Stan Hugill takes this song from Capt. Sternvall's collection, but he adds the following explanation:
This Pidgin-English song was extremely popular with Scandinavian sailors on the China Coast in the late nineteenth century. Many of the words thought by Westerners to be Chinese go back to the days of the early Portuguese and Spanish missionaries and traders of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
For instance, the word "junk" for a native boat is the Portuguese word junco; "mandarin" for a local judge is from the Spanish mandar, to give; "compradore," from comprar, to buy; and "pagoda" comes from a corruption of the Sanskrit word dagoba. Many pidgin words, such as "bobbery" for foolish talk (Spanish: boboria), "can-do," and "maskie" (okay), are still to be heard in the East even today. The odd Swedish word in this song hardly needs translating.
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Från Canton till Macao, Från Hong Kong å Luliao, The sodgers and sailors de sjung-it hennes love.
For ding-e, ding-e ding-dong, hm-di, hm-di! Hon var en sampan girlie allt i-från Hong-ki-kong.
A you-oo like me-hee, A mandarin's daughter? You sodgers and sailors, Som seglar på Hong Kong,
I no-o like you-hu, You no-o like me-hee, You all belong to sodgers You no belong to me.