Caller Herrin'
"Caller Herrin'" is a Scottish song, the music by Nathaniel Gow (1763–1831), and the words by Carolina Nairne (1766–1845).
History
[edit | edit source]
"Caller herrin'" means fresh herring.[1] It was the traditional cry of Newhaven fishwives, who carried in creels freshly caught herring which they sold from door to door. Gow, a violinist and bandleader of Edinburgh, incorporated this cry, and also the bells of St Andrew's Church, into his composition, written about 1798. It became one of his best-known tunes.[2][3][4]
Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne, was a songwriter, using the pseudonym "Mrs Bogan of Bogan". Attending balls in country houses of Perthshire, she heard the music of Nathaniel Gow, and wrote words for "Caller Herrin'".[5]
It has been adapted many times. Philip Knapton composed a set of variations of the tune, for piano or harp, which appeared in 1820 and became popular.[6][7] Joseph Binns Hart (1794–1844) arranged the tune as a quadrille in his 8th Set of Scotch Quadrilles (1827).[3][8] The song was translated in 1929, both in language and location, by T. Gwynn Jones, a leading Welsh poet and translator. He called it "Penwaig Nefyn" (Nefyn Herrings), as Nefyn at the time hosted a busy herring fishery, and published it, arranged as a duet, in New Song Book for Schools, Part 1, Llyfr Canu Newydd (1929).[9]
Music
[edit | edit source]The tune and words of the chorus: <score vorbis="1"> {\key d \major d'8. d'16 d'8 d' cis'4 d'8 e' fis' b e' d' cis' a b cis' d'8. d'16 d'8 d' cis'4 d'8 e' fis'( g') e'8. fis'16 d'2} \addlyrics {Buy my call -- er herr -- in', They're bonn -- ie fish and hale -- some far -- in; Buy my call -- er herr -- in', New drawn frae the Forth. } </score>
In literature
[edit | edit source]- In The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W. E. Bowman, Constant the Linguist gives a "passionate rendering" of Caller Herrin' to Travis the Seal with devastating results.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, rev. Ivor H. Evans. 1994.
- ^ Percy Scholes, Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford University Press, 1964.
- ^ a b Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831) regencydances.org, accessed 17 June 2016.
- ^ (Wha'll Buy My) Caller Herring Archived 3 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine Education Scotland, accessed 17 June 2016
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Philip Knapton. Caller Herring: a favorite Scotch air; arr. with variations, for the piano forte or harp, 1820.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ The Life & Quadrilles of Joseph Binns Hart (1794-1844) regencydances.org, accessed 17 June 2016.
- ^ University of Wales National Council of Music, New Song Book for Schools, Part 1, Llyfr Canu Newydd, University of Wales Press, 1929.
External links
[edit | edit source]- Caller Herring tunearch.com
- Traditional Scottish Songs - Caller Herrin' - Lyrics rampantscotland.com
- [1] Jean Redpath. Will ye no come back again? The Songs of Lady Nairne