When I got home today the fan had something to show me. He had been flicking through tune books and had stumbled across The Rock and the Wee Pickle Tow. Predictably it isn't quite like either version I have. More importantly the book (it's Traditional Scottish Fiddle Playing compiled by C Martin) gives a little bit of info about the tune which clears up the mystery of the title. It says: "The 'rock' means the spinning wheel and the 'wee pickle' a small piece of prepared flax". Apparently there were "rocking meets" when spinners gathered to spin - like a sewing bee or a knit and natter.
I like knowing what the title means. It's also always especially nice to find two of my interests intersecting. I've never (successfully) done any spinning, but I potentially have an opportunity to learn, albeit on a spindle, in the next couple of weeks.
I also like it when one small piece of information proves the key to finding more. Once I knew a rock was a spinning wheel it was only a moment or two before I found a Robert Burns poem about spinning that uses the word "rock" in this context.
Then I've immediately found two more sources that identify the rock as a distaff - still for spinning, but definitely not a wheel.
Ramblings of an easily distracted learner piper
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