The Different Tales Surrounding The Term ‘Ukulele’
Ukulele is perhaps one of the most awesome instruments that have captured the hearts of everybody. There are many things that basically makes them different and loved by people. Not like some other instruments, ukuleles are smaller hence this makes them movable and simple to carry. This instrument likewise creates a different kind of music which definitely stand out among the rest of them. It doesn’t take forever to know how to make music out of it since it is very easy to learn. The ukulele has a vibrant history which is why it has gained esteem in the musical world.
There are numerous tales about how ukuleles gained their name. The most popular began on the 23rd of August, 1879- in the afternoon to be even more precise. A ship known as the Ravenscrag landed in Honolulu’s harbor bringing 419 Portuguese voyagers. It had journeyed thousands of miles over the period of 4 months. Among the passengers aboard, Joao Fernandes, was extremely overjoyed at the arrival that he took his friend’s braguinha, an instrument sounding like the soprano ukulele, and began to play it. The common people had never seen such a site and they were extremely pleased by the speed at which he performed! The way Joao’s fingers danced on the braguinha copied a ‘jumping flea’ which happens to be the English translation of ukulele!
A different story encompassing the origin of the name originated from the royal family itself. King Kalakaua got an English chamberlain known as Edward Purvis. He was extremely skillful at playing the local version of the braguinha, and obtained an outstanding reputation as a musician throughout the island. Purvis was a rather small and dainty man, consistently jumping about and normally behaving in a sprightly manner. Due to his conduct, he was called ‘jumping flea’ and this nickname was passed on to the instrument most associated with him.
The first two mentioned tales above are the most well-known version of how the ukulele arrived. Even so, there are a few lesser known stories concerning the term ‘ukulele’. One legend state that Queen Lili’uokalani was given an instrument and she labeled it ukulele, meaning ‘gift’ for ‘uku’ and ‘to come’ for ‘lele’. Other legend claims that the term itself simply stemmed from the Hawaiian musical bow. It showed up from Portugal and it was named dancing ukeke or a ‘ukeke lele’. Eventually, they shorten it to only ‘ukulele’.
The final version of the origin of the word ukulele came from a wealthy island family. There was a man known as W.L. Wilcox who was holding a housewarming party, welcoming his good friend Gabriel Davian to attend. Davian was performing an instrument he had produced which was much like the Portuguese braguinha. The visitors naturally inquired about what it was, to which Davian answered that it was a jumping flea due to how he scratched at it. In reality, he had no name for the instrument he fashioned. The local people, who were not proficient in English, did not quite understand Davian. Nevertheless, Wilcox was skilled at Hawaiian and translating ‘jumping flea’ to ‘ukelele.’
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