The last name of the script writer and the composer, Naskali means an awl and the last name of the knife maker Kustaa Lammi, Lammi is a dialectal form of the Finnish word for a pond, lampi.
Kauhava is in the historical province of Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa in Finnish). The red two-floor houses are traditional for that region, the tradition started in the 18th century when Pohjanmaa was the wealthiest part of Finland because of tar production and the burning of peat bogs into fields.
The folk song the narrator talked about is “Isontalon Antti ja Rannanjärvi” and it’s a song about a few 19th century rural gangsters in the area. The economic growth stagnated and a part of the young men turned to fighting and other kinds of violence in search for glory, fighting with puukko knive and other weapons. Antti Isotalo, Antti Rannanjärvi and Jaakko Pukkila were some of the ringleaders and the song is basically 19th century Nordic gangsta music.
Approximate translation (warning, sexism, extreme violence and animal cruelty):
Antti of Isotalo and Rannanjärvi
were chatting privately
You shall kill the ugly sheriff of Kauhava*
and I’ll marry the handsome widow
First they broke the stairs
and then the oven
Big** Antti went first
and was the biggest of the lot
Antti of Isotalo was the first
and Rannanjärvi was the second
and Jaska** of Pukkila
was the third of the same kind
Devil shall have me said Rannanjärvi
if I’m afraid of any man
Hit him with a pine on the face
and run steel over his back
The blood of Vaasa**** won’t shake
and the iron of Kauhava won’t rust
Grab the guy by the neck and stab him on the
back if he ain’t willing otherwise
Jump, jump jump said Rannanjärvi
when he made his stallion dance
Again has a bad boy left
his poor home
You’re not allowed to sing about Rannanjärvi
Rannanjärvi is dead.
On the grave of Rannanjärvi
they’ve brought a marble stone.
__
* = Adolf Hägglund who took as his mission to stop the gang violence in Pohjanmaa
** = Isotalo means Big House
*** = Jaska is a nickname for Jaakko.
**** = Capital city of Pohjanmaa
Ice Swimmersays
“Hit him with a pine” was supposed to be “Hit him with a pine baton”
Thank you, Ice Swimmer, for the additional info. I was hoping you would chime in with something interesting :).
voyagersays
Thank you Charly. Fascinating. Have you ever made a handle with this stacking of bark? It isn’t at all what I expected, but after seeing it done it seems like such an efficient use of materials.
Ice Swimmer thanks for your additions. Gangsta music doesn’t seem to have changed much over the years, being all about the glory of violence. This one might sound alright with a backbeat.
@voyager, I have stocked up on birch bark a few years ago, but I did not get round to using it yet and it is of poor quality (very thin) so I do no think it would be suitable for this. I have other plans with it. I plan to make puuko knife with this type of handle, but I did not get my hands on good quality birch bark yet.
I have made knife scales from poplar bark in the past (it looks more like cork) and I have different tree barks in my materials pile for future experiments with inlays, stacking etc. The problem with most tree barks except cherry and birch is that they are very fragile and do not form nice big sheets.
jazzletsays
Oh my, the Phillip Mason narration takes me back, he narrated a lot of this sort of documentary film as well as government Public Information films. The film itself is as lovely a piece of work as the knife. Thank you very much Charly.
The last name of the script writer and the composer, Naskali means an awl and the last name of the knife maker Kustaa Lammi, Lammi is a dialectal form of the Finnish word for a pond, lampi.
Kauhava is in the historical province of Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa in Finnish). The red two-floor houses are traditional for that region, the tradition started in the 18th century when Pohjanmaa was the wealthiest part of Finland because of tar production and the burning of peat bogs into fields.
The folk song the narrator talked about is “Isontalon Antti ja Rannanjärvi” and it’s a song about a few 19th century rural gangsters in the area. The economic growth stagnated and a part of the young men turned to fighting and other kinds of violence in search for glory, fighting with puukko knive and other weapons. Antti Isotalo, Antti Rannanjärvi and Jaakko Pukkila were some of the ringleaders and the song is basically 19th century Nordic gangsta music.
Approximate translation (warning, sexism, extreme violence and animal cruelty):
Antti of Isotalo and Rannanjärvi
were chatting privately
You shall kill the ugly sheriff of Kauhava*
and I’ll marry the handsome widow
First they broke the stairs
and then the oven
Big** Antti went first
and was the biggest of the lot
Antti of Isotalo was the first
and Rannanjärvi was the second
and Jaska** of Pukkila
was the third of the same kind
Devil shall have me said Rannanjärvi
if I’m afraid of any man
Hit him with a pine on the face
and run steel over his back
The blood of Vaasa**** won’t shake
and the iron of Kauhava won’t rust
Grab the guy by the neck and stab him on the
back if he ain’t willing otherwise
Jump, jump jump said Rannanjärvi
when he made his stallion dance
Again has a bad boy left
his poor home
You’re not allowed to sing about Rannanjärvi
Rannanjärvi is dead.
On the grave of Rannanjärvi
they’ve brought a marble stone.
__
* = Adolf Hägglund who took as his mission to stop the gang violence in Pohjanmaa
** = Isotalo means Big House
*** = Jaska is a nickname for Jaakko.
**** = Capital city of Pohjanmaa
“Hit him with a pine” was supposed to be “Hit him with a pine baton”
Thank you, Ice Swimmer, for the additional info. I was hoping you would chime in with something interesting :).
Thank you Charly. Fascinating. Have you ever made a handle with this stacking of bark? It isn’t at all what I expected, but after seeing it done it seems like such an efficient use of materials.
Ice Swimmer thanks for your additions. Gangsta music doesn’t seem to have changed much over the years, being all about the glory of violence. This one might sound alright with a backbeat.
@voyager, I have stocked up on birch bark a few years ago, but I did not get round to using it yet and it is of poor quality (very thin) so I do no think it would be suitable for this. I have other plans with it. I plan to make puuko knife with this type of handle, but I did not get my hands on good quality birch bark yet.
I have made knife scales from poplar bark in the past (it looks more like cork) and I have different tree barks in my materials pile for future experiments with inlays, stacking etc. The problem with most tree barks except cherry and birch is that they are very fragile and do not form nice big sheets.
Oh my, the Phillip Mason narration takes me back, he narrated a lot of this sort of documentary film as well as government Public Information films. The film itself is as lovely a piece of work as the knife. Thank you very much Charly.