Canadian Folk Songs Centennial Collection - Volume ••
The lumber camps of eastern Canada— from the Atlantic provinces to Ontario— have provided one of the richest sources of folk songs, for it is in these camps, during the long winter months, that woodsmen entertained each other (and learned from each other) many of the traditional ballads and folk songs of their ancestors, and created their own songs and ballads, either to amuse themselves and help them in their work, or to record some of their experiences— both tragic and humorous— in the woods. The tunes of their songs were frequently borrowed from older folk songs, and in many instances— especially among French-speaking woodsmen— the stories of traditional folk songs were adapted to various "workable" tunes, to which were added simple refrains to suit their new uses.
Examples of all these forms are included in this album.
Related item: A CD entitled Songs of the Voyageurs is available from the Minnesota Historical Society.
Jacques Labrecque ; 2:53 [Track 1, side A] file: CFS701.mp3
This canoe-paddling song is one of a hundred Canadian verrsions of an ancient French folk song that tells the curious tale of "Les trois canards" (The Three Ducks), in which a princely hunter shoots down a young lady's pet duck with his silver gun. Why this seemingly inconsequential story should have appealed to dearly to Canada's early French st=ettlers, and to the generations that followed, makes one wonder, but it is safe to say that no other song of the "old world" has had a greater number of versions and uses in Canadaa, or a greater variety of tunes, for that matter. While its story has remained relatively intact, it has been sung in all imaginable forms— from work-songs for varied occupations, to love-songs, party-songs, game-songs, and nonsense-songs— with a wide assortment of appropriate refrains.
The version given here is one of the most popular of the many canoe-paddling tunes used by woodsmen and "voyageurs".
V'la l'bon vent, v'la l'joli vent Derrier chez nous y'a t'un etang (2x) Trois beaux canards s'en vont baignant |
Le fils du roi s'en va chassant Avec son grand fusil d'argent Visa le noir, tua le blanc Oh fils du roi, tu est mechant
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Charles Jordan; 3:18 [Track 2, side A] file: CFS702.mp3
Songs based on making up rhymes to fit the latters of the alphabet exist in many forms, from nursery songs to sea-shanties and other work-songs, such as the one given here, in which all the rhymes have to do with the various chores, tools and t erms familiar to woodsmen. Such songs have been popular in all lumber camps in one form or another; this ones was collected in Ontario by Edith fulton Fowlke.
A is for axes that you may all know; CHORUS : 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, 'tis merry are we E is the echo that through the woods rang:
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I is the Iron that mark-ed the pine; M is the moss we patch-ed the cracks Q is the quarrel we never allow; U is the use we put our teams to;
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Raoul Roy; 1:37 [Track 3, side A] file: CFS703.mp3
This is another fine example of how an ancient French folk song was transformed into a canoe-paddling tune, though its amorous verses might just as easily reflect the sentiments of a voyageur sweetheart and of how eagerly he looks forward to rejoining her in the month of May, "when all the girls are pretty", and he wishes he could spend the rest of his days with her in a little cottage near a brooklet.
The song was collected in New Brunswick by Rev. Fathers Danial and Anselme.
C'est dans le mois de mai Que les filles sont belles oh gai Et que tous les amants Y changent leur maîtresse oh gai Mais moi je n'changerai pas |
ACar la mienne est trop belle oh gai Ah comme il serait doux D'avoir un baiser d'elle oh gai Mais encore bien plus doux De coucher avec elle oh gai |
Tom Kines; 3:10 [Track 4, side A] file: CFS704.mp3
A tragic ballad that is widely popular throughout the lumber camps of eastern canada and U.S.A., this song tells the true story of a young man who left his native province of Prince edward Island to work in the lumber woods of the Miramichi River region of New Brunswick, and who was fatally injured when struck by falling logs. The verses were written shortly after Peter's death, in 1881, by a New Brunswick balladeer named John Calhoun, who had known the young victim, and who followed aa common tradition of relating the tragic story in the first person.
The song is sung to several different tunes, and the version given here was collected in Nova Scotia by Dr. Helen Creighton.
A photograph of Emberly's burial monument in Bolestown, NB, can be seen here.
My name is Peter Emberley I landed in New Brunswick There's danger on the ocean Here's adieu unto my father |
My name is Peter Emberley I landed in New Brunswick There's danger on the ocean Here's adieu unto my father |
Yves Albert; 1:54 [Track 5, side A] file: CFS705.mp3
This lively canoe-paddling song is a home-made anonymous creation that is believed to have originated with French-speaking woodsmen of the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers. It describes the joyous homecoming of the lumberjacks at spring break-up time, when, after having spent the winter in the woods, they are greeted with much celebration by relatives and friends.
Quand on part des chanquiers REFRAIN Pour aller voir nos parents Mais qu'on arrive en Canada |
Dimanche au soir à la veillée Elles vont nous dire mais en entrant Et au milieu de la veillée Elles vont nous dire mais en partant
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Alan Mills: 1:52 [Track 6, side A] file: CFS706.mp3
One of the most popular of all native bards of the eastern lumber camps, both in Canada and the U.S.A., was Lawrence "Larry" Gorman, who was widely known as the "man who makes the songs", and who wrote countless satirical ballads and other songs while he worked in the forests of New Brunswick and Maine from 1873 to the early 20th century. Gorman was born in Prince Edward Island, and although he spent most of his life as a woodsman, he evidently didn't think too highly of that vocation, as may be gathered from this song, in which he advises young "Islanders" not to follow his example, for "a lumberman's life"— he warns— "is of short duration, made up of tobacco, hard work and bad rum."
