Talk:Hedgehog song
I don't think it's a filk at all. It's an original song, not a parody of anything (except maybe ribald old folk songs with dozens of verses generally.) --Old Dickens 17:56, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
In the news
Environment Minister Rory Stewart recently spoke eloquently against a proposal to make the hedgehog Britain's national animal symbol. Naturally, you don't want to upset the lions but the Minister did not acknowledge the hedgehog's impenetrability. --Old Dickens (talk) 18:02, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
A competitor
The five-toothed sea cucumber may be unknown on Discworld. --Old Dickens (talk) 00:22, 18 March 2020 (UTC)--Old Dickens (talk) 00:22, 18 March 2020 (UTC)
The hedgehog song - from 1956
I was browsing The Horntip Collection of folklore and I chanced across this 1956 publication Lusty limericks and bawdy ballads by Dick Harde. (actually written by a pair of numismatic pederasts, but that's besides the point)
On page three you'll find the drinking song "the hedgehog song" pertaining to how "the hedgehog had never been buggered at all". I'd always assumed Pratchett had written it as a throwaway gag, but the similarities are striking enough that it feels more likely to be a reference than a coincidence.
This specific book is just a written collection of existing drinking songs, so it's possible he could have read or heard it somewhere other than here, although I can't find this version of the song referenced elsewhere.
I can't find anywhere that Pratchett ever disclosed an inspiration or reference for the hedgehog song, but could this have been it? Has he ever said anything to the contrary? Is there any way this could be verified? (Unsigned comment by Iamleo 2 Feb 2021)
- It's mentioned in the Annotated Pratchett File under Wyrd Sisters, but the link here is useful since it's so hard to find the text Leo says is in a mysterious "chapter 5". There's never any way to verify the source of an idea; even when TP was alive, he lied. --Old Dickens (talk) 02:05, 3 February 2021 (UTC)
- Are "numismatic pederasts" those who say: "Recent coins! Bugger them!"? Just wondering. --Old Dickens (talk) 03:48, 3 February 2021 (UTC)