Songs of Old Canada

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SONGS OF OLD CANADA.

SONGS OF

OLD CANADA.

TRANSLATED BY

WILLIAM McLENNAN.

"Le Canadien mêlait . . . . . .
Ses chants d'amour et ses refrains joyeux."
M. A. Plamondon.

MONTREAL:
DAWSON BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
1886.

Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, by William McLennan,
in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, in the year 1885.


GAZETTE PRINTING CO., MONTREAL.

PREFACE.

Many of these translations were published during the course of the present year in the column of Ephemerides in the Montreal Gazette, and were written in response to an enquiry for English translations of the old Canadian songs.

The object of the translator has been to present, in an English dress and in a form that will allow of their being sung to the airs which most of us have heard with delight, a few of the more popular and striking of those songs of Old France, so wonderfully preserved by our song-loving countrymen. Of these, many have disappeared in their mother-country, and in nearly all of them changes and corruptions have debased either the words or the air. It is also to be feared, alas! that even in the Province of Quebec, which has been their ark of safety for so long, some of them are being forgotten.

The selections that have been made are those which appeared to the translator to offer the best opportunity for successful treatment in another language; while some of the most popular songs, such as A Saint-Malo, Marianne s'en va-t-au Moulin and La belle Françoise, have been most unwillingly passed over, on account either of the form or the subject. When one remembers the difficulty of sustained rhyming in our language, and the absolute necessity of it in such songs as these, the repetition of terminal words and phrases which occurs will be understood.

It will be noticed that most of the songs bear only their first line by way of title, but in this M. Gagnon has been followed, and it must be remembered that he took down the songs as he heard them sung by the people. Few of them had ever been printed, and fewer still had names.

Those who are interested in the subject, will find a rich store of information in Les Chansons populaires du Canada by M. Ernest Gagnon, an invaluable work the second edition of which was published by Robert Morgan, Quebec, in 1880, and, in an able and useful article by Dr. Larue, in the Foyer Canadien of 1863. To these sources the translator is deeply indebted both for the original text and for much of the information contained in the notes.

Montreal, December 1st, 1885.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.
1.
A la claire fontaine,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
2
2.
Malbrouck,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
8
3.
Le pommier doux,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
14
4.
En roulant ma boule,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
20
5.
Gai le rosier,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
26
6.
Brigadier,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
30
7.
Dans les prisons de Nantes,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
36
8.
Cécilia,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
40
9.
C'était une frégate,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
44
10.
Entre Paris et Saint Denis,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
48
11.
Marianson,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
54
12.
Jamais je nourrirai de geai,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
62
13.
J'ai perdu mon amant',
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
66
14.
Noël. D'où viens-tu, bergère,
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
70

I've tried to waken with a loving care
Some echo of the joyance of these lays,
Which sound as sweetly on Canadian air,
As 'neath the skies of France in olden days.

How often has each song been lightly sung
By lips that now are silent for all time!
How often has each tender cadence flung
O'er distant seas the magic of its chime!

Oblivion's self was softened by their grace
And stored them safe within a people's heart,
To share the fortunes of a songful race,
And charm us with the artlessness of Art.


This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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