Wild geese

Subject: Wild geese - Canadian song
From: alison
Date: 29 Aug 98 - 04:48 AM

Hi,

Heard a lovely song last night (? Canadian traditional). It was a song supposedly written by (or about) trappers, watching the wild geese fly away. It had a lovely minor tune, and mentioned a Canadian river, (sorry, can't remember the name.)

Any ideas?

Slainte

Alison

Subject: Lyr Add: WILD GEESE (Ian Tyson)
From: rich r
Date: 29 Aug 98 - 10:45 AM

Any chance the song is "Wild Geese" by Ian Tyson? It's definitely Canadian, but doesn't mention a river by name, but it's a pretty song any how, so here it is.

WILD GEESE by Ian Tyson

Wild geese flying by, calling on the downwind as they go
No answers they send, and springtime has too many miles to flow
The lone black pine, hillsides all covered with snow.
Why does the wind say you ain't coming back any more?

Was there a time when my dreams were not always of you?
The days ain't so bad, but each night takes so long passing throug
Down by the stream, fresh otter tracks in the snow
Why does the wind say you ain't coming back any more?

I've got a mind just to ramble this whole country round
With the fields turning green and the frost boiling out from the ground
Drive through the miles of country I've never seen before
Now that the wind says you ain't coming back any more.

Repeat v. 1 if desired

Recorded on the Ian & Sylvia Vangard album "So Much For Dreaming" which has been reissued on CD

rich r

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: harpgirl
Date: 29 Aug 98 - 12:33 PM

Alison, I collected a song "The Wild Geese" a while back and just found it is on the DT by Mal Waite to the tune of Planxty Irwin...Could it be that one? harpgirl

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Aug 98 - 03:19 PM

We've been having a surfeit of goose droppings along the American River lately, so I'm not thinking too fondly of Canada geese these days; but the database sure has some pretty goose songs - Click here for another, and I'm guessing this just might be the one Alison is looking for.
Wipe your feet before you come in the house....
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: alison
Date: 29 Aug 98 - 09:11 PM

Hi,

Thanks everyone. You know me too well Joe, yes that's the one, even has the tune.

Now what's a "tumpline"?

Slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Aug 98 - 10:37 PM

Tumpline? Gee, Alison, I haven't heard that word since I lived in Wisconsin 30 years ago. It's a broad strap passed across the forehead and over the shoulders for carrying a load on the back.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Barbara
Date: 30 Aug 98 - 12:59 AM

And a "brule"? Something like a bog? B* Barbara

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Barbara
Date: 30 Aug 98 - 03:13 PM

And do you say it brool to rhyme with fool? Also the river, is it Poo kask wa, Puh Kask wa or Pew kask wa? And where is this song set? I somehow thought of either Ontario or the Great Lakes area, but I'm not sure.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: BSeed
Date: 30 Aug 98 - 06:14 PM

Then there's always "The Wild Goose" sung in the '40s by Frankie Laine:

My heart knows what the wild goose knows
And I must go where the wild goose goes.
Wild goose, brother goose, which is best,
A ramblin' fool or a heart at rest.

It's kind of a folky pop tune on the order of "Ghost Riders in the Sky." I'ts not on the DT, and I don't remember the verses (it's also kind of phony folk, with nowhere near the beauty of any of the goosy songs posted above). --seed

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Aug 98 - 02:40 AM

Some of us have been studying the beautiful Wade Hemsworth song called "The Wild Goose" that's in the database. We've got "tumpline" explained. We've also figure out that the location is probably the Ontario side of lake Superior, since the Pukaskwa river runs through Pukaskwa National Park, midway along the Ontario shore of Lake Superior. I'm making an educated guess that the name of the river is pronounced "puh-CASK-wah."
The big mystery is "brule." It's a place name in many places from New York to North Dakota, and my guess is it's pronounced "brool" in some places and "broo-LAY" in others. However, the pronunciation "brool" was the first to come to my mine, along with an image of a marsh with reeds and cattails. It's been 30 years since I lived near the Great lakes, so my memories have faded. Can somebody give us a definitive definition and pronunciation of "brule"?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: alison
Date: 31 Aug 98 - 04:06 AM

Hi,

The Canadian guy who was at our club says it is derived from the French word "brule"(should have an acute accent over the e",) meaning burnt or scorched, because when the geese fly away it is the end of the Summer /Autumn (Fall for all you Americans)and the fauna is all burnt and brown.

Pronounced brool (like pool).

Slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Barbara
Date: 31 Aug 98 - 11:02 AM

Flora, maybe, Alison? Thanks for the information, Joe, alison. Brule, as best as I can tell, covers two notes in the song.
Wonder if his album is still around? I've noticed US publishers seem to think intelligent life stops at the border (when more likely it starts there). I've been unable to find Vancouver BC friends tapes and CDs in this country.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: rich r
Date: 31 Aug 98 - 01:20 PM

