A variant of the shanty Hieland Laddie (but with a different title based on the different text of the refrain) is titled Donkey Riding . It has also become a nursery rhyme for children
Una variante della shanty Hieland Laddie (ma con titolo diverso in base al diverso testo del ritornello) prende il nome di DONKEY RIDING SHANTY (in italiano si potrebbe tradurre “in sella all’asino“). E’ diventata anche una filastrocca per bambini
Stan Hugill in his “Shanties from the Seven Seas”, writes: “A shanty with words similar to [Hieland Laddie] and the same or almost identical tune is Donkey Riding. This was also very popular among the timber droghers both in Liverpool and Canadian ports, and was used as both a capstan and runaway song when working cargo. I had my version from an old shipmate called Spike Sennit, who said it was just as popular at sea as in port. The compiler of the Oxford Song Book (II), who gives a version very similar to mine, states that it was “not a shanty … but … a song which helped the ship’s company stow deck cargo.” I’m afraid this is tying the meaning of the word shanty down a bit too tightly! Many work-songs used by seamen and dockers to stow cargo (in particular lumber and cotton) were the same as those used for capstan and other jobs at sea. And vice versa. Both Bullen and Doerflinger tend to show this, as well as do shanty books in Scandinavian languages. Many Scandinavian shanties used at capstan and pumps were sung when stowing timber aboard Baltic barques and timber droghers. Much improvisation was given to this song and many indecent lines found in the regulation verses.”
Stan Hugill nel suo “Shanties from the Seven Seas”, scrive: “A shanty con parole simili a [Hieland Laddie] e la stessa o quasi identica melodia è Donkey Riding. E’ stata anche molto popolare sulle navi del legname sia a Liverpool che nei porti canadesi, ed è stato usato sia come capstan che come canzone runaway quando si lavora al carico. Ho avuto la mia versione da un vecchio compagno di nave chiamato Spike Sennit, che ha detto che era altrettanto popolare in mare come in porto. Il compilatore dell’Oxford Song Book (II), che fornisce una versione molto simile alla mia, afferma che era “non una shanty… ma … una canzone che ha aiutato la ciurma della nave a stivare il carico sul ponte.” Temo che questo sia un significato troppo limitato della parola shanty! Molte canzoni di lavoro usate dai marinai e dai portuali per stivare le merci (in particolare legname e cotone) erano identiche a quelle utilizzate per il salpa-ancora e altri lavori in mare e viceversa, sia Bullen che Doerflinger tendono a dimostrarlo, così come i libri di shanty nelle lingue scandinave. Molte shanty scandinave usate per il salpa-ancora e le pompe venivano cantate quando si riponeva il legname a bordo di barche del Baltico e drogher per il legname. Molta improvvisazione è stata data a questa canzone e molti versi indecenti trovati nei versi regolamentari “.
Great Big Sea in XX 2012
[Chorus:] Way hey and away we go Donkey riding, donkey riding(1) Way hey and away we go Ridin’ on a donkey. Was you ever in Quebec Launchin’ timber on the deck? Where ya break yer bleedin’ neck Ridin’ on a donkey! Was you ever ‘round Cape Horn Where the weather’s never warm? Wished to God you’d never been born? Was you ever in Miramichi(2) Where ye tie up to a tree,(3) An’ the girls sit on yer knee? Was you ever in Fortune Bay(4) See the girls all shout, “Hooray!”? “Here comes dad with ten weeks pay” Was you ever in London-town See the King he does come down? See the King in his golden crown |
Traduzione italiano Cattia Salto Coro In alto saliamo in sella all’asino(1) In alto saliamo in sella all’asino Sei mai stato in Quebec |
NOTE
1) yard donkey – a winch (or system of winches) powered by an engine and used to haul logs from a stumpto a landing or to a skid road (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_donkey ) It can be assumed from the context that there was initially a sort of rivalry between the sailors who used “human strength” for the loading work and those who used the steam engine called “the mule” [Si può supporre dal contesto che ci sia stata inizialmente una sorta di rivalità tra i marinai che utilizzavano “la forza umana” per i lavori di carico e quelli che invece si avvalevano del motore a vapore detto “il mulo”]
2) also written as Merrimashee there is a Merasheen island in Newfoundland (Canada), but more likely it is Miramichi, a small town in Canada, located in the province of New Brunswick, but also a large river which gives its name to the bay it flows into, in the Gulf of San Lorenzo. Often the sailors repeated the songs by ear and it was more likely that the names of places that were not known were crippled
[anche scritto come Merrimashee c’è un isola di Merasheen a Terranova (Canada), ma più probabilmente è Miramichi, una cittadina del Canada, situata nella provincia del Nuovo Brunswick, ma anche un grande fiume che da il nome alla baia in cui sfocia, nel Golfo di San Lorenzo. Spesso i marinai ripetevano le canzoni ad orecchio ed era più probabile che i nomi delle località che non si conoscevano venissero storpiate]
| Italo Ottonello‘s research finded this note: Merasheen, located on the southwestern tip of Merasheen Island in Placentia Bay, was one of the larger and more prosperous communities resettled. Settled by English, Irish and Scottish in the late 18th century, the community eventually became predominantly Roman Catholic with families of Irish descent. In an ideal location to prosecute the inshore cod fishery along with the herring and lobster fisheries in the ice-free harbour during winter and spring, it appeared that Merasheen would not succumb to the same fate as other small resettled communities. Così osserva Ottonello: “sembra accennare ad un generico luogo tempestoso, piuttosto che ad un sito in particolare“. |
3) TREE, n. In ship-building, pieces of timber are called chess-trees, cross-trees, roof-trees, tressel-trees, &c. (da DANA Seaman’s friend – Dictionary of sea terms) =quasi tutte parti della crocetta, che è la piattaforma al di sopra della coffa
4) Fortune Bay si trova sull’isola di Terranova, sulla costa Sud
WHALING SONG
Another ship, another text but the same melody and title for the shanty favorite on whaling boats “In his ‘Voyage of the Aurora’ in 1804, Dr David Moore Lindsay described how, when the Aurora was moving up Lancaster Sound, an Eskimo was spotted on the ice singing the song. It was thought that he had heard it from his parents in the old sailing ship days.” (from here)
Altra nave, altro testo ma stessa melodia e titolo per la shanty preferita sulle baleniere: “Nel suo “Voyage of the Aurora” nel 1804, il Dr David Moore Lindsay descrisse come, quando l’Aurora stava risalendo Lancaster Sound, un eschimese fu visto sul ghiaccio a cantare la canzone, si pensava che l’avesse sentita dai suoi genitori nei vecchi giorni delle navi a vela. ”
There is a fair number of songs from Scotland on life aboard the whaling boats, see for example Farewell to Tarwathie.
C’è un discreto numero di canzoni provenienti dalla Scozia sulla vita a bordo delle baleniere, vedasi ad esempio Farewell to Tarwathie
Archie Fisher 1964
Whaur hae ye been a’ the day, bonnie laddie, Hieland laddie Whaur hae ye been sae lang away, my bonnie Hieland laddie I’ve been seeking fortune’s road, bonnie lassie, Hieland lassie An’ there’s money at the whalin’ so I’ve been told, my bonnie Hieland lassie I sailed for the north in a Dundee(1) whaler, bonnie lassie, Hieland lassie I sailed for the north as a whalin’ sailor, my bonnie Hieland lassie But Greenland shores are grey and cold, bonnie laddie, Hieland laddie There’s plenty o’ ice but not much gold, my bonnie Hieland laddie When will you come back again, bonnie laddie, Hieland laddie You an’ a’ the whaling men, my bonnie Hieland laddie Well, I’ll be glad when I get hame, bonnie lassie, Hieland lassie And I’ll gie up this whalin’ game, my bonnie Hieland lassie |
Traduzione italiano Cattia Salto Dove sei stato tutto il giorno, mio bel ragazzo delle Highland dove sei stato via così tanto? mio bel ragazzo delle Highland Sono stato a cercare la strada della fortuna, bella ragazza delle Highland e si fanno soldi nella caccia alle balene, così mi hanno detto. bella ragazza delle Highland. Ho navigato verso Nord su una baleniera di Dundee, bella ragazza delle Highland/ ho navigato verso Nord come marinaio di una baleniera mia bella ragazza delle Highland ma le spiagge della Groenlandia sono grigie e fredde mio bel ragazzo delle Highland c’è abbondanza di ghiaccio ma non si fanno molti soldi mio bel ragazzo delle Highland Quando ritornerai, mio bel ragazzo delle Highland tu e tutti i balenieri? mio bel ragazzo delle Highland Sarò felice di ritornare a casa bella ragazza delle Highland e di abbandonare la caccia alle balene mia bella ragazza delle Highland |
NOTE
1) cittadina della Scozia sull’estuario del fiume Tay
LINK
http://cornemusique.free.fr/ukhighlandladdie.php
http://www.shanty.org.uk/archive_songs/donkey-riding.html
https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/donkeyriding.html
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=41062
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=54643
http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/h/hielandl.html
