Monday, February 13, 2012

Froggy Goes a-Courtin' in many languages







When Darling Granddaughter #1 visited us shortly after she turned three, she became a little homesick one afternoon. After all, it was her first weekend all alone with Grammy J and Poppy. When the sadness threatened to develop into cloudy skies and showers, I popped her in a tub of warm bubbles, but she still became more and more despondent until I spied one of her bathtub toys, a frog, and began to sing a song from my childhood:

Frog Went a Courting
Traditional Folk Song Lyrics
  
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a courtin' and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

He rode right up to Miss Mousie's door, uh-huh
He rode right up to Miss Mousie's door, uh-huh
He rode right up to Miss Mousie's door
Gave three loud raps, and a very big roar, uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

He said, "Miss Mouse, will you marry me? uh-huh
He said, "Miss Mouse, will you marry me? uh-huh
He said, "Miss Mouse, will you marry me?
And oh so happy we will be, uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

"Not without Uncle Rat's consent", uh-huh
"Not without Uncle Rat's consent", uh-huh
"Not without Uncle Rat's consent"
"Would I marry the President," uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

Uncle Rat, he went downtown, uh-huh
Uncle Rat, he went downtown, uh-huh
Uncle Rat, he went downtown
To buy his niece a wedding gown, uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

Where shall the wedding supper be? uh-huh
Where shall the wedding supper be? uh-huh
Where shall the wedding supper be?
Way down yonder in the hollow tree, uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

The first to come in was a bumble bee, uh-huh
The first to come in was a bumble bee, uh-huh
The first to come in was a bumble bee
With a big bass fiddle on his knee, uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

Next to come in was the big black snake, uh-huh
Next to come in was the big black snake, uh-huh
Next to come in was the big black snake
He gobbled down the wedding cake, uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

Little bit of biscuit on the shelf, uh-huh
Little bit of biscuit on the shelf, uh-huh
Little bit of biscuit on the shelf
If you want anymore you can sing it yourself, uh-huh uh-huh, oh yeah.

I was interested to read that Bob Dylan, Elvis  (Elvis?) and Burl Ives all recorded this song, along with many other artists. It's a universal favorite. Of course there are many versions of this song, and evidently it has political roots in old English history (don't they all?) Some treatments of the song get rather gory, when the last guest, a large bird, swoops down and devours the whole wedding party, cake and all. 

I tend to avoid the gory endings of folk and fairy tales. 

Not only did Darling Granddaughter #1 cheer up, she began to learn the song with me. The water cooled, the bubbles disappeared, and Froggy was still a-courtin.  When her father arrived, he had to learn it, too. 

What appeals to me about the song: the imagination, repetition, and rhythm and pure ridiculousness of it all. 

I'm programmed to evaluate every piece of literature for its potential in teaching speech and language skills to children. Soon, if I don't stop myself, I will have written an entire language learning unit based on the song, including flannel figures, story retelling, barrier games, vocabulary development activities, open sentences, and comprehension questions. 


I've had to learn to hush the analytical part of my brain and simply enjoy the song for the pure ridiculousness of a frog going courting, and the festivities that follow. Frankly, I find Froggy heroic and brave; he knows what he wants and goes after it. And Miss Mousie? She's ready to build a new life with her handsome suitor, even though she knows that when she kisses him and opens her eyes, he'll still be her Froggy. The song is also a cautionary tale to be selective when writing your guest list. There is more than one lesson to be learned from this song. 

One day I downloaded an mp3 recording of the song for my granddaughter and accidentally left the file open on the desktop when I went to bed. During the night, Microsoft Windows installed some automatic updates and restarted the computer. Around 2:30 a.m. a deep voice could be heard singing in my office, complete with the "Umm hmms."

Husband nudged me out of a deep sleep. "Mrs. J," he mumbled, "your computer is singing." With a sigh I stumbled out of bed and into my office, where I closed the file, and soon peace prevailed again. 

As my son and his daughter have enjoyed the song, they've improvised, and used the tune and rhythm to make up songs of their own. Often, a normal sentence will be emphasized with "Um hm, um hmm," and it's our little inside joke. 

I bought her a stuffed frog which holds a small fleece blanket in his arms. Darling Granddughter immediately named her new friend. "His name," she told one of our friends, her blue eyes very serious, "is Froggywentacourtinhedidride." Of course it is. 

I am writing this post from Jyvaskyla, Finland, where I've been practicing my grandmothering skills with Darling Granddaughter #2 and her new little brother. Her Finnish grandmother lives around the corner, and one evening we were trying to convince Melinda to eat just a bit more of her pureed fruit, when Finnish Grandmother began to sing "Froggy Went a Courtin' " in Finnish. I sang the English version under my breath and joined in for the "um hmms." What a special moment that was. We're both singing in the languages Melinda will learn, and united in our goal to encourage her to eat, while agreeing on the "um hmms." 

The Froggy of my childhood is alive and well and still courtin' Miss Mousie. Who knows, they might even be grandparents. 


If you don't believe Elvis ever sang or recorded this song, check out this video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIo3yhbwqAs


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1 comment:

Pam Williams said...

Two grandmothers singing the same song in different languages--love it!