The Lumbermen's Alphabet :: Canadian Folk Songs :: Charles Jordan

The Lumbermen's Alphabet
Sung by / Chanté Par Charles Jordan
SONG NOTES FROM ALAN MILLS:
Songs based on making up rhymes to fit the letters of the alphabet exist in many forms, from nursery songs to sea-shanties and other work-songs, such as the one given here, in which all the rhymes have to do with the various chores, tools and terms familiar to woodsmen. Such songs have been popular in all lumber camps in one form or another; this ones was collected in Ontario by Edith Fulton Fowke.
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La chose peut sembler étranger, mais, au Nouveau-Monde, les marins et les bûcherons de langue anglaise se sont échangé plusieurs chansons. Une chanson anglaise vieille de deux siècles au moins et qui s'appelait ":'alphabet du matelot" énumérait par ordre alphabétique les diverses parties du grément d'un voilier. Sans doute était-ce pour apprendre aux apprentis le nom des choses qui les entouraient.
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Volume VII
Songs and Ballads of the Lumber Camps
Chansons de "Voyageurs"
The lumber camps of eastern Canada- from the Atlantic provinces to Ontario- have provided one of the richest sources of folk songs, for it is in these camps, during the long winter months, that woodsmen entertained each other (and learned from each other) many of the traditional ballads and folk songs of their ancestors, and created their own songs and ballads, either to amuse themselves and help them in their work, or to record some of their experiences- both tragic and humorous- in the woods. The tunes of their songs were frequently borrowed from older folk songs, and in many instances- especially among French-speaking woodsmen- the stories of traditional folk songs were adapted to various "workable" tunes, to which were added simple refrains to suit their new uses.
Examples of all these forms are included in this album.
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Canadian Folk Songs: A Centennial Collections
Chansons folklorique du Canada
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I purchased this 9 LP collection (my favourite vinyl find of all time) and was about to start digitizing the songs to put them online, but the lovely Stephen Lower already did it!! (Thank you)
members.shaw.ca/slower/cfs/
My intention is to upload the whole collection to UA-cam, with both the English and French notes.

[@lossexe6331]

Gotta love new Brunswick

[@jaschabull2365]

Interesting. I was looking this song up for a poetry class I'm in, and the first lyrics sheet said, "J is the jobber who’s never on time". Guess those folks weren't what they used to be by the time that version was written (I was shown a version that's closer to this one which is in more archaic English, so by the sounds of it, this is closer to the original).

[@BrianneSwan]

Jascha Bull That’s really funny! Good luck on your poetry class!

[@Ash-ow9ef]

Pretty sure this is the song one of our elementary school concerts songs was based off of can’t have fourth graders singing about whiskey can we now

[@akmrhaddad4737]

I remember singing "what shall we do with the drunken sailor" in about grade 3 :)

[@mulletboyroy4222]

lol that guy eating his sandwich doesn't look so merry