La Bamba

[dasNdanger]

(feel free to move to another forum if this isn't the right place for it)

In searching for information about Laurent de Graff (Laurens; Lorenzo, Lorencillo), I came across this information. Can anyone verify if this is true? I'm not of fan of the song, and so was never aware of it's colorful origin. Article below from: La Bamba

La Bamba is supposed to have been written by "El Guaruso", a native from Tlalixcoyan nearby Veracruz, on or about the 17th of May 1683, as a result of all preparation carried out by locals in the Hacienda Malibrán to defend themselves of an attack by epoch-famous pirate Lorenzo de Graft "Lorencillo".

On 17th of May 1683, Lorencillo's fleet: 11 vessels and about 1200 men, having been spotted on the horizon by locals, warning was immediately given to the Hacienda where people quickly gathered at the toll of a bell to let them know the news: Lorencillo was about to strike the area and they were all in for robbery, murder and assault on local women.

Spanish origin Doña Beatríz del Real, owner of Hacienda Malibrán and mulatto Malanga his loyal foreman, Doña Beatriz thought that people would not be able to fight Lorencillo back because they were not mariners, however, mulatto Malanga replied time and again that if they were not ... they will have to become... to defend their people, after a bit of hesitating they decided to prepare their defense, just to find out when they were "ready", that Lorencillo and his people had passed through .... in their way to Veracruz about 10 miles north.

All of the above was observed by El Guaruso who was a self-made musician that improvised better than wrote music verse accompanied by his Jarana (local guitar). It is said that with the taking of the bell's toll call event, the brave stand of people pretending to become mariners to fight Lorencillo and some others facts, The Guaruso quickly composed La Bamba and played it right away during the night "celebration" they had at the Hacienda... probably at that very same hour, Lorencillo was taking Veracruz, killing some 300 people and doing during four days what pirates did best... robbery, murder and assault on local women, they fled when they spotted the sails of the spanish fleet commanded by Diego Zaldívar.

On the upper left, San Juan de Ulúa Island. [picture on site]

Below in the picture above, the wall surrounding Veracruz for defense purposes can be seen. decision for the construction of the wall was taken in 1684, a year after Lorencillo's attack.

Lorencillo's raid to Veracruz made authorities react and decide to finish construction of the San Juan de Ulúa fortress, started back somewhere around 1565.

Lorencillo's assault to Veracruz is said to have been design at the Roatán Island among a group of pirate leaders like Agrammont, Lorencillo, Van Horn, Michel and Pedro Bot.

Pirates attraction for Veracruz must have been due to the fact that from there, spaniards embarked gold and wealth of whatever value for them, to be taken to Spain.

Before Lorencillo, back in 1568, pirate Juan Aquines Acle disembarked at San Juan de Ulúa but was quickly ushered out by Spanish General Francisco de Luján and his fleet of 23 vessels and well trained crew sank all of the pirate's vessels.

das

[corsair2k3]

Can't vouch for the story about the composition of the sound, but the facts given about the circumstances of the raid, are pretty dead-on.

Regards,

The Corsair

[dasNdanger]

I'm familiar with the raid - de Graff is my favorite pirate of all...but hard to find info on (usually).

It was the origin of the song I was most interested in...if it actually was written at that time and for that reason. I have read other bits about it originating hundreds of years ago - but this is the first time I heard of a connection with de Graff, and was just wondering if anyone else had heard of it in connection with his raid...

das

[PirateQueen]

I'm skeptical of that origin story. La Bamba is an old dance style from the Mexican state of Veracruz that probably traces back to indigenous folk roots more than anything.

The song itself is a play on words, in Spanish. "Bamba" is probably from the word "bambolear" which means to sway or swagger, which could be stretched to mean someone who is being boastful. Pay attention to the lyrics and you'll hear, "I'm not a sailor, I'm a captain!" and "To dance la bamba, you need a little bit of grace/skill." During the dance, the man and woman tie a large ribbon into a bow knot with their feet, which takes a lot of skill and grace, and when they're done, it's definitely something to boast about. It's a clever dance.

How that's being tied in to Laurens de Graf, I can't speculate. It's true that he was involved in a raid off Veracruz in 1683, but I've never seen that associated with La Bamba before, from any legitimate mariachi or folklorico organization.

Here's an interesting tidbit about de Graf, from an AP news article, "New Research Shows Pirate Ships Gave Blacks Equality With Whites," by Bart Jones that appeared in newspapers Feb. 25, 2001:

Arguably the most “successful” pirate ever was Laurens de Graf who was one of the buccaneers most feared by the Spanish and who led a fleet that peaked at 2,000 men, Kinkor said. De Graf eventually was pardoned by the French, given a minor title of French nobility and helped found Biloxi, Miss.

In history books, de Graf is described as tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed and white. In reality, he was a black escaped slave. Historians

lied about his color because they feared he would serve as an example to other slaves who also might revolt.

“Historians did not want people to know de Graf was black,” said maritime historian James Nelson of Harpswell, Maine. “The thought of a black uprising was the most frightening thing in colonial America.”