Origins: Daar Kom Die Alabama

Subject: ADD: There Come Alibama (Marais and Miranda)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 07:21 PM

Charley Nobel posted the Marais & Miranda song in another thread, but it probably should also be here. There's also a phonetic post of "Daar Kom Die Alabama", but I won't post that because the spelling is tenuous.

Thread #45493   Message #675356
Posted By: Charley Noble
24-Mar-02 - 10:03 AM
Thread Name: Marais and Miranda Documentary
Subject: ADD: There Come Alibama (Marais and Miranda)

Here's one of their intriguing songs, as folk-processed from the original dock workers song relating to the Confederate raider Alabama in the 1860's.

THERE COME ALIBAMA

(As sung by Joseph & Mirandra Marais Souvenir Album, © 1979 Legend Records Glendale Records, P.O.Box 1941 Glendale, CA 91209 Produced by John Kniest Traditional South African Folksong)

There come Alibama,
Alibama over the sea,
There come Alibama,
Alibama over the sea;

You'll bring me spice, sugar and rice,
You'll bring me spice, sugar and rice,
You'll bring me malt, pepper and salt,
You'll bring me malt, pepper and salt;

There come Alibama,
Alibama over the sea,
There come Alibama,
Alibama over the sea;

You'll bring me thyme, ginger and lime,
You'll bring me thyme, ginger and lime;
You'll bring me curry, coffee and tea,
You'll bring me curry, coffee and tea;

There come Alibama,
Alibama over the sea,
There come Alibama,
Alibama over the sea;

There come Alibama,
Alibama over the sea,
There come Alibama,
Alibama over the sea.

The song never made much historical sense to me but was lovely to sing. As a child I was also fond of "Out in the Wide World Kitty" which I assumed was about some feline.

Subject: Lyr. Add: Daar Kom die Alibama
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 08:43 PM

DAAR KOM DIE ALIBAMA
Woorde: Tradisioneel
Musiek: S. A. Volkswysie; verwerk: Chris Lamprecht

Daar kom die Alibama, die Alibama die kom oor die see.
Daar kom die Alibama, die Alibama die kom oor die see.
Nooi, nooi, die rietkool, nooi, die rietkol is gemaak,
die rietkool is vir my gemaak om daarop te slaap.
Nooi, nooi, die rietkool, nooi, die rietkool is gemaak,
die rietkool is vir my gemaak om daarop te slaap.
Die Alibama, die Alibama, die Alibama kom oor die see.
Die Alibama, die Alibama, die Alibama kom oor die see.

Daar kom die Alibama, die Alibama die kom oor die see.
Daar kom die Alibama, die Alibama die kom oor die see.
Die Alibama, die Alibama, die Alibama kom oor die see.
Die Alibama, die Alabama, die Alibama kom oor die see.

Afrikaans song about the visit of the Alabama to the Cape. Apparently it created quite a stir.

http://esl.ee.sun.ac.za/~lochner/blerkas/woorde/257.txt

Ons Blerkas van Afrikaanse volkmusiek, song 257, with MIDI.
Ons Blerkas

An excellent site, MIDIs for all Afrikaans songs a well as lyrics. No translations on this South African site.

Subject: RE: Origins: Roll, Alabama Roll
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:42 PM

With regard to historic accuracy the Alabama was not "fitted with guns and men" in Liverpool., although the song is frequently sung that way. There was a temporary crew shipped to sail her to the Azores (the Western Isles) where another ship joined her with the guns, some Confederate officers and other crew members. Some of the original crew were also recruited for the cruise but not many.

I was always bemused that the African stevedores who put together "THERE COME ALIBAMA" seemed under the impression that the ship was coming to free them. But I'm not sure where I ran across that background info. They certainly were caught up in the general excitement generated by the raider's brief visit.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origins: Roll, Alabama Roll
From: JeffB
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 12:43 PM

Thanks Les, I'll enjoy reading that. However, the book I had in mind was not by Semmes but one of his officers. It was over five years ago that I found it so have forgotten a lot of the content but recall one remark he made about the British contingent of the crew, who were apparently a pretty rough and tough lot, saying that they only worked well when given rough treatment. They were contemptuous of anyone who spoke to them decently.

