Gringo, Redux, Again….

January 14, 2006

The origin of the somewhat pejorative term gringo continues to interest readers. In a previous column, we discussed the widely accepted origin as a corruption of a Scottish song sung by American soldiers in the Mexican War (1846-1848), “Green Grow the Rashes, O!� As the story goes, the Mexicans heard the soldiers singing across the border and turned “green grow� into gringo. Then, in another column, we talked about the etymologist Diarmaid O’Muirithe’s explanation of the word as being derived from the Spanish Griego, for Greek, a term stemming from the observation that the speaker was unintelligible: “It’s all Greek to me!� We referred to O’Muirithe’s citation of a Castilian dictionary from 1787, which stated that in Malaga and Madrid, persons who spoke unintelligible Spanish were called gringos, a corruption of Griego.

It is likely, if the story is true, that the song sung by American soldiers was Robert Burns’ composition. Another song, with the similar title of “Green Grow the Rushes, O!� was a catechism song, part of Catholic culture, thought to be of Cornish origin. It is a counting song, similar to “The Twelve Days of Christmas.� It begins:

I’ll sing you one, O
Green grow the rushes, O
What is your one, O?
One is one and all alone
And evermore shall be so.

The “one is one and all alone� is said to represent Jesus. The song continues:

I’ll sing you two, O
Green grow the rushes, O
What are your two, O?
Two, two lily-white boys
Clothed all in green, O
One is one, and all alone.

The counting continues with the “three rivals,� four for “gospel makers,� five for “the symbols at your door,� “the six proud walkers,� “the seven stars in the sky,� eight for “the April rainers,� “the nine bright shiners,� “the Ten Commandments,� “the eleven who went to heaven,� and “the twelve Apostles.� To my eye, references to the Ten Commandments and the twelve apostles are clearer than the “April rainers,� and I could use some help with that. I am admittedly in terra incognita. And “rashes� versus “rushes?�

It has been said, as mentioned above, that the counting song was similar to the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.�

It is recorded that from 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their religion openly. Persecution was severe and spread to Scotland, with the hostility resulting in the murder of Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic. During this period, a Christmas carol appeared as a counting song—covertly a catechism, scholars suggest, incorporating a religious code that could be remembered in its symbolic message. The familiar carol begins.

On the first day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree.

The single “partridge� was Jesus Christ, the “one is one and all alone� of “Green Grow the Rushes, O!�

I hope your New Year is a joyful, peaceful, and prosperous one.


mobyop@newmex.com