Go Rowing [51-52]

My first attempt at a Norwegian shanty!

Hugill gets this from the Norwegian collection _Opsang fra Seilskibstiden_ (by Brochmann, 1916). He gives only these first two verses of some 16 verses that were *composed* by a known author, Henrik Wergeland. Supposedly Wergelands rewrote "many" chanties, cleaning them up! So, if we are familiar with the chanty on which this is based, "A-Rovin'", we know that that is about an encounter with a prostitute, and has the "anatomical progression" theme ("Put put my hand upon her thigh... her knee... her etc.").

Now, I really don't understand the point of this rewriting. Who would have sung these? Were Norwegian sailors handed out little books with the new, fixed lyrics?? Perhaps the funniest bit of this is how the mildly suggestive chorus or the original, "I'll go no more a-roving with you fair maid" (i.e., I'll run round with hookers in the dark no more!) is subtly changed to "I'll go now more a-rowing with you for mate." Actually, Hugill (and perhaps the original) does not supply the full chorus, so I had to imagine what Wergeland might have substituted for "since roving's been my ruin"; I say, "I'll row no more with you, my friend."

ADDENDUM: Wergeland's dates are 1808-1845. This shanty was composed by him in 1839! Well, it did not have a chorus of "go rowing," but the solo verse lyrics are the same. Back then, the chorus --as for most of his sailor songs-- was a sort of "Sing Sally Oh!" I hope to learn more about what was going on that he'd put together these songs. I have seen a reference in an English text from the early 1830s with such a chorus, so perhaps that was the popular form at the time.

Comments and advice on how to improve my Norsk pronunciation are welcome and appreciated!

See the whole "Shanties from the Seven Seas" project, here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=58B55DD66F22060C

Category:

Music

Tags:

• norsk
• shanty
• norwegian
• chanty
• stan
• hugill
• shanties
• sea
• song