As I remember the writer said that the Alabama's steering was damaged. There are some accounts of the fight on the Net which repeat this. She then broke up under the impact of shelling, and he commended the courage of the ship's surgeon (I think he was Scottish) who was drowned.

Charley Noble's post above jogged my memory and he is correct. The Alabama was called something else (forgotten what it was) when launched, but during a mid-Atlantic commissioning ceremony during which the Confederate flag was raised she was formally named.

While passing through South African waters she captured a small vessel which Semmes used as a tender for a while. The ship and crew were given a huge welcome in Cape Town, but a conversation with a South African convinces me that the African Alabama song above does not refer to the CSS warship but to a coastal trader. No doubt the high regard white south Africans had for the ship made hers a popular name.

Subject: RE: Origins: Roll, Alabama Roll
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 01:05 PM

JeffB-

"but a conversation with a South African convinces me that the African Alabama song above does not refer to the CSS warship but to a coastal trader."

You're probably right on this. The story of the connection is most likely romantic nonsense, a good story that folks like to repeat, myself included.

I believe the original name of the Alabama was the Sea King when she was launched, not consulting my reference books but it seems correct.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origins: Roll, Alabama Roll
From: JeffB
Date: 16 Aug 10 - 07:45 PM

I've found what is probably the book I was talking about above. It's "Recollections of a Naval Life" by John McIntosh Kell, who was Semmes's EO. It is on docsouth.uncv.edu/fpn/kell. NB - no mention of the steering being damaged, so I was mistaken there.

Subject: RE: Origins: Roll, Alabama Roll
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Aug 10 - 09:48 PM

Perhaps the best information on the CSS Alabama's two visits to South Africa could be found in this book, published in South Africa:
Bradlow, Edna and Frank, 1958, Here Comes the Alabama, Capetown, A. A. Balkema.
Also:
Sinclair, Arthur, 1989, Two Years on the Alabama, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis.

South African Newspaper Accounts:
Transcript of Articles in Various Newspapers and Periodicals Relating to the "Alabama." Microfilm copy of three notebooks belonging to Mr. and Mrs. F. Bradlow, Rondebosch, South Africa.
Gorgas Microforms MICRO-FILM B28. Univerwity Alabama Libraries.

The Alabama made two stops in South Africa, the first at Saldanha Bay, 29 July 1863. In an accident, Simeon W. Cummings, 3rd Asst. Engineer, lost his life there.
The ship next spent six months in the East Indies, destroying seven ships there before returning to Table Bay in South Africa.
At the Cape Town Museum, a battle ensign of the Alabama is preserved, of the design known as the 'Stainless Banner', 67"X114".
It was left ashore before the ship returned to Cherbourg.

A second banner made in South Africa, presented to her by 'ladies of South Africa', is preserved in the Tennessee State Museum.

"Daar Kom Die Alabama" is almost certainly about the raider's visits to South Africa; many newspaper articles printed in South Africa made much of her visits.

Subject: RE: Origins: Roll, Alabama Roll
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Aug 10 - 10:29 PM

While the "Alabama" was in Table Bay, the Cape Town photographer Arthur Green took photographs aboard the ship. These are preserved at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

An interesting book. Dr. Denis Constance-Martin, 1999, Coon Carnival, discusses the minstrels of Cape Town and their local language, "klopse."
The book mentions the "Alabama" sailing into Table Bay 5 Aug. 1863, towing the prize "Sea Bride;" "a huge crowd of excited spectators on Cape Town's Signal Hill gathered to watch the fun and the ever-popular song was immediately created."
The song itself, in Martin's words, "is definitely a Cape Town song; it shows the impact American minstrelsy had there in the 1860s and illustrates how it was reworked into a true creole production."
"The song has two aspects, the first being the simple relation of "there comes the Alabama", but the second verse has some element of social commentary, perhaps alluding to cross-racial sexual liaisons, or with the experience of racial oppression of the Cape creole people.

