De Hamborger Veermaster [112-113]

My first attempt to sing a Plattdeutsch (Low German) schantie! Yup: a few mistakes...I suppose i could have practiced more, but I was bored and my neighbours upstairs were getting tired of my bawling.

This is the German version of "Sacramento," the famous American Gold Rush chanty.
My renditions of the American, for reference, are here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp61FtSANhQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ZlOW_LtuY

There is evidence to reason that the American version could have well emerged during the Gold Rush, although according to my research the earliest mention of the chanty in print is not until 1868.

I don't know what evidence there is for Der Hamborger Veermaster. Nor do I know who "composed" it. In contrast to the American forms, which don't have a coherent lyrical theme and which are highly variable, the Low German song is the same, with verses in the same order most of the time -- suggesting a more deliberate composition.

As far as I can tell, "Hamborger Veermaster" is first recorded in a couple German sea-song collections that came out after WWII. Popular recordings made by the early 60s probably used the lyrics from these. Hugill said he was singing it as a chanty on the German barque he saile in as late as 1951.

BTW, the schantie is about a 4-masted barque out of Hamburg (a main port of Germany in past days, and a center of Platt language). The vessel is criticized in many ways, accused of being unsound and filthy.

In learning this, I was trying to get an idea of any quirks of Plattdeutsch pronunciation -- what makes it different from High German / Hochdeutsch. From different singers' recordings, I am confused. I imagine that many of them are Standard German speakers and that they, inadvertently, change some of the pronunciations to the standard. So, I was unable to find consistency. Advice is welcome, for when I learn future songs.

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

Category:

Music

Tags:

• plattdeutsch
• low
• german
• schantie
• shanties
• chantey
• hamburg
• hamborg
• seeman
• meerschaum
• pipe

[Rubygeode]

This is fun. 

[hultonclint]

@Rubygeode I'm learning another right now :-)

[raymondcrooke]

Another interesting video, Ranzo. All the best for the new year.

[hultonclint]

@raymondcrooke Thanks, Raymond. I'd not been learning many shanties lately, but I got bored, and now I am having fun (gradually) trying to learn some of these Low German ones. Best wishes, R.

[hultonclint]

@neoclassicism Interesting, thanks!

[neoclassicism]

@hultonclint

I went to school in the west of Germany, near Dortmund.

[hultonclint]

@neoclassicism Ha, great story! About where did you go to school?

[neoclassicism]

Thanks for posting. I learned this in school, 5th grade I think, so it has a slightly nostalgic feel for me. And nobody in my class could speak any Plattdeutsch, so our singing wasn't very authentic, but fun.

Best wishes!