"Lie on your stomach and go to sleep!": Is it a Southern saying? What does it mean?

Question

I'm reading Robert Penn Warren's novel, "All the King's Men," and in chapter one, Willie Stark is giving a speech to a crowd when he says to them in regards to his governorship, "It's not any worse'n boils. Now is it?"

No one answers him, so Willie says, "Cat got yore tongue?"

To that question, someone in the crowd replies, "Boils on the tail!"

Willie counters that statement with "Dammit, lie on yore stummick and go to sleep!"

My question is this: is Willie's "lie on yore stummick" comment a Southern saying with specific vernacular meaning, or is he simply saying that because the person in the crowd said that he's got boils on his tail (so naturally he should lie on his stomach instead of sitting on his tail). If it is a saying known in the South, what does it mean?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Answer 1

I found this reference on page 75 in "The Dialect of Hartland, Devonshire" by Richard Pearse Chope, published for the English Dialect Society in 1891:

Stommick -- Appetite, stomach. A common salutation at mealtimes is "Gude stommick to ee, wan an' all."

In the context of "All the King's Men," the crowd is joking around when the Boss says he isn't going to make a speech, remarking that wouldn't be worse than having boils. However, no one actually "has" boils it is simply a yahoo out in the crowd yelling back "Boils on the tail." That's when Willie tells the jokester to like on his stomach and go t sleep.

It's dialect, but it simply means "stomach."

Answer 2

No, it's not a southern saying. It's just a response to someone referring to boils on their butt. He's saying don't worry about them, just sleep on your stomach and they won't bother so much. Just like his own corrupt administration, just go to sleep and let them do their thing and it won't bother them.