What does "a-staring" (in the song "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers) mean?

[석수]

What does "a-staring" (in the song "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers) mean?
"We were both too tired to sleep
So we took turns a-staring"




MetRon 

It just means "staring" (looking at each other intensely).
In some parts of the country, it is common to add "a" to verbs. It is usually considered antiquated or uneducated.
"We went awalking along the river."

@MetRon 
Got it! Thank you so much! And I know "take turn" means do something one after the other, so do they have eye contact? Is "we took turns staring" means that one of them begin to stare at the other, and after a period of time, he looked away, and then the other begin to stare at him?
See a translation


Eshin

Yes, you understand. But they were not taking turns staring because of a plan, but because they were both tired and would stare out the window for a while, then stare at the inside of the train, then at each other. They were focusing their stare on different things at different times, looking for something to occupy their time.