LL-L: "Folklore" LOWLANDS-L, 19.DEC.2000 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 19.DEC.2000 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Pat Reynolds [pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk]
Subject: LL-L: "Folklore" (was "Literature") LOWLANDS-L, 19.DEC.2000 (03)
[D/E/LS]

I don't know the distribution of the Sandman, but can perhaps contribute
to the distribution map: I was brought up in Northamptonshire (i.e. East
Midlands), and think both my mother, who came from that area, and my
father (Nottinghamshre/South Yorkshire) knew that you had to go to sleep
or the sandman would get you.

I particularly associate this with my father, but this may be because I
thought the sandman was the jobbing builder from whom he occasionally
purchased sand and cement ...

Best wishes to all,
--
Pat Reynolds
pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk
   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Pratchett)

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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Literature"

> From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
> Subject: Folklore
>
> Sandy, you wrote:
>
> > South East Scotland (me): Sandman sprinkles sand in your eyes
> to make you
> > sleep.
> <...>
> > South West of England (Devon): Sandman sprinkles sand in your eyes to
> > make you sleep.
>
> This is the version I learned as a child.  Our Sandman is kindly, never
> threatening.  I am rarely totally sure if the stories I was told

It certainly looks like the Sandman tradition is stronger in
Germany than in Scotland - I don't know any nursery rhymes or
songs about the Sandman (other than the American one). But the
story (of the kindly Sandman) is certainly intact in the east
of Scotland (unless it just got into my family somehow!). Why
it should draw a blank in other parts of Britain yet turn up
intact in Devon is a mystery to me, although I suppose you can't
draw conclusions from so few samples. We need more research!

There seems to be no reference to the Sandman in the Scottish
National Dictionary.

> Could your Scottish version have a Dutch or Low Saxon (Low
> German) connection?

Well, in Scots culture, Low Saxon, Flemish and French connections
are always a possibility.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
A dinna dout him, for he says that he
On nae accoont wad ever tell a lee.
                          - C.W.Wade,
                    'The Adventures o McNab'

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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Folklore

>From my readings in the distant past and from a number of nursery rhymes I
have gathered that in German folklore the Sandman is often portraited as the
kinder counterpart of death, the latter of which is the "grim reaper" (German
_Gevatter Tod_, LS _Gevadder Dood_ ("Gaffer Death"), _de Knakenmann_ ("the
bony man"), _Jan Klapperbeen_ ("John Rattle Legs")).  The Sandman induces
temporary oblivion only.  I suppose this hails back to times of more immediate
fear of death, especially infant death.  For those who just joined us, here
once again the Low Saxon (Low German) lullaby:

Weegenleed

    Eiapopeia, polei!
    Liggst as 'n Prinz inne Dei,
    Kikst ut de Ogen so hell un so stumm;
    Buten geiht liesen de Sandmann herum,
    Keem ok un frag all na di;
    Eipopeia, wiwi!

    Eiapopeia, mien Hart!
    Nach is so düster un swart;
    Günd liggt de Karkhoff so still un so grot,
    Wiet där de Welt schickt uns Herrgott den Dod;
    Slap man, -- he geiht wull verbi;
    Eipopeia, wiwi!

Translation (R. F. Hahn):

Lullaby

    Lullaby, baby, "po-lye"!
    You're lying in the cradle like a prince.
    You're looking around so brightly and silently!
    Outside the sandman is quietly walking about.
    He already came and inquired about you.
    Lullaby, baby, "wee-wee"!

    Lullaby, baby, my heart!
    Night is all dark and black.
    Yonder lies the churchyard so still and so large.
    Our Lord sends us death all over the world.
    Sleep now! He surely will pass us by.
    Lullaby, baby, "wee-wee"!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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