The Washington times., 1922-06-04
TVIA A NEW NATION REPRESENTED i'm WASHINGTON,
HAS 10000 NATIONAL SONGS VICTOR FI4AMBEAU LEARN

8 S S VIZ
rule. and songs Of love and famiIy
life.
The national hymn Of Latvia.
which Mr.. .seya sang in closing. is
a glorious paean. which might rank
with our own Star spansied Ban.
ner" or the French "Marsei!laise.
History teaches us that often
numerically small nations have pro.
duced very considerable spiritual
and cultural values" says Mr..
Seya. 80 the Lettish people.
though only two and a half mil
lions in number and occupying a
territory somewhat larger than Bel
giunn. possess national songs. the
beauty and number Of which mny
be admired by the great nations
of the world. This territorialiy
small country. situated on the Bal
tic Sea. has actually three Of the
best ports, Riga. Libau and
winda. and may be styled The
Gateway to Russia" 81
MANY HAVE BEEN LOST. :
OF tho Lettish songs Dr.. seya
believes that no doubt very many
have been lost, because II was only
in the second part OF the nine
teenth century that the Let's start.
ed to collect seriously the precious
inheritance of their ancestors.
which important work was accom-
plished a few years before the
world war. and at present the
eighty thousand Lettish national
songs are printed and form ten
heavy volumes.
Other European nations had In
the Middle Ages their Witnessing.
ers, troubadours, minstrels, and In
Latvia, too, so DR.. Sega tells 1s,
"It has been established that these
national songs were composed for
the most part between the thir-
teenth and the sixteenth centuries.
This is proved by the language Of
the songs, by the objects named.
and by the general conception OF
the world and life. Since tho six
teenth century some Of them have
been changed. but scarcely any new
ones have been composed"
In Scotland. more than a hun
dred years ago, Bobbie Burns was
occupied with the delightful diver.
sion of collecting the old ballads
and lyrics. to which he often wrote
new words, and which may be
found in great number among his
collected works. Such poets have
not been uncommon in Latvia, and
II is to be hoped that in America
we may develop a greater national
spirit In poetry and art
DR.. Seya concluded his address
with a very popular Latvian song.
the opposite Of sad, and one which,
he says is a great favorite with the
girls Of Latvia, who are very pretty
and who love to sing this song at
all the merrymakings. when the
young people meet. and the Lat.
Wan "flappers" are teasing tia
young beaux. Love-making Is al
ways very frank among q pastoral
people.
Beyond the river the lambs were
bleating.
The old bachelors were jubilaitns
The lambs were blestins for the sweet
hay.
The old bachelors jubilated for tn.
young glris
The lambs got the hay,
But the boys did not get the giria
Say. my young sisters.
what shall We do with the old bach
elors7
Let US tie them In punches
And fling them into the river.
The modern history of Latvia Ia
just now receiving considerable at
tention. In a recent review in the
Current History magazine we
read, LAS to its educational status,
Latvia ranks higher than Russia.
In the census of 1920 it was found
that 90 per cent Of the whole pop
ulstion were able to read and 20
per cent of them were able both to
read and write"
Illiteracy in the United States
for the same period was consider.
ably higher than In Latvia, owing
in part no doubt to our mixed
population. The same writer, Mrs.
Francis A. Blanchard, continues:
"For a nation which has had only
three years Of independence, Lat
Was problems are stupendous.
The result depends on united ma
tional effort. combined with for.
eien cooperation. The key to sue.
cess may be found IN a phrase
which the Latvian peasant reiter.
aes daily: Ludz Deevuun strada,
Pray to God and Work."