Origins: occupational alphabet songs

Subject: Origins: occupational alphabet songs
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 11 Feb 23 - 11:18 PM

Hi folks- does anyone have documentation of the earliest occupational alphabet songs? (A is for---- etc)
thanks- Julia

Subject: RE: Origins: occupational alphabet songs
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 12 Feb 23 - 07:09 PM

"The Sailor's Alphabet " from Mainly Norfolk     https://mainlynorfolk.info/danny.spooner/songs/thesailorsalphabet.html

Subject: RE: Origins: occupational alphabet songs
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 12 Feb 23 - 11:37 PM

All that I have found is speculation- the earliest of this type that I have found is the Ulster "Orange alphabet" which celebrates the activities of the Orange Order, a Protestant organisation founded in Co Armagh in 1795. It may actually be earlier as it describes the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Coincidentally it seems that the Protestants began publishing "instructive" tutors for children at that same time which included the juvenile illustrated alphabet books we have all seen. I'm just trying to suss out the earliest occupational alphabet song- I suspect it to be the Sailor's because of its generally rhythmical cadence which could be used as a chantey; in Maine, the lumbermen, who often went to sea in the summer, adapted it for their work in the woods.

Subject: RE: Origins: occupational alphabet songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Feb 23 - 01:09 AM

"Orange Alphabet," Julia? Now my curiosity is piqued. I haven't found the song posted at Mudcat, and all I found on the Greater Internet is an article by Julia Lane with a fragment of the song:

Another interesting find, is “The Orange Alphabet,” sung by Will Merritt of Ludlow, Maine, near Houlton. It was collected
by Flanders in 1941. The piece seems to be a campaign song supporting the Orange Order, and has many Masonic symbols. Other songs collected from Will Merritt are less political, but are also found in the Ulster-Scots tradition – “The Fate of Franklin,” “The Girl I Left
Behind,” “The Heights of Alma,” “The Plains of Waterloo,” among others.
THE ORANGE ALPHABET sung by William Merritt, Ludlow, Maine, 1941
Helen Hartness Flanders Collection, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont
Recording D 14B 01 side A 0:46 Transcribed by Julia Lane

“A is for the Ark which by six beasts was carried around
Till the strong walls of Jericho come dashing to the ground

B stands for Boyne where freedom won the day
And dark superstition forever’s lost it’s way

C is for the Covering which for the Ark was made
Of badger skins and goat hair and by cunning workmen laid

D stands for Derry in Ireland it is found
It never has been conquered; it is still an Orange town…”

Interestingly, the town of Whiting in northeastern Maine, was originally called Orangetown, and the local genealogies show a large number of Scots Irish family names.

https://discoverulsterscots.com/sites/default/files/documents...

Is there any way that Ms. Lane could be persuaded to post the entire song?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: occupational alphabet songs
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 13 Feb 23 - 10:08 AM

Hi Joe- I've tried twice to post all the info I have on the Orange Alphabet, but it does not seem to post. Tell me how you would like it sent?
best- Julia [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Origins: occupational alphabet songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Feb 23 - 11:30 AM

Hi, Julia -
[e-mail]