Donkey riding
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The words came unbidden to my mind, ‘Hey ho, away we go, donkey riding, donkey riding.’ I hadn’t heard or sung that song for many years. Maybe it was seeing photographs of my youngest daughter’s family on holiday in France feeding donkeys that lodged in my mind and jogged my memory.
I started
wondering about its origins.
‘Were you ever in Quebec,
Loading timber on the deck,
Where there’s a king with a golden crown
Riding on a donkey?’
Hey, ho,
away we go,
Donkey riding, donkey riding,
Hey, ho, away we go,
Riding on a donkey.’
I seem to remember singing it when I was at school. Why school children in Kent should be singing about far-off Québec was a mystery. We didn’t question what we were taught to sing, just got on with it every Friday afternoon after walking to The Vines and back.
I discovered that it was a sea shanty – that did make sense, living in a Naval area. When I looked at the lyrics online, I found a variety of verses, some of which would definitely not have been taught at school.
I only remember the first verse. There are others, which I probably learnt – about Cape Horn and Cardiff Bay.
The song was a nineteenth-century folk song sung by sailors in Canada as they hauled lumber onto the ships, which then sailed away to distant lands, maybe ‘faraway places with strange sounding names.’ The ‘donkey’ was a steam-driven machine used to load and unload heavy cargo, not a four-legged animal. It was dangerous work, hence, in one version, ‘you’d nearly break your neck,’
The tune was
taken from an old Scottish folk song called ‘Highland Laddie.’
Gr8, also my first year of high school. My class was entered in a music festival singing that sone and one other, but I forget that one. As the time neared, I was told to sit it out because my voice was changing and neither here not there. No -- I never knew that it wasn't an animal donkey. Not did my music teacher.
ReplyDeleteThe Vines sounds like a pub, and what an excellent way to educate children about adult ways.
ReplyDeleteI can remember what I think were stationary petrol powered engines. used to run belt driven timber saws being called donkeys. Open belt driven anything are so dangerous.
We forget a lot of stuff in our lives. I like your line "I seem to remember". No donkeys here.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this one. In other news, I found a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth and it was delivered today 😃
ReplyDeleteI have watched and listened to the song "Donkey Riding RCM Voice Prep Lev with Lyrics" on that YouTube channel. It reminds me of my children when they were both under 9 years old, if I’m not mistaken. They also loved cute songs like this and enjoyed watching Thomas & Friends.
ReplyDeleteI remember these words, at least the chorus, from the mid 1950s!!
ReplyDeleteHey, ho, away we go,
Donkey riding, donkey riding,
Hey, ho, away we go,
Riding on a donkey.
But I read an excellent book last week and already I don't remember the author's name :(((
Oh I remember that song so well; we used to sing it, along with so many other old fashioned songs, at primary school!
ReplyDeleteHave a good week! 😁