I learned the chant Dip Dip and Swing in elementary school—best sung as a round—where it was presented to us as an old Voyageur paddling song:
My paddle's keen and bright,
flashing with silver:
swift as the wild goose flies,
dip, dip, and swing.
Dip, dip and swing her back,
flashing with silver:
swift as the wild goose flies,
dip, dip, and swing.
Turns out that it was really written by Margaret Embers McGee (1889-1975) in 1918. Well, thanks Margaret: it's a good one. Evocative words, haunting tune, very nice imagery: canoe : paddle :: goose : wing. More than 100 years later, we're still singing your song.
Of course, it's not just a good chant for keeping time as you paddle a literal canoe, though it's good for that too.
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Mr. Posch, Back in the 1970s, when I was in elementary school, we learned McGee's other classic song, "Land Of The Silver Birch".