Dutch Nursery Rhyme

Someone posted on Wikipedia that Eye Level is based on a Dutch nursery rhyme but they failed to name the nursery rhyme and left no references.

Try web searching and you simply get hundreds of sites that have copied the unsubstantiated Wikipedia entry verbatim.

Bearing in mind that Eye Level is an adaptation if the assertion on Wikipedia is true, does anybody recognise a nursery rhyme? (At the time of writing, there are three Youtube clips to hear on the SHS work page by following the hyperlink above.)

Thanks,

Dave.

I know this doesn't anwer your question, but in South Africa, the 'Eye Level' tune was used as the theme music for the 1974 feature film Boland! with added Afrikaans lyrics and is generally known there as "Lied Van Die Boland".

The details about the release:

Performance title: Lied van die Boland

Afrikaans lyrics: Gert van Tonder

Artist: Acapella Koor

Release title: Sing my liefde vir jou uit

Released: 1974

Label: EMI Brigadiers

Cat. #: LSS 8

Format: Vinyl album

Links:

http://www.vetseun.co.za/anarkans/bladsy/acapella.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/music6/omyhoed/SONGS/volk_boland.htm

http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/72861118/ACAPELLA_KOOR_SING_MY_LIEFDE_VIR_JOU_UIT…

Thanks for the reply from The Netherlands, Erik. I guess if you don't recognise the tune as a nursery rhyme, it can't be a popular/obvious one (if the Wikipedia entry has any substance at all).

I've now added the Afrikaans adaptation; thanks for the references.

Lied van die Boland

I assigned the Acapella Koor LP to Sounds Superb based on its catalogue number and the comment on EMI Brigadiers in RYM's label listing.

I'll leave this research thread open in case any other Dutch visitors can offer futher information on the nursery rhyme.

Cheers,

Dave.

Hi Dave!

Thanks for adding the Afrikaans version!

It's definitely a Dutch nursery rhyme, but somehow I can't remember....Most be the early effects of Korsakoff.

I also do not remember the Van Der Valk Tv-series, which supposedly was broadcast in Holland as well.

Just keep the topic open and sooner or later someone will post the answer.

Cheers,

Erik

Hi Dave!

I did post your question on a Dutch forum and just received an answer. According to the lady who posted 'Eye Level' sounded a bit like the Dutch nursery song Ik ben met Catootje naar de botermarkt gegaan. As this title didn't ring a bells right away (it does now) I did a search on Google and here are some of the results (some in Dutch);

The singing makes listening to the music a bit difficult, but I did find a midi-file with just the music. I could play it on my Winamp music player. You can download it here: http://www.kinderliedjes.overtuin.net/kinderliedjes_met_muziek_h-i.html

Other sources (in Dutch);

http://jeugdsentimenten.net/beeld-en-geluid/muziek/katootje/

http://www.liedjeskist.nl/liedjes_a-z/i-liedjes/ik_ben_met_catootje.htm

Last but least I find a thread on a Dutch forum where it is confirmed that the tune is indeed based on the Catootje !

http://www.ezzulia.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=125&t=2769&start=30

I do think this should solves our quest !

What's your opinion; do you agree ?!

Cheers,

Erik

Hi Dave !

I did get some more interesting answers through this board.

The Dutch nursery rhyme is probably based on an anti-Napoleon Bonaparte rhyme / song from Hamburg, Germany, in Plattdeutsch, called Jan Hinnerk.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hinnerk

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hinnerk

Part of the melody of 'Jan Hinnerk' is supposedly based on 'Le nozze di Figaro' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

That's it !

Cheers,

Erik

Hi Erik,

Many thanks for your assistance, enthusiasm and effort.

Well, all these would make for an interesting and diverse adaptation hierarchy:

Le nozze di Figaro (Italian)

-> Jan Hinnerk (Low Saxon)

--> Ik ben met Catootje naar de botermarkt gegaan (Dutch)

---> Eye Level (Instrumental)

+---> Lied van die Boland (Afrikaans)

+---> And You Smiled (English)

From Mozart to Matt Monro, without "Going Undercover"!

However, let's consider the evidence so far:

-> supposedly based

--> probably based

---> sounds a bit like

Sources: Wikipedia, a forum.

I just don't think I can add these unless we can gather something much more explicit, reliable, authoritative.

I'm conscious that if I weren't so tentative and were to add the data, any future web search would bring up SHS with an apparently definitive summary statement saying something like "Eye Level by Jack Trombey was adapted from Ik ben met Catootje naar de botermarkt gegaan, which was adapted from Jan Hinnerk..."

We might even end up creating a circular reference where someone updates Wikipedia by citing SHS. And once something is in Wikipedia, a hundred other sites will copy it as gospel.

Let's leave the topic open and see if any other replies come in. Meanwhile, I'll try researching the information you've kindly gathered. And if you get any further responses on the forum, please upload them.

In the meantime, I won't worry about the Eye Level entry being incomplete; the only indication of a potential hierarchy was the unreferenced Wikipedia mention of an unnamed nursery rhyme.

Cheers,

Dave.