De âlde Friezen

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De âlde Friezen (The Old Frisians) is the anthem of the Friesland province of the Netherlands and of western Frisia as a whole (an area which includes Groningen province and parts of North Holland).

The text is by the Frisian writer Dr. Eeltsje Halbertsma (1797-1858) from the village of Grou. The version commonly sung today is an abridgement, dating from 1876, by Jacobus van Loon. Although the words were not set to music until after Halbertsma's death (they were first sung in 1875 at a ceremony held to commemorate his work), the author may well have known the melody from his days as a student at Heidelberg since it is that of a student song (Vom hoh'n Olymp) by Heinrich Christian Schnoor which had been popular there as the setting for several different German texts since the 1790s.

The song was adopted as the Frisian anthem by the Selskip foar Frysk taal en Skriftekennisse (Society for Frisian Language and Literature) on the urging of politician, writer and poet Pieter Jelles Troelstra (1860-1930) and has served as the (unofficial) anthem of Friesland ever since.

[edit] Text

Frysk bloed tsjoch op! Wol no ris brûze en siede,
en bûnzje troch ús ieren om!
Flean op! Wy sjonge it bêste lân fan d'ierde,
it Fryske lân fol eare en rom.
Chorus (2x)
Klink dan en daverje fier yn it rûn,
Dyn âlde eare, o Fryske grûn!
Hoe ek fan oermacht, need en see betrutsen,
oerâlde, leave Fryske grûn,
Nea waard dy fêste, taaie bân ferbrutsen,
dy't Friezen oan har lân ferbûn.
Chorus (2x)
Fan bûgjen frjemd, bleau by 't âld folk yn eare,
syn namme en taal, syn frije sin;
Syn wurd wie wet; rjocht, sljocht en trou syn leare,
en twang, fan wa ek, stie it tsjin.
Chorus (2x)
Trochloftich folk fan dizze âlde namme,
wês jimmer op dy âlders great!
Bliuw ivich fan dy grize, hege stamme,
in grien, in krêftich bloeiend leat!
Chorus (2x)

[edit] English translation

Frisian blood, rise up! Foam, boil,
and thud through our veins!
Come! Let us sing of the best land in the world,
the Frisian land full of honour and pride.
Chorus (2x)
Sound then and thunder it far all around,
Thine ancient honour, oh Frisian ground!
However threatened by superior might, distress, or by the sea,
age-old, beloved Frisian ground,
Never were those strong bonds broken,
that tied Frisians to their land.
Chorus (2x)
Unused to bowing, the Frisian people stood by their honour,
their name and their tongue, their sense of freedom.
Their word was as law, their teaching modest and true,
and opposed to coercion from wherever it might come.
Chorus (2x)
Honourable people of this ancient name,
be always proud of your ancestors!
Remain forever on that high grey stem
a green and strongly flourishing shoot!
Chorus (2x)

[edit] External links

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