Guernsey Folk Songs
28th November 2024'The miller, the donkey and the girl'. Letters to the Editor of the Guernsey Evening Press.
Sir, About two or three years ago I was much interested in arranging several of the old Folk Songs in the Norman patois. They were dropped for a time for other work, and in the hope of obtaining a correct version of 'Le Meuiner, L'Ane et la Femme'. This has a line missing in 'Links with the Past':
Quand la belle [s'en] va à Moulin
..............................
Elle n'y va ni à pied ni à cheval.
The rhyme should, of course, agree with that of the following verses; between the first and second lines. To quote the second verse as a naxamplke:
Quand le meuiner la vit venir,
De rire ne pouvais se tenir
"Amare-là ton âne."
I should be glad to hear from any of your readers who may know the words or the melody, which has the notes pertaining to the third line omitted. Meantime, in default of a more authentic version, it would appear to have been somewhat as follows:
Quand la belle s'en va a Moulin
Ni a cheval mis sur un ane,
Elle n'y va a pied.
'Trois jeunes tambours' I have found, note for note, in Tiersot's 'Histoire de la chanson populaire en France,' as stated in Miss Carey's book to have been obtained also in Sark. In the verses are some slight, but not very important, variation. In other collections the verses are varied a good deal; and one version gives it as 'Les Trois Soldats'; this last also being the title of another old French song in a metre of two, instead of three, lines.
The other Folk Songs I should especially like to compare with other versions (words or music) before offering to a publisher are 'La Bergere', 'A la claire Fontaine' and 'Jean, Gros Jean.'
All of thesewould seem to defy translation into English verse, preserving the same metre; still of any of your readers care to try how far it may be possible to preserve the quaint charms of the original, it would be of interest.
Edouard Moullé in France and recently Yvette Guilbert (3 vols., Augener & Co.) have published a large number of most interesting old French Folk songs, which should be known to those of yoir readers who sing in French, but I have not found any of those mentioned in their collections.
It would be well indeed if amateur vocalists who are unable to render the masterpieces of the great song composers would turn their attention to some of the numerous collections of Folk Songs in preference to the miserable 'shop' ballads which our publishers inflict on the local music dealers in such quantities.
Hoping these few notes may stir the recollections of some of your readers.
J MATTHEWS
GUERNSEY FOLK SONGS (2)
Sir,—The above subject, brought forward by Mr J Matthews, is a very interesting one. I have several times heard the singin of the Song 'Le Meunier, L'Ane et la Femme', and my version is as follows:
Quand la belle s'en va au Moulin
Ce n'est à pied ni à cheval
Elle y va sur son âne
A l'ane, à l'âne, à l'âne.
Elle y va sur son âne Martin
Qui allait au Moulin.'
As regards the rhyming of the first two lines, another version gives it as follows:
Quand la belle au Moulin s'en va,
Ce n'est à pied ni à cheva'.
These lines have the distinction of rhyming to a certain extent.
As regards the second verse mentioned by Mr Matthews, my version, which is as follows, differs a little from the one he quotes. His second line has no sense whatever:
Quand le meunier la vit venir
De rire il ne put s'en tenir.
Attachez-la votre âne.
A l'ane, à l'âne, à l'âne.
Attachez-la votre âneMartin
... [the text for this line is accidentally repeated from an article about the RNLI!]
It may interest Mr Matthews that as far as my knowledge of old Guernsey songs goes, I find that they did not always rhyme. One verse may rhyme and the rest may not. As an example, I may point out that in a song entitiled 'La haut, là bas', the second verse, which is as follows, rhymes:
V la ou tu voudras
Si loin que tu iras
Je *suivrai tes pas
Jusqu'au plus haut des cieux
Au rang des bienheureux
La nous irons tous deux.
*pronounced suiverai
Là je voudrais que mon tombeau
Soit couvert de laurier
De roses aussi de fleurs
Et ma fidélité
Ecrite en lettres d'or
Aux quatre coins carrés.
There are no rhymes in this verse.
Yours truly,
HENRY W LE RAY
'Smithfield', Torteval.
FOLK SONGS
By inadvertence the lsat line of one of the verses of a Guernsey Folk Song quoted in a letter by Mr Henry W Le Ray, pubished in the GEP, yesterday, was omitted. The verse should read as follows:
Quand le meunier la vit venir
De riri il ne put s'en tenir.
Attachez-la votre âne.
A l'ane, à l'âne, à l'âne.
Attahcez-la votre âne Martin
A la porte du moulin.
GUERNSEY FOLK SONGS
Sir.—I am glad to have a ray of light on an obscure verse. It seems improbable that the original writer of the verses would set out without making his first verse rhyme correctly, whatever might happen afterwards, and a friend suggests possibly the word poulain (foal or colt) was used to rhyme with moulin. And a pupil has given me yet another version, with a different melody:
Quand la belle va au moulin,
Pour y chercher du Lin
Ce n'est à pied ni à cheval
Elle y va sur son âne.
I shoul dlike ot receive complete copies o fwhatever versions there may be (words or melody) and then compare, and submit them to one or two experts in the Norman patois for criticism. My second line was simply quoted from 'Links with the Past', and the reconstructed verse was merely intended to bring out some more authoritative rendering than those at present available.
None of the tunes in question show any influence of the old church modes (as is so often the case with the very old Folk Songs), but they are melodious and characteristic, and lend themselves well to a picturesque treatment, differentiating in the accompaniment the different characters who are speaking.
Yours truly,
J MATTHEWS.
https://tof.kan.bzh/chant-00168.html