Nooi, nooi, die rietkooi nooi
Die rietkooi is gemaak,
Die rietkooi is vir my gemaak,
Om daarop te slap.
(Miss, miss, the reed bed miss
The reed bed is made for me
The reed bed is made for me to sleep on.)

Cape Town's "Coon troupes" parade every January 2nd.
Members and captains are not aware of the origin of the word or the baggage it carries in the United States.

In South Africa, Daar Kom die Alibama is included with other "klopse" songs of the Cape region; it is not related to stevedores. Such references in chantey literature probably are in error.

Subject: RE: Origins: Roll, Alabama Roll
From: JeffB
Date: 17 Aug 10 - 09:34 AM

Well Q, you may well be right and the song is indeed about the CSS ship, but I'm not entirely convinced.

I'm told that the song is still sung (all day long!) during Cape Town's carnival celebration.

Subject: RE: Origins: Roll, Alabama Roll
From: fox4zero
Date: 08 Nov 10 - 06:56 PM

In the way of remembrances,I first heard mention of Heer Kom Die Alibama from a young South African girl visiting her cousin, who was a friend of mine. I believe it was about 1944 in the Bronx.
It was then brought to my attention some years later in an article
in American Heritage. The Kearsage gunfire struck the Alabama about
250 times, and the Kearsage did not get hit once.As mentioned, the
Alabama was manned by gunners whose targets had previously been unarmed merchant ships whereas the Kearsage had well-trained and disciplined
gunners.There was no contest.
While not of any academic value, I thought I would cast this into the
thread.
Larry Parish

Subject: Origins: Daar Kom Die Alabama
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 09 Jun 20 - 12:00 PM

Daar Kom Die Alabama was sung in last night's Mudcat singaround. It has been mentioned in this thread but I am starting a new thread because the only connection between the two songs is that they may be about the same ship.

I commented in the chat last night that I had read somewhere that the Africaans song related to a different Alabama, not the Confederate ship. Some time back I had come across an account referring to a trading vessel named Alabama or Alibama making regular visits to somewhere up the coast, but I now can't find that account. Most of the references that I can find on the Web presume that the song did arise from the Confederate ship's visit(s) to Cape Town.

However the abovementioned thread includes this: "a conversation with a South African convinces me that the African Alabama song above does not refer to the CSS warship but to a coastal trader".

And another web source says "Major Steenkamp explained that the “Daar Kom Die Alabama” song was not written to commemorate the visit of the Alabama to Cape Town but in fact originated as a corruption of a much older Malay song. He pointed out that the second verse about the ”Nooi, Nooi” and the “rietkooi om op te slaap” was a reference to the marital bed and the special reeds used to make it!"

At one time I had the idea of singing the well known song about the Confederate ship's career, and interspersing comments about what really happened, starting with the place where she was fitted with guns and men not being Liverpool. I would have included the Cape Town visit but was discouraged when I read that the Afrikaans song didn't originally apply to that ship at all.

---

Good idea, Richard. I moved all of the messages on the Afrikaans song over here. Hope I didn't confuse things too much.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Origins: Daar Kom Die Alabama
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 09 Jun 20 - 12:39 PM

Some history at

https://www.civilwarpoetry.org/confederate/songs/alibama-exp.html

Subject: RE: Origins: Daar Kom Die Alabama
From: Dave Earl
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 11:14 AM

OK, I'll fess up!!

It was me that sang the song on the zoom session.

I first heard it sung by Pete Hopkins when he and I were singing with Shellback Chorus several years ago

Subject: RE: Origins: Daar Kom Die Alabama
From: Noreen
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 09:13 PM

I remember Andy Hindley singing it with Shellbacks, Dave.

It seems to be officially accepted in Cape Town that this song IS about the CSS Alabama; there is an official plaque in nearby Simons Town commemorating her visit, which mentions the song.

Wikipedia: CSS Alabama