William F. Kirk
Encyclopedia
A versatile writer
William Frederick Kirk (1877-1927) was a well-known poet, songwriter, humorist and baseball writer. A longtime newspaperman, he first worked at the Chippewa Falls Herald and the Milwaukee SentinelMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
.
In 1905 he signed a contract with the Hearst organization and moved to New York, where he was employed at two of William Randolph Hearst's
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
papers: the New York American
New York Journal American
The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
and the New York Evening Journal
New York Journal American
The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
. After returning to Chippewa Falls in 1918 he continued working as a nationally syndicated columnist.
Kirk was born in Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...
in 1877 and came to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Chippewa Falls is a city located on the Chippewa River in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 13,661 at the 2010 census. Incorporated as a city in 1869, it is the county seat of Chippewa County....
at the age of four. He graduated from high school there and began his career in journalism on a local paper. His humor column, “Fleeting Fancies”, was a popular feature at the Chippewa Falls Herald and later at the Milwaukee Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
. It brought him to the attention of metropolitan dailies and was the name of his first book, published in 1904. Kirk's lyrics drew comparisons with those of other poets, whose work he sometimes parodied: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
, Eugene Field
Eugene Field
Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays.-Biography:...
and James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the Hoosier Poet and Children's Poet for his dialect works and his children's poetry respectively...
.
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
, women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
and divorce. His pieces were seen in everything from “The Smart Set
The Smart Set
The Smart Set was a literary magazine founded in America in March 1900 by Colonel William d'Alton Mann.-History:Mann had previously published Town Topics, a gossip rag which he used for political and social gain among New York City's infamous elite known as "The Four Hundred." With The Smart Set,...
” to trade union publications.
Recent works on baseball's deadball era have had numerous samples of Kirk’s sports writing. One can, for instance, read his account of Fred Merkle
Fred Merkle
Frederick Charles Merkle , also known as "Bonehead" Merkle, was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball...
's infamous blunder or his rhyming tribute to the Flying Dutchman, Honus Wagner
Honus Wagner
-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....
. The Unforgettable Season by Gordon H. Fleming
Gordon H. Fleming
Gordon H. Fleming was an American writer, critic and professor who specialized in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Outside of academia he was best known for several "clippings books" he published about various baseball teams and seasons...
recounts the 1908 National League pennant race through contemporary press coverage by Kirk and others. In 1911 he published a collection of baseball ballads called Right Off The Bat.
In 1918 Kirk moved back to Chippewa Falls, desiring to live among old friends in his boyhood home. He belonged to several fraternal organizations and was a prominent figure in the town.
Failing health caused his early retirement, and after an illness of many months he died of cancer in 1927.
The Norsk Nightingale
William F. Kirk is especially remembered for his Scandinavian dialect poetry, written for a daily column and later published in book form. His byline, “The Norsk Nightingale”, was a familiar sight in newspapers across the country. His first collection of dialect verse, The Norsk Nightingale, presented a Norwegian lumberjack from the Upper MidwestUpper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the midwest. Although there are no uniformly agreed-upon boundaries, the region is most commonly used to refer to the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and...
. It was his most popular book with sixteen editions printed over a period of thirty-five years. At the time of its publication one reviewer wrote: “Novelty and freshness, and no little ingenuity as a parodist, salute us in this volume of dialect verse hailing from the haunts of the lumberjack or, more locally, northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, where dwell so many neo-Americans of Scandinavian birth.”
His second volume of dialect verse, Songs of Sergeant Swanson, reflected the experiences of a Swedish-American doughboy
Doughboy
Doughboy is an informal term for an American soldier, especially members of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. The term dates back to the Mexican–American War of 1846–48....
in World War I. A book of more limited appeal, it only had one edition.
Kirk's ethnic poetry put forth the notion that Scandinavian-Americans were good-natured but a little slow. This humorous stereotype had been employed in the 1890s by the playwright Gus Heege in such theatrical works as “Ole Olson” and “Yon Yonson”.
Scandinavian dialect humor
Scandinavian dialect humor took other forms: vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
sketches, joke books, movies, records and sheet music. In quick succession Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
published “Hello Wisconsin”, “Holy Yumpin Yiminy” and “Scandinavia" (Sing Dose Song And Make Dose Music). The popular recording artists Eleonora and Ethel Olson
Eleonora and Ethel Olson
Between 1905 and 1925 Eleonora and Ethel Olson were well-known figures in Scandinavian communities throughout the United States. They toured extensively in the Midwest, and their recordings on major record labels gained them a nationwide following....
were known for their warm depictions of immigrant life in such stories as “The Old Sogning Woman” and “A Norwegian Woman Using the Telephone”.
