UKULELE
ORIGIN OF UKULELE
When the Ravenscrag arrived in Honolulu on the afternoon of
August 23, 1879, it was carrying 419 Portuguese immigrants from the
island of Madeira to work in the sugar cane fields. It had been a long
and hard journey of over 4 months and some 15,000 miles. In celebration
of their arrival, Joao Fernandes borrowed his friend's braguinha,
jumped off the ship, and started playing folks songs from his native
land on the wharf. The Hawaiians who came down to the dock were very
impressed at the speed of this musicians' fingers as they danced across
the fingerboard and they called the instrument "ukulele", which
translates into English as "jumping flea". You see, that was the image
conjured up by those flying fingers.
At least that's one of the stories about the origin of the name
"ukulele". Typical to much of Hawaiian history, there are several
accounts of how the ukulele got it's name. Queen Lili'uokalani thought
it came from the Hawaiian words for "the gift that came here", or "uku"
(gift or reward) and "lele" (to come). Another legend says the
instrument was originally called "ukeke lele" or "dancing ukeke" (ukeke
being the Hawaiian's three stringed musical bow). The name, being
mispronounced over the years, became "ukulele". Another theory comes
from a story about Edward Purvis, an English army officer and the
Assistant Chamberlain to the court of King David Kalakaua, who was very
adept at playing the braguinha. Since he was small and sprightly, the
rather large Hawaiians nicknamed him "ukulele", the whole "jumping flea"
thing all over again. Still another version of the origin of the world
"ukulele" is attributed to Gabriel Davian and Judge W. L. Wilcox, who
was a member of a well-known island family. According to the story, the
two men were in attendance at a housewarming party at the Wilcox home
in Kahili, where Davian was playing an 'ukulele he had made himself.
When one of the guests asked what it was called, Davion jokingly replied
that, judging from the way one "scratched at it," it was a "jumping
flea". Wilcox, who was fluent in Hawaiian, was asked for the Hawaiian
translation and is supposed to have answered, "'Ukulele!".
Over the years, the "jumping flea" legend, the one where Joao
Fernandes' fingers were jumping like fleas over the fingerboard, has
become the most accepted, probably because that is the coolest story and
Hawaiians just love a cool story.
Thanks for reading, hoping you enjoy ;)
HAVE A NICE DAY!
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