Farval, Farval, Fortjusande Mo (Farewell, Farewell Fascinating Maid)

DESCRIPTION: Scandinavian shanty. Sailor saying farewell to his sweetheart. Several sentimental verses about pressing her hand, tender whispers and kisses, etc. Translation of chorus: "Farewell, farewell, fascinating maid, we shall soon return again."
AUTHOR: Ossian Limborg (?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1888
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty foc's'le farewell sailor
FOUND IN: Scandinavia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 495-497, "Farval, Farval, Fortjusande Mo" (2 texts-Swedish & English, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
En Sjoman Alskar Havets Vag
Aland Song
NOTES [140 words]: A note from Sang under Segel says this was written down aboard the barque Chili from Gavle in 1888 by Harold Sundholm, and according to a correspondent in Svenska Dagbladent (5/20/1934) it was written by a captain named Ossian Limborg around 1870. Hugill's source told him it was a very popular song in Finnish ships, but was a forebitter, not sung for work. - SL
This is a rather curious statement, since Finnish is not a Scandinavian or even an Indo-European language. Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish are separate languages in name only; they remain largely mutually intelligible and would almost certainly be called dialects if they weren't the languages of different countries. But Finnish is a separate thing. This song could come from Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish -- perhaps even Icelandic. But it's demonstrably not Finnish. - RBW
File: Hugi495

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