Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes — John Shaqi
Comparative Studies in Nursery RhymesEckenstein, Lina
History
Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes
Eckenstein, Lina
Comparative literature; Nursery rhymes -- Bibliography; Nursery rhymes -- History and criticism
Throughout Italy and in Sicily the Chant of the Creed is known as _Le
dodici parole della Verità_, "the twelve words of truth." They are
generally put into the lips of the popular saint, Nicolas of Bari, who
is said to have defeated the evil intentions of Satan by teaching them.
These Italian chants for the most part agree with the Latin chant
already cited, except that two in the Abruzzi is associated with the sun
and the moon; five is explained as the wounds of Jesus _or_ of St.
Francis, and eleven stands for the articles of the Catholic faith (A.,
I, 419; II, 97).
In Denmark the Chant of the Creed is put into the lips of St. Simeon,
and begins:--
Stat op, Sante Simeon, og sig mig, hvad een er?
"Stand forth, St. Simeon, and tell me, what is one."
The explanations in this case are strictly Christian, Jesus Christ
standing for One. The souls saved by God from the ark (_sjaele frelste
Gud udi Arken_) stand for eight (Gt., II, 68).
In Languedoc also the chant is current in a Christian adaptation which
agrees with the Latin, except that the Trinity stands for three; the
wounds of Jesus, as in the Italian chant, stand for five; the lights in
the temple stand for six; and the joys of our Lady stand for seven (M.
L., p. 478).
From Europe the Chant of the Creed has been carried to Canada, where a
version is sung in French to a monotonous tune in four beats at a formal
kind of dance, called a _ronde religieuse_--a religious round. To this
dance six couples stand up; each dancer represents a number. To the
sound of their singing they move in a chain, each person turning first
to the right, then to the left. When number six is reached in singing,
and every time that six recurs in the chant, the dancing stops, and to
the words "_six urnes de vin remplies_," the dancers who represent even
numbers turn first to the right, then to the left, and make a deep bow,
while those that represent uneven numbers perform the same ceremony the
other way about (G., p. 298). Then the dancing is resumed. This figure,
judging from the description, exactly corresponds to the Grand Chain in
Lancers, except that six couples dance instead of four or eight.
In the Canadian chant the explanations of the numbers are all Christian,
except that for eleven they say eleven thousand virgins, which agrees
with the virgins of the Spanish and Portuguese chants. These eleven
thousand virgins are mentioned also in a version of the chant current in
Zürich, which, unlike the others, carries the numbers to fifteen. It
enumerates Christian matters similar to those already named as far as
nine choirs of angels, and further associates ten with thousands of
knights, eleven with thousands of virgins, the apostles with twelve, the
disciples with thirteen, the helpers in need (_Nothelfer_) with
fourteen, the mysteries with fifteen. This chant is set in the old way
of question and answer, and the answers are recited in cumulative form
(R., p. 268).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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