The eleven ballads contained in this record tell dramatic stories of one kind or another that were brought to Canada many years ago from France and the British Isles; most of them deal with themes that are also found in the folklore and traditional songs of other lands.

2:39; Jacques Labrecque [Track 1, side A] file: CFS301.mp3

This romantic adventure ballad is one of several fine Quebec versions of an ancient French ballad on one of the favorite themes in folklore— the "disguised female sailor"— wherein a girl usually dresses up as a cabin boy and follows her lover to sea, unrecognized by him or other members of his crew until the voyage is over, when she finally identifies herself to him, and they get married and "live happily ever after".

In this case as in many others— the lover is the captain of the ship, and the voyage lasts for seven years before the girl drops her disguise and he discovers that his "cabin boy" is none other than the sweetheart he beleived he had left on shore so long ago.

3:21; Diane Oxner [Track 2, side A] file: CFS302.mp3

While many English-language ballads involving "disguised female sailors" have been found in Canada, and telling somewhat similar happy tales of the reunion of lovers, this one has a somewhat different twist to the story, in that the girl does not find the lover she has followed to sea. Instead, the captain of her ship, when he discovers that his "cabin boy" is a maid, offers her five thousand ounces of gold to marry him, but she turns him down and decides to remain faithful to her sailor lad until she finds him, or "live and die a maid".

This ballad was collected in Nova Scotia by Dr. Helen creighton.

2:23; Raoul Roy [Track 3, side A] file: CFS303.mp3

This song deals with one of the most ancient and widely-known themes in folk balladry— the story of a "false knight" whose practice it was to lure young ladies away with him and drown them, until one of his intended victims cleverly succeeds in outwitting the murderer.

Researchers have ralated the source of this story to the well-known Bluebeard legend and the biblical tale of Judith and Holofernes, and it is told, in one form or another, in a wide variety of ballads that exist throughout Europe, Scandinavian countries, and elsewhere. Some of them introduce a supernatural element in the story, but most give robbery as the motive for the murders.

In this ballad, one of some thirty French versions found in Canada, no motive is given. "Renaud" gets the young lady down by a "vivier" (fish-pond), where he instructs her to take off her clothes preparatory to meeting the same fate as seven other maids he has drowned there. However, she talks him into binding his eyes with a handkerchief, so as not to see her undress before him, and then manages to hurl him into the pond, instead.

2:17; Alan Mills [Track 4, side A] file: CFS304.mp3

This is one of at least a dozen Canadian versions of an old British ballad that deals with the Bluebeard theme in much the same manner as the foregoing French ballad, except for a few small details and the fact that robbery seems to be the murder-motive.

In this case, the "elf Knight" induces his intended victim, Lady Isabel, to take along some of her father's gold and her mother's treasures with her, as well as two of her father's best horses for them to ride away on. And when they get to the sea-shore (instead of the fish-pond), he informs her of his foul intention to drown her as he has six (not seven) other maids. Pleading shyness at taking off her "silken clothes" before him, she gets him to face away from her and then pushes him into the sea.

3:07; Yves Albert [Track 5, side A] file: CFS305.mp3<

Canada's eminent folklorist, Dr. Marius Barbeau, referred to this ancient tragic ballad as "perhaps the most famous of all French folk songs", and attributed its origin to a Scandinavian ballad of the early 16th Century. From the Scandinavian countries, it spread throughout France and other countries, including Canada, where more than 20 variants have been collected.

One of the more lengthy traditional ballads of the "Old World", it begins with "King Renaud" being greeted by his mother with the glad news that his wife has borne him a son, when he informs his mother that he is dying. After his death, there follows a long dialogue between the mother and Renaud's young widow who— unaware of his passing— questions the weeping of their servants and other indications of mourning until she learns of her husband's death, whereupon she resolves to join him in the grave.

Yves Albert sings this much-condensed version of the ballad, which he collected from several variants.

(Note; about 60 variants of this ballad have been found}

4:45; Charles Jordan, Joyce Sullivan [Track 6, side A] file: CFS306.mp3

All the pathos of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is compressed into the few verses of this tragic ballad about two young lovers who decide to end their lives rather than be without each other. The same theme is found in many sentimental ballads known throughout the British Isles in one form or another.

Briefly, the story tells of a young lover who goes to his sweetheart seeking her parents' permission for them to get married, only to be informed by her that the situation is hopeless. In despair, the young man kills himself with his sword, whereupon the girl follows suit with the same weapon.

The version here recorded, one of several variants found in Canada, was collected in Newfoundland by Kenneth Peacock.

More information on this song, with audio.

3:00; Charles Jordan, Joyce Sullivan [Track 1, side B] file: CFS307.mp3

This is a rare and very fine version of an ancient traditional ballad best known throughout the British Isles as Lord Randall, among other titles, while other versions have been found in Italy, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Iceland and other countries, including Canada and the United States.

In a dramatic dialogue between mother and son, it reveals the story of a young man who has come home to die after having been fed a meal of poisoned "fishes" by his sweetheart. When his mother asks what he would like to "will" to herself and other members of the family, he declares his dying wishes for each, and when she asks what he will leave to his sweetheart, he bequeaths to her "a rope to hang herself".

The version recorded here is one of several collected in Nova Scotia by Dr. Helen Creighton.

2:57; Raoul Roy [Track 2, side B] file: CFS308.mp3

This is a Quebec variant of a medieval French ballad that tells the dramatic tale of a mother who induces her son to murder his sweetheart, for no apparent reason. One of several versions found in Canada, under various titles, the song is in the familiar dialogue form of many ancient ballads.

3:27; Diane Oxner [Track 3, side B] file: CFS309.mp3

A tragic love-ballad that was brought to Canada from the British Isles and is widely known on both sides of the Atlantic, this song tells the sorrowful tale of a girl who loved a sailor, but whose "cruel father" was so set against her marrying him that she contrives— with her mother's sympathetic help— to sail off to "Americay", only to meet disaster when their ship is wrecked in a storm.

Many versions of the ballad have been found throughout the Atlantic provinces, and the one here recorded was collected in Nova Scotia by Dr. Helen Creighton.

4:25; Jacques Labrecque [Track 4, side B] file: CFS310.mp3

An Acadian vesion of an old French traditional sea-ballad, also known as La belle a pris l'épée (The Maiden Took the Sword), this highly melodic song tells the dramatic story of a maid who is kidnapped by a ship's captain and taken off to sea, where she manages to steal her abductor's sword and ends her life rather than suffer "a fate worse than death".

One of a wide variety of ballads dealing with the abduction theme and romantic adventures at sea— tragic and otherwise— it was collected by Dr. Maurice Barbeau and is sung in the traditional unaccompanied manner.

3:16; Tom Kines, Jean Price [Track 5, side B; file: CFS311.mp3

Another romantic "abduction" ballad, which came to Canada from the British Isles and has many variants throughout Canada's Atlantic provinces, this lively sea-song also concerns a girl who is kidnapped and taken aboard ship. However, in this case, she cleverly outwits the ship's captain and his entire crew by singing them to sleep, and then steals whatever wealth they have and rows herself back to shore, using the captain's sword as an oar.

The version recorded here was collected in Newfoundland by Kenneth Peacock.