Jeanette wrote me…
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
Note: Many people commented below saying this song is originally Czech.
This article was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 2:14 pm and is filed under Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Languages, Mama Lisa, Norway, Norwegian, Norwegian Children's Songs, Questions, Readers Questions. 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.
53 Responses to “Can Someone Help with a Norwegian or Czech Song about a Horse with the Line, “Stodola Pumpa”?”
Leave a Reply
February 13th, 2021 at 2:38 pm
My maiden name is Stodola..i was born and raised in NW Indiana and i was told it meant “barn” but a couple of Slovaks i met over the years said it wasnt a great name to have, maybe because it was a poor farm peoples name? One young lady told me her name meant a person snoring….so i guess in old villages of long ago one just got branded sometimes with a name and it sticks. Not sure.
August 1st, 2021 at 3:53 pm
We learned this as kindergarteners in 1955 from the rector of our parish school in Hawaii, so I guess it’s gone everywhere. The many translations of verses here coincide with my recollection. We loved singing the verses sweetly and the choruses raucously, faster with each “Stodola pumpa”.
It wasn’t until much later I learned it translated to “barn pump”. I came to the same conclusion as Jose Falcon above, it’s intended as a ribald contrast to the verses — which is why our rector never translated it for us!
January 9th, 2024 at 10:49 am
Walking along, when twilight ends the day
Sweet scented breezes whisper on their way
Under the stars we slowly stroll along
While distant mountains echo with our song.
Thes are the words I learned over 79 years ago when I was in kindergarten.