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From: jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: One for our side (gringo)
Message-ID: <749@rtech.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Nov-85 01:00:50 EST
Article-I.D.: rtech.749
Posted: Mon Nov 18 01:00:50 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 19-Nov-85 03:56:19 EST
References: <973@decwrl.UUCP> <12580@rochester.UUCP>
Organization: Relational Technology, Alameda CA
Lines: 75

> 
> >  I've never heard of answer to "where did 'gringo' come from?" that
> >had any finality to it.  One proposed source was that American (United
> >States-ian:-) soldiers sang a song entitled "Green Grow the Rushes".
> 
> That's the story.  Supposedly it happened just after Texas joined
> the Union, and the Mexicans wanted something other than "tejanos"
> to call the newcomers who were invading their country in the latest war.
> The song was popular at that time (1845?) and the troops from the north
> sang it as they marched.
> 
> It's not proven, but it's pretty plausible.
> 
> John Quarterman,   UUCP:  {ihnp4,seismo,harvard,gatech}!ut-sally!im4u!jsq

I looked up "Green Grow the Rushes, Ho" in the "Fireside Book of Folk Songs".
It didn't seem to me to be the type of song soldiers would sing, for marching
or otherwise.  Here are the first couple of verses:

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

	I'll sing you two-ho!
	Green grow the rushes-ho.
	What are your two-ho?
	Two, two the lily-white boys,
	Clothed all in green-ho.
	One is one and all-alone,
	And evermore shall be so.

It continues building like "The Twelve Days of Christmas", with the following
additions:

	Three, three the rivals,
	Four the Gospel makers,
	Five for the symbols at your door,
	Six for the six proud walkers,
	Seven for the seven stars in the sky,
	Eight for the April rainers,
	Nine for the nine bright shiners,
	Ten for the ten commandments,
	Eleven for the eleven went up to heaven,
	Twelve for the twelve Apostles

Doesn't exactly sound like a marching song that would help the soldiers keep
cadence and inspire them to do battle, does it?  Then I looked in the
"Dictionary of Word Origins" by Joseph T. Shipley.  It says:

	"'Gringo' is the term Mexicans gave the American (English).  It may
	 be from Sp. 'griego', Greek (as in 'It's Greek to me.'); but it is
	 commonly supposed to be from the opening words of a song by Burns,
	 popular with the soldiers in the Mexican War:
		Green grow the rashes O
		The happiest hours that ere I spent
		Were spent among the lasses O.
	Soldier themes vary little down the ages."

This is a little more plausible.  It's still not a marching song, but I
can imagine soldiers singing it.  Most folksongs have many versions, and the
"Fireside Book of Folk Songs" recorded one that was suitable for the kids.

"Fireside" contains another song, "Green Grow the Lilacs".  It says that it
is an old Irish song popular with the early Texas cowboys, and that the
Mexicans got the word "gringo" from the opening words.

Now we have three hypotheses, with no substantiation for any of them.
-- 
Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.)
"Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent..."

{amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff
{ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff