More popular than the municipal anthem of this island seems to be the following peom, which is a popular description of striking five-coloured flag of Terschelling:

"Rood zijn de daken
Blauw is de lucht
Geel zijn de helmen
Groen is het gras
Wit is het zand
Dit zijn de kleuren van Schellingerland"

English translation:

"Red are the roofs
Blue is the sky
Yellow are the marrams
Green is the grass
White is the sand
These are the colors of Terschellinger land"


Flag of Terschelling (note the white stripe on the
bottom, which is not very good visible on the  
background of this page)

As far as I know, there is no music for this poem; it has the character of a children's rhyme, but it appears on some postcards, in most travel guide books and on many websites about the island.

The "Reisgids voor Terschelling" by Bauke Boomstra and Piet Lautenbach, however, gives a different version of this poem:

"Rode wolken,
blauwe lucht,
gele helmen,
groen gras,
wit zand,
't Is het wapen van't Schellingerland"

Obviously, the "red clouds" (most probably referring to sunset glow) have later been replaced by the more convincing rooftops.

It seems also to be very likely that the colours of the flag originally had another meaning - their origin is not certain, probably they refer to an old coat of arms of the island (as indicated by the old version if the poem) or they are a combination some old colours of the island with the Dutch colours (compare with the current flag of Schiermonnikoog) or derived from an old merchant flag that combined the colours of Terschelling and Vlieland.

What I find amazing with this poem is the fact that there is a very similar rhymed description of the flag of Heligoland (Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein/Germany), which is horizontal green-red-white and described as follows:

"Grün ist das Land,
rot ist die Kant,
weiss ist der Sand,
das sind die Farben von Helgoland"

In Low German:

"Grön is dat Land,
rot is de Kant,
witt is de Sand,
dat sünd de Farben vun Helgoland"

English:

"Green is the land,
red is the edge (steep coast)
white is the sand,
this are the colours of Heligoland"

I wonder whether the similarity of this two poems is just accidental, or whether the inhabitants of one of these North Sea islands copied it from the other...

Now finally I got the CD that Dieter has mentioned (there are only a few selected shops in Terschelling who sell them - adresses see http://141.252.165.13/mainframeset.php?dbase=wassite&subcat=CD&maintarg=main.php...). Here is the complete text, as it is printed in the leaflet and sung by the "West Aleta Singers":


Oan Schylge

O, Schylge myn lântse,
wat hab ik dy jeaf
|: Al wa dy net priizet,
dy fynt my toch deaf:|

Dan slút ik myn earen,
of geet it te bont
|: Dan kan ik net swye,
mar straf se terstont:|

O Schylge, myn lântse,
sò droeg en sò heag
|: Wat leisto dir froalik,
de Noardsee yn't eag :|

Hò trots bin dyn dunen,
hò wyt is dyn sân
|: Hò grien bin dyn helmen,
myn jeaf Schylgerlân :|

O Schylge, myn lântse,
do leist my oant hort
|: Wa dy net ris priizet,
dy dogt dy te kort :|

Sò lang asto steeste,
sò fest op dyn sân
|: Wês fol brave minsken,
myn jeaf Schylgerlân :|

I have tried to produce an English translation - this island dialect seems to be a mixture of Frisian and Dutch, but amazingly, it has also some similarities with Low German (Plattdeutsch) and therefore I think I understood most parts of it. However, I am sure it is far from being perfect. So anybody who has a better understanding of this language (maybe our Dutch forum members?) is invited to correct me.

To Terschelling

O, Terschelling my little land,
how much do I love you
|: All who do not praise you,
will just find me deaf :|

Then I close my ears,
but if it goes to far
|: Then I can not remain silent,
and punish them immediately :|

O Terschelling, my little land,
so austere and so rough
|: You lie in the middle
of the foaming North Sea waves :|

How proud are your dunes,
how white is your sand
|: How green are your blades,
my beloved Terschellingerland :|

O Terschelling, my little land,  
you are embraced in my heart
|: Who does not loudely praise you,
is not worthy of you :|

Since old times you stand,
so steadfast on your sand
|: You are full of honest people,
my beloved Terschellingerland :|

Vexillologist, thank you for your amendments. I fact, the third verse was the one I had the most difficulties with.

Quote:


It is right, the Frisian name is "Skylge", whilst in the local dialect it is spelled "Schylge". You find this version in the name of a few hotels and shops, but the Dutch name "Terschelling" is the one that is most frequently used. In fact, I have read that the Terschellinger dialect, which had at least three sub-dialects (western, central and eastern) is a bit in danger of extinction - when I talked to local people in Low German, I found them always responding in Dutch, though I think (at least from the spelling) the Terschellinger dialect is closer to Low German than Dutch or standard Frisian (maybe this dates from the times of the Hanseatic league, since many Terschellingers were sailors and Terschelling even used to have its own merchant fleet).

Quote:


According to http://www.fotoreiseberichte.de/langeoog/lang01_006.htm the English name is "European Beachgrass", and the Latin name "Ammophila arenaria". In the English translation of the poem about the Terschellinger flag (see second posting) it is translated as "marrams" - a word that I do not know and which is not even included in my English-German dictionary. In German, we know it as "Strandhafer" (Beach oats), but in Low German it is also called "Halm" - in standard German the same word means simply "blade", but since this particular type of grass is so important for the coast, in Low German the name "Halm" has been reserved for it.

Funny enough, in the flag poem the "Helmen" symbolize the colour yellow, whilst in the anthem they stand for green. But having been on Terschelling only a few days ago, I can confirm that the Beachgrass has yellow (old, dry) as well as green (fresh) blades  .

Here the amended English translation of the anthem, thanks to Vexillologist:

To Terschelling

O, Terschelling my little land, 
how much do I love you
|: All who do not praise you, 
will just find me deaf :|

Then I close my ears, 
but if it goes to far 
|: Then I can not remain silent, 
and punish them immediately :|

O, Terschelling my little land
so high and so dry
|: You happily lie there
facing the North Sea :|

How proud are your dunes, 
how white is your sand
|: How green is your beachgrass, 
my beloved Terschellingerland :|

O Terschelling, my little land,   
you are embraced in my heart
|: Who does not praise you from time to time, 
is not worthy of you :|

For as long as you remain standing, 
so steadfast on your sand
|: Be full of honest people, 
my beloved Terschellingerland :|

My German Translation:

An Terschelling

Oh, Terschelling mein Ländchen, 
wie liebe ich Dich
|: Alle die Dich nicht preisen, 
stoßen bei mir auf taube Ohren :|

Dann schließe ich meine Ohren, 
doch treibt man es zu bunt 
|: Dann kann ich nicht schweigen, 
und strafe sie zur gleichen Stund' :|

Oh, Terschelling mein Ländchen
so hoch und so trocken
|: Wie fröhlich liegst Du da 
die Nordsee im Blick :|

Wie stolz sind Deine Dünen, 
wie weiß ist Dein Sand
|: Wie grün ist Dein Strandhafer, 
mein geliebtes Terschellinger Land :|

Oh Terschelling, mein Ländchen,   
Du liegst mir am Herzen
|: Wer Dich nicht preist von Zeit zu Zeit, 
ist Deiner nicht wert :|

So lange wie Du stehst, 
so standfest auf Deinem Sand
|: Sei' voll ehrlicher Menschen, 
mein geliebtes Terschellinger Land :|