Collection Information: Short'nin' Bread was collected on May
19th, 2014 in Dennis, Massachusetts. It belongs to a sub-genre of
nursery rhymes called wake up songs.
Informant Data: Jane Pine Wood, 52, was born and grew up in Midland, Texas. She has four younger brothers, along with her two parents. She is Irish, German, and Cajun. She was heavily influenced by Southern culture growing up, and although currently lives in Massachusetts, holds on to those roots. She is married and has two sons, and currently lives in Massachusetts.
Text:
"Three little children, lyin' in bed
Two were sick and the other 'most dead
Sent for the doctor and the doctor said,
"Give those children some short'nin' bread."
Mama's little baby loves short'nin', short'nin',
Mama's little baby loves short'nin' bread,
Mama's little baby loves short'nin', short'nin',
Mama's little baby loves short'nin' bread.
Put on the skillet, slip on the lid,
Mama's gonna make a little short'nin' bread,
That ain't all she's gonna do,
Mama's gonna make a little coffee, too.
Context: This song was popular in the South, and originated on
plantations amongst slaves as a recipe for “short’nin’ bread,” which was
a quick treat that was made uniquely with brown sugar instead of
bleached sugar, giving it a different taste. The gist is that there is a
sick child who can be cured by making this treat. It was sung to Jane
by her parents when she was growing up to get them all out of bed
whenever her mom was going to make these treats. She in turn sang it to
her children when they were very young. It was a common knowledge song,
and variations exist after doing research.
Interpretation and Meaning: The context data explains most of this wake-up song. It is a very southern song and was often sung by slaves in the kitchen to pass the time whilst cooking all meals, including breakfast, which is how it came to be a wake-up song. Since then it has been passed down to southerners in general and is widely known in Jane’s generation.
Collector’s Information: Ben Wood, Dartmouth College ’16, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
Showing posts with label Wake Up Song. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wake Up Song. Show all posts
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Alizay
Collection Information: Alizay was collected on May
18th, 2014 in Hanover, New Hampshire. It belongs to a sub-genre of
nursery rhymes called wake up songs.
Informant Data: I am my own informant for this collection piece. I am 20 years old and have lived my whole life on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. While my father is English, German, and a bit Swedish, my mother is Irish, German, and Creole/Cajun. I study Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College.
Context: This wake-up song is from my childhood, and my mother would sing it to me almost every morning to get my brother and me up for school. Cajun people are the African American descendants of slaves in Southern Louisiana, from when it was under French control, and as such they speak a unique dialect of French called Creole. This piece of folklore contains some Creole words, which are translated. It has been passed down from father to son and daughter for generations in my family to my mother, and from there, to myself. Presumably this originates from a time where they had to work in the fields.
Text:
“Alizay, Alizay, Alizay
You can't stay in the bed all the day
Get out of bed, Alizay
It's time to pick the meliton
Alizay, Alizay, you big cochon.”
Translation:
A meliton is a chayote (vegetable) and a cochon is a pig.
Meaning and Interpretation: This wake-up song, while short, does hold a lot of meaning, and has several important factors worth considering. Alizay is a region of France, but here it is used as a nickname for the child being addressed. The connection to French is due to the fact that, as said earlier, Creole is a dialect of French. Significant functions within the wake-up function are the referencing of the bed and wake-up times, chores to do the next day, and poking fun at the child for being as lazy as a pig. Additionally the meaning extends further in that it is carrying on a part of family history that otherwise is not mentioned very often.
Collector’s Information: Ben Wood, Dartmouth College ’16, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
Informant Data: I am my own informant for this collection piece. I am 20 years old and have lived my whole life on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. While my father is English, German, and a bit Swedish, my mother is Irish, German, and Creole/Cajun. I study Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College.
Context: This wake-up song is from my childhood, and my mother would sing it to me almost every morning to get my brother and me up for school. Cajun people are the African American descendants of slaves in Southern Louisiana, from when it was under French control, and as such they speak a unique dialect of French called Creole. This piece of folklore contains some Creole words, which are translated. It has been passed down from father to son and daughter for generations in my family to my mother, and from there, to myself. Presumably this originates from a time where they had to work in the fields.
Text:
“Alizay, Alizay, Alizay
You can't stay in the bed all the day
Get out of bed, Alizay
It's time to pick the meliton
Alizay, Alizay, you big cochon.”
Translation:
A meliton is a chayote (vegetable) and a cochon is a pig.
Meaning and Interpretation: This wake-up song, while short, does hold a lot of meaning, and has several important factors worth considering. Alizay is a region of France, but here it is used as a nickname for the child being addressed. The connection to French is due to the fact that, as said earlier, Creole is a dialect of French. Significant functions within the wake-up function are the referencing of the bed and wake-up times, chores to do the next day, and poking fun at the child for being as lazy as a pig. Additionally the meaning extends further in that it is carrying on a part of family history that otherwise is not mentioned very often.
Collector’s Information: Ben Wood, Dartmouth College ’16, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
Good Morn
Collection Information: Good Morn was collected on May
18th, 2014 in Hanover, New Hampshire. It belongs to a sub-genre of
nursery rhymes called wake up songs.
Informant Data: Regan Roberts is an American from Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is 20 years old and while not at college lives with her mother and younger brother. She attends Dartmouth College where she is majoring in economics, while still having many other interests, such as Spanish.
Text:
“Good morn my merry sunshine,
Why do you wake so soon?
You used to wake at twelve o’clock
But now you wake at noon!”
Contextual: To wake up Regan and her brother when they were very young, her father would run in and sing this two them when it was time to get up while playing with them to get them out of bed. It is presumably from when her father was a child, but this is not confirmed, as she was too young to remember whether it was a family song or not.
Meaning and Interpretation: This wake-up song is very short and simple, with the intent of repetition. There is also clear excitement as indicated by the exclamation point. The themes present in this example follow the expected patterns, including implying the listener is lazy to incite movement, and mentioning the coming day and the act of waking up.
Collector’s Information: Ben Wood, Dartmouth College ’16, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
Informant Data: Regan Roberts is an American from Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is 20 years old and while not at college lives with her mother and younger brother. She attends Dartmouth College where she is majoring in economics, while still having many other interests, such as Spanish.
Text:
“Good morn my merry sunshine,
Why do you wake so soon?
You used to wake at twelve o’clock
But now you wake at noon!”
Contextual: To wake up Regan and her brother when they were very young, her father would run in and sing this two them when it was time to get up while playing with them to get them out of bed. It is presumably from when her father was a child, but this is not confirmed, as she was too young to remember whether it was a family song or not.
Meaning and Interpretation: This wake-up song is very short and simple, with the intent of repetition. There is also clear excitement as indicated by the exclamation point. The themes present in this example follow the expected patterns, including implying the listener is lazy to incite movement, and mentioning the coming day and the act of waking up.
Collector’s Information: Ben Wood, Dartmouth College ’16, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
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