Thanksgiving Memories: Traditional Songs

Almost immediately after the Jack-O-Lantern candles have burned out, America’s thoughts turn to Thanksgiving. The chill of the New England November, the increasingly visible tree limbs, and the first seasonal frosts do away with lingering memories of lazy summer days. One of my earliest recollections of childhood Thanksgivings comes from elementary school assemblies, for which we spent weeks preparing by making paper pilgrim hats and learning holiday songs to sing en masse. The two songs I remember most clearly – occasionally fragments will pop into my head – are Over the River and Through the Wood, which always reminds me of feasting, and We Gather Together, the quintessential “pilgrim” hymn.

Over the River is the newer of the two, written by Lydia Maria Child, the Martha Stewart of her day. It originally appeared in a book of poetry, Flowers for Children, Vol. 2, in 1844.

Over the river, and through the wood,
to Grandfather’s house we go;
the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.

Over the river, and through the wood,
to Grandfather’s house away!
We would not stop for doll or top,
for ’tis Thanksgiving Day.

Over the river, and through the wood-
oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose,
as over the ground we go.

Over the river, and through the wood
and straight through the barnyard gate.
We seem to go extremely slow-
it is so hard to wait!

Over the river, and through the wood-
when Grandmother sees us come,
She will say, “o, dear, the children are here,
bring a pie for every one.”

Over the river, and through the wood-
now Grandmothers cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

We Gather Together is considerably older, written in the 17th century but translated into English only in 1894.
Words: Nederlandtsche Gedenckclanck, 1626;
Music: Kremser (Nederlandtsche Gedenckclank, 1626)

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
he chastens and hastens his will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing:
sing praise to his Name, he forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning:
thou, Lord, wast at our side: all glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation:
thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

The following excerpt written by Melanie Kirkpatrick for the Wall Street Journal explains the evolution of this song from folk tune to hymn:

The melody can be traced back to 1597 and is probably older than that. It started out as a folk song, whose secular lyrics set a decidedly nonreligious tone. “Wilder dan wilt, wie sal mij temmen,” the song began, or “Wilder than wild, who will tame me?” Folk melodies have a way of wanting to be sung–think “Greensleeves,” which has numerous sets of lyrics associated with it–and “Wilder dan wilt” was no exception. Its transformation into the hymn about overcoming religious oppression began on Jan. 24, 1597. That was the date of the Battle of Turnhout, in which Prince Maurice of Orange defeated the Spanish occupiers of a town in what is now the Netherlands. It appears likely that Dutch Protestants–who were forbidden from practicing their religion under the Catholic King Philip II of Spain–celebrated the victory by borrowing the familiar folk melody and giving it new words. Hence “Wilt heden nu treden” or, loosely translated, “We gather together”–a phrase that itself connoted a heretofore forbidden act: Dutch Protestants joining together in worship. Its first appearance in print was in a 1626 collection of Dutch patriotic songs, “Nederlandtsch Gedencklanck.”

It’s tantalizing to think that the English Pilgrims–in exile in Holland, the only place in Europe where they could worship freely–might have been familiar with “Wilt heden nu treden.” There’s no record that they were, but the circumstantial evidence is strong. Some of them spoke Dutch, attended Dutch churches and even became Dutch citizens. “It’s possible, I’d even go so far as to say it’s probable, that the Pilgrims knew the tune,” says John Kemp of Plimouth Plantation, the living-history museum of 17th-century America.

But to the Pilgrim mindset, “We Gather Together” would have been a secular song. It wasn’t the direct word of the Bible, which meant they would not have sung it at church. The Pilgrims, like the Dutch Calvinists, sang only Psalms in worship and then without musical accompaniment or even harmony, which they considered “man glorifying in man’s art,” says Mr. Kemp. They saw any song except a Psalm as a violation of the commandment against idolatry.

Now I’ll be humming these songs all day!