Lori wrote:
Dear Mama Lisa,
I am so excited to find this website because I have been searching for many years to find out about two Danish or Swedish nursery rhymes (you can listen to them by clicking the link). My mother’s beloved grandfather, Lars Christensen, used to bounce her on his knee and recite these rhymes. She then passed them on to me…and neither one of us know what they mean. Lars’ parents were both from Denmark: His father from the Brenderup, Odense, area and his mother from Lynge, Juteland area. So we think the rhymes may be Danish and probably date from the early 1800’s. However, Lars’ wife’s parents were from Sweden: Her father from Vallby, Kirkedinge area and her mother from Sallerup, Malmohus area. So there is a possibility that they are Swedish.
They might be so distorted coming from the mouth of an old Danish man through the memory of a small American girl and passed on to another generation, but I am hopeful that someone may recognize them.
My dear mother’s 80th birthday is coming up and I would love to surprise her with a written version or reading of the original, an English interpretation, or any information about any one of these two nursery rhymes. No matter how silly, they are very important to us because they are a link to our sacred, and loved ancestral roots.
Thank you so much,
Lori
If anyone can help out Lori, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
PS We know the first rhyme is a version of Ride ride ranke, and Lori checked the versions posted on the blog in the past, but couldn’t find it there.
This article was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 5:10 pm and is filed under Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Danish, Danish Children's Songs, Danish Nursery Rhymes, Denmark, Languages, Mama Lisa, Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Rhea Rhea Runkin, Sweden, Swedish, Swedish Children's Songs, Swedish Nursery Rhymes, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
7 Responses to “Can Someone Help with 2 Danish or Swedish Nursery Rhymes? We Have a Recording of Them!”
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July 19th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
the second rhyme is entirely unrecognizeable for me (a Dane), however judging from the general rythm and the tickling bit at the end it could be a Swedish language adaptation of “Lille Trille” which goes something like:
Lille Trille Laa Paa Hylde,
Lille Trille Faldt Ned
Ingen man i dette land,
Lille Trille hjaelpe kan
(Little Trille(name but also means to roll over) lay on shelf, little Trille fell down, no man in this land, can help little Trille.)
January 20th, 2010 at 5:10 am
I think the rhyming of the second one sounds like “This Little Piggy”. Unfortunately, I can only remember the first and last part of the Danish rhyme. :(
“Denne lille grisling gik til markedet
[…]
Og denne lille grisling løb hele vejen hjem!”
(This piglet went to the market
[…]
And this piglet ran all the way home!)
June 9th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
To the first rhyme – this could be it:
Ride ride ranke
hesten hedder Blanke,
føllet hedder Abildgrå,
det skal xxx ride på;
smid ham af, lad ham gå
lige ned i den store å.
meaning:
Ride ride ranke,
the horse’s name is Blanke,
the foal is called Abildgraa,
on it (boys or girls name) is going to ride;
throw him/her off, let him/her go
right down the big brook.
We also have another one:
Ride ride ranke til møllerens hus;
der var ingen hjemme uden rotter og mus
og to små drenge,
der lå i deres senge,
og to små hunde, der lå under bænken
og sled i lænken og sa’ VOV. VOV, VOV!!
meaning:
Ride ride ranke to the miller’s house
nobody was there beside a rat and a mouse
and two little boys
sleeping in their beds,
and two little dogs, laying under the bench
pulling on their chains, saying BOW-WOW WOW!
Hope, you can use one of the above – rhyme number two I haven’t deciphered ;-) yet.
Gurli
March 29th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
My grandfather used to sing me the first song in danish when I was little. But I remember it going like this…( Please consider I don’t speak a lick of danish, but this is the general sounds of the words I remember) erea erea unka dons a burnin bunka, hines a burnin kellin ect…. I just know it was about an old lady and a pot of stew or something. At the end of the song he would say ” In zee big big big hole!” as he was bouncing me on his knee and when he said hole he would open up his knees and I would drop down. I would love it if someone out there knew the real version of this song, as my grandfather is 84 and when I ask him about it he can not remember as he has Alzheimer now. It would be wonderful if I could find his version so I could pass it down to my two sons:)
July 6th, 2011 at 2:31 am
I am trying to remember a song my mor mor sang to me about not going “potty” in you pants. I know the melody, and In the middle it says “skynde, skynde” or hurry, hurry don’t tice in your pants (buxa), and the ” this we can not have”. Ring a bell for anyone? It was sung to me in the 1950’s.
August 21st, 2011 at 9:46 am
my grandmother sang this song to my mother and she to me, I only know the phoneticly sounding song in Danish, but in English is starts with Mother dear where is my house? Mutter ker ver ist mi hose.. very poor I know. but the song stayis in my mind and would like to know the rest of it in Danish and English.l
July 9th, 2013 at 2:03 pm
I would love to know something about the words my Danish Grandfather recited while bouncing us on his knee: Humpety Skump, Humpety Skump, Humpety Humpety Humprty Skump” and at the end he would pretend to drop us between his legs. Strike a bell with anyone? Another thing he would say when we pouted “when you get married and your old man gets cross, send him to my house for some applesauce”. And the last one I wish I could remember better involves berries, like getting a bit of revenge if we were mad at someone, involving gooseberries, raspberries, and black and blue berries.