MONDEGREENS. Our family likes to refer to “the dawnser song” in the Ramona books. (It’s Ramona’s understanding of the words of the Star Spangled Banner). RAB in her September 16 post on the “You Knew What I Meant” blog taught me a new word, “Mondegreen”, which refers to the “dawnser song” and other words formed from misunderstandings of song lyrics. Here is a wikipedia article on mondegreens. The word was coined by Sylvia Wright in 1954, based on her own misunderstanding as a child of the lines in a 17th century ballad.
“Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where hae ye been?
They hae slain the Earl O’ Moray,
And laid him on the green”.
Sylvia Wright had heard the last line as: “And Lady Mondegreen.”
Or: “Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where hae ye been?
They hae slain the Earl O’ Moray,
Lady Mondegreen.”