Now those what I call gutsy lyrics! Breandán Breathnach once stated that folksongs don't jump from one language to another... He was so wrong there, as this thread proves. (Of course he might have been referring to the huge dissimilarity between the English and Gaelic approaches to prosody and narrative - but that's a subject for another thread.) While I'm about it I shall also flag up the close relationship between "Derrière chez nous il y avait un capitaine" and "Bold William Taylor".

One of my interests is tracing what remains of French-language folksongs from the British Channel Islands. Rather mysteriously Marius Barbeau collected a version of "Le roi Renaud" ("Le roi Louis" in this case) from an immigrant from Jersey, and the sound recording still exists in the Canadian Museum of Civilization - but I'm on the wrong side of the Pond to consult it! I shall be delighted if anyone from Quebec could send me the words/tune of this version

r.p.scales"AT"gmail"DOT"com

Titre                   Jean Renaud [enregistrements sonores]
Éditeur / Date          1922
Description             1 chanson 14 vers
Participant / Interprète Brotherton, Mme Alex, 69 ans
Remarques                Apprise de sa mère, Suzanne Duguay.
Note d'index             II.A-1.56
Provenance               Fonds Marius Barbeau.
Groupe culturel          Français
Lieu de recherche         Gascons, Bonaventure, Québec
Discipline                Folklore
Autres titres             Bonne nouvelle, grand roi Louis, ta femme est accouchée d'un fils
Renaud (Jean)
Renaud (Louis)
No. de contrôle       B-Aw-430.2
Ancien no.               MN 3522
Autre no.                II.A-1.56
                                 
Cote
MCC/CMC ARCHIVES : AUDIO X/F/50
MCC/CMC ARCHIVES : Fonds Marius Barbeau FOLKFRAN Boite B137/1