And it's usually in the other fences besides the one where the gate's at, because sometimes you have to exit the pasture in other directions. They're much easier to build than a whole gate, too. (Think about it--I'd much rather build one gate and three stiles than go through the headache of building four different gates into one field.)