Comments on: Can Someone Help with a Dutch or Frisian Children’s Song?

By: Henk

Henk — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:29:54 +0000

I have tried to figure out what your last line could mean, but it is hard to tell.

you et op de louses der

‘you et’ may be the city of Ljouwert or ‘hjoed’ (today) or ‘leauwer’ (rather)
‘op de’ may be ‘hopkes’ (another children’s name for horses), ‘op de’ (on the) or perhaps ‘alle’ (all the)
‘louses’ may be ‘Ljouwerters’ (inhabitants of Ljouwert)
‘der’ may be ‘dea’ (dead)
The only combinations that make some sense to me is: ‘leauwer alle Ljouwerters dea’ (I’d rather see all the inhabitants of Ljouwert dead) or ‘hjoed alle Ljouwerters dea’ (today all inhabitants of Ljouwert (are) dead). In many versions of the song something or someone is killed or dies in the last line, so perhaps this is right, but it is hard to tell.

By: Henk

Henk — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:08:08 +0000

Hello Mary Lynne,

Sorry for the late reply, I haven’t visited this site for quite some time. Yes, I do know the song. As with ‘Suze, nanepoppe’, there are quite a number of variations. I will give you two versions I know of. The second one is probably closest to yours.

Hop hop, hynke,
nei Ljouwert om in skinke,
nei Snits ta om in hynsteblom,
dan gean’ wy nei Dokkum werom.

Hop hop, hynke,
nei Ljouwert om in skinke,
nei Snits ta om in wite brea,
sa gean’ alle hynderkes dea.

Hop hop = come on! on you go!
hynke = horsie (children’s name for a horse)
nei Ljouwert ta om in skinke = on to Ljouwert for a ham
nei Snits ta om in hynsteblom = on to Snits for a dandelion (litt. horse flower)
dan gean’ wy nei Dokkum werom = then we return to Dokkum

nei Snits ta om in wite brea = on to Snits for a loaf of white bread
sa gean’ alle hynderkes dea = that is the way all horses die

Ljouwert, Snits and Dokkum are Frisian cities.

By: gerrit

gerrit — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:29:22 +0000

can anyone out there help me find all the words to a song my freis dad would sing to us kids,went like this.you will not come out of the house tonight because your pants are ripped and your shirt hangs out ??

By: Mary Lynne

Mary Lynne — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:08:40 +0000

Henk:
You sound like you know your Fries songs, so I’ll ask you about the rhyme my Frisian grandfather used to sing when he bounced me on my knee. I have no idea how to spell most Frisian words so I’m going to write them phonetically in English. My family is Dutch, but I only speak a tiny bit of the language, and no Fries.

Here it is:
Hop hop hinkje
yo et op de snicke
snitz op de reetes breer
you et op de louses der

Any ideas? Something about horses. and maybe lice?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:31:10 +0000

I think that I can be of some help. I’m living in the Netherlands in the city of Zwolle in the province of Overijssel and there they have a song about: Elsje Fiederelsje. I’m working on a project for school right now for my english lessons and I stumbled upon this page so I thought maybe I can be of some help.

If you have some questions about The Netherlands just mail and I will be glad to help

By: Henk

Henk — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:30:47 +0000

This is a rather well-known nursery rhyme in Friesland, written in Frisian. There are many variations, but I will give you the text I as I used to sing it:

Suze, nanepoppe
Kealtsje yn ‘e groppe
Heit en mem sa fier fan hûs
‘k kin se net beroppe

It can be translated as:
Suze = Quiet (as said to children)
nanepoppe = cradle-baby
kealtsje = litte calf
yn ‘e groppe = in the ditch (more specifically: manure-ditch)
heit en mem = mom’ and dad
sa fier fan hûs = so far from home
‘k = I
kin = can
se = them
net = not
beroppe = reach by calling

A rough translation of the entire song might look like:

Quiet now, you little baby
little calf lying in the ditch
with your father and mother so far away
that they can’t even hear you calling

The song is written in Frisian. This is the variant I as I learnt it, but there are many variations.

(I used to work for the Akademy, and it’s in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, not in Franeker, and most certainly nowhere near the Holland provinces.)

By: wopke

wopke — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:30:42 +0000

Fries:
Suja deine poppe
Jeltje (?Kjeltje) in de groppe
Heit en mem sa vier von huus
Ken uuse Jeltje(?Kjeltje) net beroppe

English:
Rock your baby
Jeltje(=a girl) or (Kjeltje=calf) in the ditch
Father and Mother are so far from home
Cannot call our Jeltje (?Kjeltje)

PS. Contact the Frieske Academie in Franeker, Friesland, Holland for more accurate details.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:46:57 +0000

We would love to receive some old Dutch songs, preferably with English translations. We already have some Dutch songs at http://www.mamalisa.com/world/holland.html – but are always happy to add more!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

-Mama Lisa

By: Leon van den Berg

Leon van den Berg — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:32:59 +0000

Hello,

This seems like a song from frysland. And thats a difficult dialect. If you want to have some old dutch songs i might have some lyrics for you.

Just send me a mail lh_vanden_berg@hotmail.com

By: wopke

wopke — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:15:12 +0000

Fries: (something like this)
Suja deine poppe
Jeltje in de groppe
Heit en mem sa vier von huus
Ken use Jeltje net beroppe

English:
Rock your baby
Jeltje (a girl) in the ditch
Father and Mother are so far from home
Cannot call our Jeltje