Not knowing the author's intent, perhaps "brule" has multiple associations. The setting is clearly the north shore of Lake Superior as Joe pointed out, the site of Pukaskwa National Park & River. "North shore" is prominant in the song and that is how locals in both Minnesota and Ontario refer to the region. A check of a French-English dictionary indacated that "brule" is a verb meaning "to burn". I could not find any reference to it as a noun in English or French, but that down't mean it doesn't exist. Inconnection to the rest of the song he also talks about money to burn. I would also include the notion set forth by Joe that "brule" may really be "Brule" and refer to a river or creek. There are 2 well-known (to fishermen at least) "Brule Rivers" that flow into L Superior. One enters the lake from Wisconsin east of Superior (the city, it's by Duluth). The second one enters the lake on the north shore from Minnesota near the Ontario border. Both are quite far from the Pukaskwa, but I find it hard to rule out the possibility that the name was used again for perhaps a smaller stream that only shows up on local maps. "Brule" is also used for some lake names in Ontario and Quebec. The historical connection here is that the first European to explore Lake Superior was the Franchman, Etienne Brule in 1618. So multiple use of that name is certainly reasonable. North central Minnesota is littered with features that bear the name Schoolcraft, because he "discovered" the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

rich r

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Aug 98 - 02:03 PM

I suppose I should have mentioned that here in California, brule' -alternately spelled brulee'- is a dessert you get in snooty restaurants. Californians don't seem to know that the name comes from the French phrase that means, "mom burnt the dessert."
I've just come back from a trip that immersed me in my French-Canadian Great Lakes ancestry, and I've been trying to forget the California stuff. The song doesn't seem to fit with snooty restaurants.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: alison
Date: 31 Aug 98 - 05:29 PM

Hi,

ah ha so you spotted my deliberate mistake (ah-hem), of course I meant "flora".

Slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 12:52 PM

I think crème brulée (= burnt cream) may have originally been French comfort food, Joe. Embrace your French-Canadian roots! Don't let the snooty Californians ruin your great-great-great-great-grandmother's specialty!

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Barbara
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 03:36 PM

fauna brule, alison?
All God's critters got a place on the fire
Some scream low, some scream higher
Some go (insert index finger in mouth, seal, snap finger forward)*POP* when you put 'em on the wire
So just cut off their hands, or paws or anything they got, now
Yrs in bad taste and crispy critters,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: alison
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 07:36 PM

Hi Barbara,

Hahaha. I thought you were a nice quiet type. Seeems you have a mischievous streak. I loved it.

Slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Moira Cameron
Date: 01 Sep 98 - 10:27 PM

Have you ever seen a wild goose,sailing over the ocean? Ranzle, ranzle, way--ay! They're just like those pretty girls when they gets the notion! Ranzle, ranzle, way--ay!

Sorry, I just had to add that one to the general topic. The song has nothing to do with Canada, of course. I didn't realize there were so many songs about wild geese.

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Elaine
Date: 03 Sep 98 - 01:52 PM

A quick addition... I am French-Canadian, and would understand that brule (with an accent aigue on the 'e'), used as a noun, would refer to the burnt marsh, (a practice which is still done today by the North-American natives.) The park you speak of on Lake Superior, is pronounced 'pu-ka-sah' (some silent consonants, I know).

Elaine

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Sep 98 - 01:58 PM

Sounds like we finally got to the bottom of the matter, Elaine. So, it's "broo-LAY," right?
Where's the accent on Pukaskwa/pu-ka-sah???
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Barbara
Date: 03 Sep 98 - 03:01 PM

and is it 'poo' or 'puh'?
B* Barbara

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Elaine
Date: 04 Sep 98 - 09:26 AM

Yes, it is pronounced 'broo-lay', with a roll of the tongue on the 'r', and a sound on the 'oo', which doesn't exist in English. If you want to hear it, write me at [e-mail] to get my phone number.

Re: "Where's the accent on Pukaskwa/pu-ka-sah???" the accent is on the 'pu', and it is pronounced as in 'puff'.

Cheers! Elaine

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Sep 98 - 02:20 PM

Take a look under Hemsworth in the database and you'll find a number of interesting songs, including a French version of "Wild Goose" and a song about another well-known denizen of North Ontario - the blackfly.
Can anybody tell us more about Wade Hemsworth, and are there recordings of his work available? I found a songbook, but no recordings.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From:
Date: 08 Mar 02 - 01:01 PM

Wade Hemsworth wrote the song you are looking for. It was recorded by the Travellers.

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Mar 02 - 01:29 PM

The clicks in this thread no longer work. The song is under "Wild Goose" or Hemsworth in the DT search
I was looking for reference to the Irish "Wild Geese" who fought with the French and Napoleon against the British. Somewhere there is a thread with reference to them and to a song about them.

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Mar 02 - 01:37 PM

Sorry, you must enter "Wild Goose" in Lyrics search- enter the same in DT and Forum Search and it does not appear among the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Mar 02 - 12:46 AM

Wade Hemsworth wrote the song you are looking for. It was recorded by the Travellers.

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: technission
Date: 09 Mar 02 - 01:00 AM

Now that it's all straightened out, I wanted to say there is a beautiful rendition of the Tyson song - vocals by Bill And Bonnie Hearne, on their album "Diamonds In The Rough" ...

Goose-bump material !! ;)# michael

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: leprechaun
Date: 09 Mar 02 - 01:16 AM

'Twas England bade our wild geese go, that small nations might be free.

And Joe, is your American River in the state of Washington?

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: michaelr
Date: 09 Mar 02 - 01:23 AM

The American River is in Northern California... right near the Russien river, no joke.

Michael

Subject: RE: Wild geese
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 09:55 AM

The town of Brule, WI is about 30 miles from Superior, WI, which is right across the bay from Duluth, MN.

Radio station WHSA, which is part of the Wisconsin Public Radio network, broadcasts from Brule. They always pronounce it "brool." No doubt the name was originally French, but this is one of many place-names whose pronunciation has been Anglicized.

Wikipedia says the name comes from the nearby Bois Brule River. "Bois brûlé" means "burnt wood" in French.