In a fine old Norwegian shanty book called Opsang fra Seilskibstiden —‘Shanties from the Sailing-Ship Days’— D. H. Brochmann gives, as as a few stanzas of the English version, several in Norwegian. This Norwegian version was composed by a Norwegian poet, Henrik Wergelands, a fine character who took many of the obscene shanties of his time and rewrote them, building his themes mainly around some famous ship. In each case he rewrote enough stanzas for a long heave or hoist; in this version of A-rovin’ —Shanty for the Christiania Packet —he made sixteen verses. Most of his versions are patriotic and nostalgic. After giving the first few stanzas of the usual English version, the text in Opsang explains: ‘. . . these first three verses only are decent. It is now preferable to continue with Wergeland’s version’!

GO ROWING
(Capstan Song for the Christiania Packet)

1. Nu muntres op saa mangt et sind,
Ch. Maerk vel hvad jeg vil si!
Nu muntres op saa mangt et sind,
Paketten er flu halet ind.
Ch. I’ll go no more a-rowing with you for mate.
Full Chorus. Go rowing, go rowing, etc.

2. Nu stiger hjertet i vor barm,
Med styrke løfter vi vor arm.

1. Within our hearts now glad we’ll be.
Mark well what I will say!
Within our hearts now glad we’ll be,
The packet now hauls in from sea.
I’ll go no more a-rowing,
With you for mate, etc.

2. Our hearts now swell within our chests.
Oh, strongly now the bars we’ll breast.’

(Translation by B. Streiffert)

Source: Shanties from the Seven Seas, collected by Stan Hugill, Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd., 1961), pp 45-52.