Talk:Wind the Bobbin Up

I was informed by an elderly woman who practiced traditional spinning and weaving that this rhyme depicts the actions of a craft weaver. Firstly the wool is teased on the spinning wheel by the pulling (the clapping being the frequent need to slap the fibres off your hands). The thread is spun onto a bobbin by winding it up the bobbin and then "back again" down the bobbin. The thread is then transferred onto a shuttle for the weaving. The thread goes onto the shuttle in a figure of 8 movement which necessitates the shuttle firstly pointing from the ceiling to the floor then to the sides (the "window and door"). At the end of the days work the weaver would indeed clap his or her dusty hands together before resting their doubtless tired hands down on their knees.

This is apocryphal but I feel it is of interest.

Ellis Pike — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.192.4.48 (talk) 13:29, 13 June 2019 (UTC)

I've 'known' it to be about winding a bobbin from a sewing machine/weaving for 30+ years. Also it's been a children's action song since at least the '80s (don't remember the version from my childhood having the point to the ceiling/point to the floor bits, just singing about winding a bobbin & the winding hand actions). 78.145.14.144 (talk) 02:46, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

Possibly originates from Yorkshire Mill Towns
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/lifestyle/denis-kilcommons-how-yorkshire-rhymes-4926854 78.145.14.144 (talk) 02:43, 17 August 2020 (UTC)