LL-L "History" 2003.09.24 (13) [E/F]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 24.SEP.2003 (13) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Anja Meyfarth <anja-meyfarth at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "History" 2003.09.24 (11) [E]

Hello Lowlanders!

John asked:

> I have heard before that the British attempted to destroy the island of
> Heligoland. It might be a little off-topic, but do you, or does anyone
else
> have any idea why they tried to do such a foolish thing, especially as
they
> did so long after hostilities had ceased?

And Ron answered:

> I can only tell you what I know from the rumor mill.  Britain wanted to be
> sure that Heligoland could never again be used for strategic purposes.
> Under the circumstances of World War II, the island was in a strategically
> advantageous location, was thus perceived as quite a threat to British
> security: fairly far out at sea from the mouth of river Elbe, pointing in
> the direction of Britain.  At that point in history, Britain did not trust
> Germany at all, perhaps justifiably so, and had no way of knowing whether
or
> not there would be any resurgence of hostilities.  Plus, being the victors
> and occupiers they were in charge and felt free to do as they darn well
> pleased.

Well, as a matter of fact, they never really tried to blow up the entire
island. That would be too big a thing to do. What the Britains were doing
was destroying ammunition and defences. That made enough damage and there
further plans for using Helgoland for proving new kinds of ammunition and
weapons. They did not care about the former inhabitants, not at all. Nor did
the Germans, having other, more serious problems at least in the beginning.

Oh, by the way: Helgoland was exchanged for Sansibar. You are right in this,
Ron.

Greetings from Kiel,

Anja

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From: Stella en Henno <stellahenno at hetnet.nl>
Subject: LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.09.24 (07) [E]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Language contacts
>
> William (above):
>
> > A rhyme in local dialect says, "Grön is dat Land, rood is de Kant, witt
is
> > de Sand, dat is de Flagg vun't hillige Land", i.e. "green is the land,
red
> > is the cliff, white is the sand, that is the flag of our holy land".
>
> This is the Lowlands Saxon (Low German) version.  I know it like this:
>
> "Gröyn is dat land, rood is dey kant, wit is dey sand. Dat is dey vlag(ge)
> vun Helgoland."
> (<Gröön is dat Land, root is de Kant, witt is de Sand. Dat is de Flagg(e)
> vun Helgoland.>)
> "Green is the land, red is the edge, white is the sand, That is the flag
of
> Heligoland."
>
> ... though I have heard the version "... vun't hillige Land also."
>
> (The "edge" of the island is red cliff.)
>
> Does anyone know the Heligoland North Frisian version?
>
I haven't been able to find it yet in my books on Heligolandic.. (I've got
4)

> > It is likely that this enforced period of exile - for up to 10 years in
> some
> > cases including the war years - may have influence the speech of the
> > islanders on their return.
>
> Good point, and very likely so.  Besides, not all the islanders returned
> home and thus must have infused local speech with mainland elements during
> visits.  Many people weren't really able to make a living on the island
> after World War II.  Firstly, the island was only a fraction of its
original
> (already small) size, because the British forces were in the process of
> blowing it to smithereens and stopped only after a student protest drew
> international attention to it.  Besides, this and the preceding German
> militarization of the island had drastically changed the local economy,
and
> this, in conjunction with increasing pollution from the Elbe River, put an
> end to lobster fishing, one of the mainstays of the original economy.
>
> http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Germany.html#Heligoland
> http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/H/Helgolan.asp
>
> The second site briefly mentions Africa.  I was told that Britain ceded
the
> island to Germany specifically in exchange for Zanzibar.  I am not sure if
> this is correct.
>
> Back to language: the languages that rubbed shoulders on the island were
> thus Frisian, Lowlands Saxon, Danish, German and English.
>
> English first names are or used to be common in Heligoland, even more
common
> than in places like Hamburg (where John and Jenny used to be very popular
at
> one time).  In Heligoland you find the name James quite a bit, such as the
> famous local writer James Krüss (http://www.james-kruess.de/home.html,
> http://www.james-kruess.de/biografisches.html, see one of his Frisian
poems
> below).
>
> Regards,
> Reinhard/Ron
>

A little piece about the exile from the book "Wi lear Halunder"
(text nr 29, "Deät Lun):

"Uun 'e iaars en 'e uur Krich wear deät Lun en Seefestung. Deät hat fer de
Halunder bediidet, dat dja taumoal fer Djooarn fan 't Lun mos noa de
Fastewal. Uun 18. Aprel 1947 djoaget dja 6000 Ten'n Munitschoon uun 'e Loch.
Alles wear totoal turoadet. Deät soag it, as wan deät Lun fer alle Tid'n
ferlörsen wear. Noa eewi Moit en Dun'n wür deät Lun uun iaarsen Marts 1952
fraiden'n. Fan de Tid uf wür alles weer apbuwwet, en soa oawerlang kiid de
Halunders weer henthüs keem. Dearbi hat djam deät heele Diitsk Fulk hülpen."

Nothing about changes in language etc. but it's hard to find reliable data
on number of speakers and usage on this fascinating language anyway....

Henno Brandsma

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