El Brendel
El Brendel
El Brendel was a vaudeville comedian turned movie star, best remembered for his dialect schtick as a Swedish immigrant. His biggest role was as "Single-0" in the sci-fi musical Just Imagine , produced by Fox Film Corporation...
, Yogi Yorgesson, Stan Boreson and countless others have followed in Kirk’s footsteps, and there is still a receptive audience — especially among Scandinavian-Americans — for tales of lumberjacks and sergeants with more heart than brain.
Yim
- Dar ban a little faller,
- Ay tenk his name ban Yim,
- And nearly every morning
- Ay used to seeing him.
- He used to stand in gatevay,
- And call me Svede, and ay
- Ant lak to hear dis nickname:
- Ay ban a Norsk, yu say.
- But he ban little faller,
- Ay tenk 'bout sax years old,
- And so ay used to lak him —
- He ban too small to scold.
- Ay used to say, "Val, Yimmie,
- Ay ant ban Svede, but yu
- Can call me Svede, — ay lak yu
- And ant care vat yu du."
- By Yeorge! Ay'm glad, ay tal yu,
- Dat ay ban gude to him,
- Because one venter morning
- Ay ant see little Yim.
- And next day funeral vagon
- Com driving op to door,
- And Yim, poor little faller,
- Can't call me Svede no more!
- William F. Kirk The Norsk Nightingale
Books by William F. Kirk
- Fleeting Fancies 1904
- The Norsk Nightingale 1905
- Right Off The Bat 1911
- Songs Of Sergeant Swanson 1918
- Out Of The Current 1923
- The Harp Of Fate 1925
Songs by William F. Kirk
- Steve William F. Kirk and Harry von TilzerHarry Von TilzerHarry Von Tilzer was a very popular United States songwriter.-Biography:Von Tilzer was born in Goshen, Indiana under the name Aaron Gumbinsky which he shortened to Harry Gumm. He ran away and joined a traveling circus at age 14, where he took his new name by adding 'Von' to his mother's maiden...
1910 - I'm Going Down To Beat My Wife William F. Kirk and Harry von Tilzer c. 1910
- Flirt lyrics by Edward MaddenEdward MaddenEdward Madden was an American lyricist.Madden was born in New York City and graduated from Fordham University. After graduation he wrote material for many singers including Fanny Brice and for vaudeville acts...
and William F. Kirk, music by Henri Bereny 1911 - Little White Rose Of Mine William F. Kirk and Robert Matthews 1911
- Flag Of My Heart William F. Kirk and Gustave Ferrari 1917
- The Other Love William F. Kirk and Gustave Ferrari 1917
- The Rainbow Of Love William F. Kirk and Gustave Ferrari 1917
- The Harbor Of Dreams William F. Kirk and Gustave Ferrari 1918
- A Sunset Song William F. Kirk and Gustave Ferrari 1918
- Red Rose Of Love, Bloom Again William F. Kirk and J. Stanton Gladwin 1920
- Speak For Yureself, Yohn William F. Kirk and Henry S. Sawyer 1922
- "Flirt" was in the Broadway musical "Little Boy Blue".
- "Flag Of My Heart" was recorded by Reinald Werrenrath for Victor Records.
- "The Rainbow Of Love" was recorded by John McCormack for Victor Records.
External links
Books by William F. Kirk- Fleeting Fancies at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
. - The Norsk Nightingale at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
. - Right Off The Bat at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
. - Songs Of Sergeant Swanson at Google Book SearchGoogle Book SearchGoogle Books is a service from Google that searches the full text of books that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database. The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October...
. Click on cover of book to access PDF file.
The Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings
Sheet music
- "Steve" at Indiana UniversityIndiana UniversityIndiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
. - "Holy Yumpin Yiminy" at Duke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. - "Hello Wisconsin" at Baylor UniversityBaylor UniversityBaylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
. - "Scandinavia" at Baylor UniversityBaylor UniversityBaylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
.
PDF files at the Internet Archive
- Popular music. William F. Kirk sheet music and song lyrics.
- Longfellow and Whittier parodies. William F. Kirk writing as "The Norsk Nightingale".
- Scandinavian humor. George T. Springer and Jerome Williams.
Recordings at the Internet Archive
- William F. Kirk songs. Audio files and more.
- Scandinavian humor. Songs and stories from the 1910s and 1920s. Selections from the 1932 book "Yumpin' Yimminy".
- Yogi Yorgesson.
Streaming audio at the Library of Congress
Performers
- Yogi Yorgesson web site
- Stan Boreson web site
- Stan Boreson at HistoryLinkHistoryLinkHistoryLink is a website that is an encyclopedia of Washington State history. The site has more than 4,500 stories. There are 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images....