My guess is that it was written by a fiddler from the Quebecois parish/village of Ste-Anne, possibly identical with Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre. Yes, it is also known as Ste-Agathe, which is the name of another parish/village. I have never met a French-Canadian fiddler who did not play it and consider it one of his standards. I don't believe that there ever were any French words for it.