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tamarack'er down
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:tamarack-er-down, tamarack 'er down, tamarac' er down
v. — Atlantic Canada, Social customs
to engage in lively dance.
Type: 5. Frequency — Tamarack'er down was a phrase often heard in the Englishes of Eastern Canada during celebrations that included upbeat, spirited dance sessions. The word tamarack is a name for a type of larch tree, Larix laricina, found in most parts of Canada and some parts of the US (see COD-2, s.v. "tamarack"). Because its wood was often used for floorboards, tamarack'er down was a call to dance so vigorously that the floor gets pounded down (see the 2008 quotation). DNE lists "break'er down" and "wallop'er down", which are similarly used in the context of dance (see DNE, s.v. "break'er down" & "wallop'er down"). The expression is currently a popular choice for song titles on fiddle music albums, because of its associations with square dancing and acoustic instruments (see the 1964 and the third 2014 quotations). Internet search results indicate that tamarack'er down appears most frequently in Canada (see Chart 1). Tamarack derives from an Algonquian word for 'wood for making snowshoes' (see tamarack).
See: tamarack
Quotations
1961
. . . on a Saturday night . . . the lads would "tamarac 'er down" on the old pine floor.
1964
Yet on Saturday nights the gay spirit of the French Canadian or Irish lumberjack would forget the toil of the week and "tamarac 'er down" to the music of fiddles, mouth organs or bones.
1976
The dance, like the dinner, is characterized by a high level of verbal interplay between musicians and dancers, dancers and spectators, and spectators and musicians; calls of "Let 'er go!", "Let 'er rip!", and "Tear your hide!" replace the older "Tamarack 'er down!", and there is much whooping and yelling.
2008
"We're gunnoo get rightoutaver and tamarack 'er down!" The term refers to the local use of tamarack (a variety of larch, i.e., Larix laricina) for hardwood flooring, and typical usage implies such energetic dancing as to literally pound down the floorboards. The popularity (if not the origin) of the term has been attributed to the late Walter Tomkins of CJCJ Radio in Woodstock, who used it often when introducing a particularly rousing piece of fiddle music for the early-morning show, "Music to Milk By".
2014
So [John Griffiths] picked up and moved to Ottawa to form a country band and played all up and down the Ottawa valley. He actually knows what its like to “Tamarack ‘er down on the old pine floor.”
2014
The MASSEYs [sic] loved music - Tom, Ted and Ben played the violin, Willard, the drums, and some girls played piano and organ. They all played for dances and parties in their time. Family and neighbours often gathered at their house on Saturday nights and had the house ringing with their music. It’s too bad we didn’t record it because they could really “tamarack-er-down.”
2014
Tamarack'er down on the red pine floor! [...] Some of us know how to tamarack'er down as the fiddle plays and the caller shouts, "partners for a square." Only a few may know why it was "on the red pine floor." A red pine floor was considered a hard surface; tamarack was even tougher. If you've listened to a step dancer slap the floor, you get the idea easily. The Ottawa Valley has its local sayings, many of which are connected to work and play, to logging and rafting - timber rafting, that is.
References
- COD-2
- DNE
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