Hello,

My Norwegian Grandfather – passed away 30 years ago – used to put me on his knee and do something like:

Bunka Bunka Roona,
Smacka Smacka Doona,
Kahoong and Kahoong
& Set the Butchin up!
How Many?

At the end, he’d put so many of his fingers on my back and I had to guess how many there were. Is this the correct version or is it even Norwegian?

Rachel Badgett

If anyone can help with the original version of this rhyme and/or a translation, please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks!

Lisa

Hi there Lisa,

I was hoping you (or someone on your site) could help me. I’ve been trying to find the translation and/or the rest of the lyrics to a Norwegian lullaby my Grandpa used to sing to me. Pardon the lack of correct spelling, but it sounds like:

Be a lulla barna
Papa nesta garna
Mama sing a lullabru
Be a lulla barna

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much for your time.

Warmly,
Rachel

If anyone can help Rachel, please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks in advance!

Mama Lisa

My grandmother used to sing us kids a song all the time. I never knew the name of it or the entire song. Here is what I remember…

Row row da fiska shad munga fisk and a drov e ded entel far entel mor entel suster and entel brod…?

Sorry I don’t have any idea how to spell the words. I just tried to spell it as it sounds when you sing it. If anyone can help with the name or lyrics I would sure appreciate it. Thanks

If anyone can help with the original lyrics to this rhyme and/or an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks!

Mama Lisa

I’m trying to find the words to a Norwegian rhyme or song. The only part I know goes something like:

Kan du gleme gammel Norge?
O vey! Ya, ya, gleme kan!

Or it may be:

Kan du huske gammel Norge?
Ove! Ya, Ya, huske kan!

Does anyone know the rest of this little rhyme? Some of the old Norwegians when I was a kid knew this and would recite it. I know there is much more to it that those two lines.

If anyone can help David with the Norwegian words and/or an English translation to this song, please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks!

Mama Lisa

Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år!
(Norwegian)

Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år!
Ja, deg vil vi gratulere!
Alle i ring omkring deg vi står,
og se, nå vil vi marsjere,
bukke, nikke, neie, snu oss omkring,
danse så for deg med hopp og sprett og spring,
ønske deg av hjertet alle gode ting
og si meg så, hva vil du mere? Gratulere!

Høyt våre flagg vi svinger. Hurra!
Ja, nå vil vi riktig feste!
Dagen er din, og dagen er bra,
men du er den aller beste!
Se deg om i ringen hvem du vil ta!
Dans en liten dans med den du helst vil ha!
Vi vil alle sammen svinge oss så gla’
og en av oss skal bli den neste – til å feste!

Here’s an English translation I came up with…

Hurray for You for Celebrating Your Birthday!

Hurray for you for celebrating your birthday!
Yes, we congratulate you!
We all stand around you in a ring,
And look, now we’ll march,
Bow, nod, curtsy, we turn around,
Dance for you and hop and skip and jump!
Wishing you from the heart all good things!
And tell me, what more could you want? Congratulations!

We wave our flags up high! Hurray!
Yes now we’ll really celebrate!
The day is yours, the day is great,
But you’re the best!
Look in the ring who you want to choose!
Dance a little dance with who you want to!
We’ll all turn around together so joyfully,
And one of us shall be the next – to celebrate!

Here you can hear the first verse (which is how it’s traditionally sung)…

Here’s a video with both verses mentioned above, plus extra verses after that, and it shows the actions you can do with the song.

If anyone could provide any info about the extra lyrics that would be great! But note that they don’t seem to be part of the original lyrics by Margrethe Aabel Munthe. Just the first two verses are. Most people know the first verse. Some know the two above. I don’t think many are familiar with more than that!

Happy Birthday Everyone!

Love, Mama Lisa

Click on the icon below to access the group. If you have a Facebook account already, you just need to click on “Join the Group” to join. If you’re not a member, you simply have to sign up for free to become a member and then you can join the Mama Lisa Group…

Looking forward to seeing you in Facebook!

Mama Lisa

The Norwegian neighborhood is now a great place for Middle Eastern cuisine. There are many fine restaurants in this area. Many of the shops include Arabic in their signs. However, the Norwegians still have their annual Norwegian Day Parade there every May. May 17th marks the Norwegian Constitution Day celebration. This is when Norway declared its independence from Sweden. Swedish-Americans do not have any hard feelings about this. Swedes from Connecticut go to Brooklyn each May to participate in this Parade.

Back in the 1960’s many of the Catholic Churches in Brooklyn sponsored Drum and Bugle corps to keep their youth out of mischief. The people who played in one of these, The Ridgemen of Our Lady of Perpetual Help during the 1960’s have formed an “alumni” Drum and Bugle Corps and march in this parade every year.

Off Topic Note from Mama Lisa: Ed’s story about the bugle corps keeping the youth out of mischief was interesting. This must have been common in the past. It reminds me of the story of how Louis Armstrong starting playing the trumpet… (Click the link if you’d like to learn more!)

My grandmother used to sing me a Norwegian song that sounded like this:

Kishey louie barnay
Glueten stewie yarnay

I remember that it meant “Rock-a-bye my baby, put her in the kettle”, but of course my mom says that’s not true!

Do you have any idea what the song was or what the translation would be?

Thanks,

Janice

If anyone can help out with the lyrics to this Norwegian lullaby and/or an English translation, please comment below.

Thanks in advance!

Mama Lisa

On May 5th a lot of people in the United States are going to have tacos or burritos for lunch to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. On May 5th of 1862 Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halted a French invasion of Mexico in the Battle of Puebla.

However, I would also suggest that before that, on May 3rd you plan a dinner of Kiełbasa i Kapusta (sausage and cabbage) to celebrate Constitution Day. In 1791 the Polish Sejm (congress) proclaimed Poland’s first written constitution. This makes Poland the first country in Europe and the second country in the world to establish a government based on a written constitution. The United States was the first and France was the third.

I would also suggest that on May 17th you have some tomatsuppe med macaroni, that would be Norwegian-style tomato soup. On that date in 1814, the Constitution of Norway was signed and the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.

Good Evening;

My husband’s Grandmother was from Norway and she used to sing a song to him as a little boy about a poor man’s horse, a rich man’s horse, a soldier’s horse etc. My children and Grandchildren only remember the chorus – and only phonetically as they remember my husband (who is now deceased) singing it to them as he gave them a horsey ride on his knee.

The chorus sounded like this to them:

Stoldala, stodola, stodola pumpa,
Stodola pumpa,
Stodola pumpa,
Stoldala, stodola, stodola pumpa,
Stodola pum, pum, pum, pum, pum.

I hope you can help me find it for them.

A Grandmother,
Jeanette

If anyone can help Jeanette with this song, please comment below.

Thanks in advance!

Lisa