It was originally a First World War song about a specific farmer in Ohio, it was very popular in the trenches, since it reminded soldiers of home and the promise of returning to their simpler agricultural lives. It was later turned into a generic farmer from no specific location, and the refrain was changed to nonsensical vowel sounds to match the rhyming scheme.
"Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had some dogs in Ohio-i-o,
With a bow-wow here, and a bow-wow there,
Here a bow, there a wow, everywhere a bow-wow."
The next six verses were: some hens (cluck cluck), some ducks (quack quack), some cows (moo moo), some pigs (oink oink), some cats (meow meow), and a donkey (hee-haw).
It's a spell to conjure a demon with the properties of all the different farm animals, which will rise from the depths of Hades to conquer the world and prepare it for the coming of the dark lord Satan.
Just a bit of nonsense to pad out a melody. Old folk songs borrowed bits from here and there and scrambled them up as they floated around among the singers. Take these examples:
1917: "Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o"
1922: "Old Missouri had a mule, he-hi-he-hi-ho"
You can see how that second one leads to E-I-E-I-O.
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It was originally a First World War song about a specific farmer in Ohio, it was very popular in the trenches, since it reminded soldiers of home and the promise of returning to their simpler agricultural lives. It was later turned into a generic farmer from no specific location, and the refrain was changed to nonsensical vowel sounds to match the rhyming scheme.
"Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o,
And on that farm he had some dogs in Ohio-i-o,
With a bow-wow here, and a bow-wow there,
Here a bow, there a wow, everywhere a bow-wow."
The next six verses were: some hens (cluck cluck), some ducks (quack quack), some cows (moo moo), some pigs (oink oink), some cats (meow meow), and a donkey (hee-haw).
It's a spell to conjure a demon with the properties of all the different farm animals, which will rise from the depths of Hades to conquer the world and prepare it for the coming of the dark lord Satan.
It is a Wiccan Rede.
No meaning. It was just easy to say and memorable.
Just a bit of nonsense to pad out a melody. Old folk songs borrowed bits from here and there and scrambled them up as they floated around among the singers. Take these examples:
1917: "Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o"
1922: "Old Missouri had a mule, he-hi-he-hi-ho"
You can see how that second one leads to E-I-E-I-O.
I didn't think it meant anything but maybe someone here on YA can tell us different.
It's short for elephants incredibly eat insects and ograsm