Jacques Labrecque; 1:29 [Track 7, side A file: CFS707.mp3
One of the favorites of French-speaking woodsmen, this "native" complaint song lists some of the hardships of working in the lumber camps all through the winter, and of sometimes ending the season with no pay because the cmp boss claims he's bankrupt. Contrasting these u nhappy conditions with the warm welcome the woodsmen get when they come home, the song ends by proclaiming that "we;ll never spend another winter in the lumber-camps!"
Jacques Labrecque; 2:22 [Track 1, side B] file: CFS708.mp3
Of all the home-grown folk songs of Canada, this rollicking, driving tune is certainly one of the liveliest and most popular songs of French-speaking woodsmen. It describes how a gang of lumberjacks go off to their camps by canoe in the fall, stopping off at "Bytown" (the old name for Ottawa) to pick up provisions, and work through the winter, existing mainly on "pork and beans", before they are able to return home and greet their loved ones.
The men were sometimes referred to as "raftsmen" because of the springtime practice of tying hundreds of rough logs together into huge rafs, on which they lived as they guided them down swollen rivers and lakes to the nearest mill-towns or shipping centres.
While much of Canada's logging industry has been mechanized, rafting is still carried on in some areas where water expanse permits.
Là ousqu'y sont, tous les raftsmen? Et par Bytown y sont passés En canots d'écorc' sont montés Des porc and beans ils ont mangé |
Dans les chanquiers sont arrivés Que l'Outaouais fut étonné Quand le chanquier fut terminé Leurs femm's ou blond's ont embrassé |
Tom Kines; 2:33 [Track 2, side B] file: CFS709.mp3
A counterpart of Les Raftsmen, this popular song of English-speaking woodsmen describes the hazards of guiding large log-rafts through storm-swept lakes and treacherous rapids from Ontario to Quebec, and contrasts these dangers with the peaceful work of the "lowland loafing farmer boys", who stay at home with the girls.
Raoul Roy; 2:01 [Track 3, side B] file: CFS710.mp3
Like many of the songs of french-speaking lumberjacks (such as Les Raftsmen), this canoe-paddling tune is sung in the dialect that is peculiar to the "bûcherons" (woodsmen), who sometimes adapt english words into their own language. For example, the word "draveurs" is borrowed from "drivers"— or "log-drivers"— which is a term used for the men who hob it was to drive the logs down dangerous streams and through treacherous currents, always on the lookout to guard against dreaded log-jams which could cause long delays and tragic accidents.
The song describes the work of a crew of drivers— led by "Jack Boyd, not' grand foreman"— as they guided their longs down he swift running Gatineau River.
Elizabth Palmer kindly supplied the following lyrics and comments:
Adieu, charmante rive (** or it can be ""Adieu la belle rive..") |
Sautons chutes et rapides |
Charles Jordan; 1:52 [Track 4, side B] file: CFS711.mp3
Of all the hazards of a lumberjack's work, none is more dangerous than trying to break up log jams that occasionally occurred in narrow, swift-running rivers, when a few logs would get caught on some rocky boulder and others would telescope into them, blocking the flow of other logs behind them. In such cases, it was up to the "drivers" to skip across the shifting pile-up and try to free the key logs with their pike-poles, and then skip back out of danger to escape being caught in the break-up. Sometimes a jam would break too suddenly for them to get out of the way and they would be crushed to death or swept away and drowned.
Such an accident is described in this song, in which a young driver lost his life. It was collected in Ontario by edith Fulton Fowke.
Come all you young boys from the River Way up on the wild Moose River As soon as we'd finished our breakfast We worked for an hour and a quarter "Ride her down, ride her down to the dead water" |
On the river there never was better But this morning his luck was against him We rode it down to dead water His flesh it was torn into ribbons |
Jacque Labrecque: 1:24 [Track 5 side B] file: CFS712.mp3
Another popular canoe-paddling tune, this lively song borrows its story from an old French folk song that has no connection at all with the work of lumberjacks. Instead, it concerns a girl whose father hired three carpenters to build a fine house, and she fell in love with the youngest of the three. The same story is sung to a number of different tunes in Canada. This one, however, has a nonsense refrain that does apply to paddling, or rowing.
Tom Kines: 2:39 [Track 6 side B] file: CFS713.mp3
This is an excellent Newfoundland version of one of the favorite songs of woodsmen in both Canada and the United States. It describes the different jobs that have to be done in the lumbee camps, from chopping or sawing down the tall trees to hauling them down to the frozen river-side, to await the spring break-up of the ice, when they are able to float the logs down-river and rejoin the girls they haven't seen all winter. It also tells of the men getting up at 4 o'clock each morning to get their breakfast and start the day's work, and of how they help to pass their leisure hours away by singing and dancing before they get to bed each night.
This version of the song was collected by Kenneth Peacock.
Raoul Roy: 2:32 [Track 7 side B] file: CFS714.mp3
This is another fine example of how a traditional folk song of France was made into an excellent work-song by Canadian "voyageurs" and woodsmen, who fited a rather curious medieval tale to a rousing tune and tacked on a "paddling" refrain to suit their needs. The story the song tells is about a young man who is riding along the road when he meets three pretty girls. He chooses the prettiest of them, lifts her up on his horse and rides off with her. No word is spoken until she asks for a drink, but when he stops at a brooklet, she refuses to drink. So he decides to take her home, and once there, she drinks "one glass after another" to toast her parents, her sisters, her brothers, and finally, her lover.
A short film illustrating this song was made by the National Film Board of Canada in 1944.