COMPAGNONS DE LA MARJOLAINE (French) - Nursery Rhyme "Qui est-ce qui passe ici mesdames, Compagnons de la Marjolaine ? Qui est-ce qui passe dans ce château ?" "C'est la fille du roi !" "On ne peut pas la voir !" "Les murs sont très hauts !" "Elle a une fille que j'ai trouvée." "Ohé ohé ohé ohé." Coirault: 7804 Qu'est-ce qui passe ici si tard. Chevalier du guet. Laforte, III, H-10 Qu'est-ce qui passe ici si tard RADdO : 01175.

FELLOWS OF THE MARJORAM "Who is passing by, ladies, Fellows of the Marjoram? Who is passing in this castle? "It's the king's daughter" "We cannot see her !" "The walls are too high !" "She has a girl I've found" "Ohé ohé ohé ohé."

This rhyme is based on the song "Compagnons de la Marjolaine" aka "Le chevalier du guet", the "ohé, ohé" thing reminds me of "Il était un petit navire".
Looking for information on who those "compagnons de la marjolaine" were I came across a couple of websites, one explaining that marjoram would be used in love songs as was rose or lily of the valley, the other explaining that young men going on a spree would put some sprigs of marjoram sticking out from the top of their boots hence forming an informal "Fellowship of the Marjoram", both saying that they were charmers.
I've just found in "Trésors des plus belles mélodies de tous les temps et de tous les pays", Delfolie, Edidtions Edsco, Chambéry, 1947" that in the 15th century people wouldn't say "to serenade someone" but "to wake up the pots of the marjoram" and that the Brotherhood of the Marjoram (Confrérie de la Marjolaine) was the guild of the perfumers. It was a very powerful brotherhood/fellowship/guild or whatever you call it because the king's court and the city -good society I suppose- made a very intense use of perfumes. The song goes back to circa 1650.
According to Du Mersan (Chants et chansons populaires de France, t. 2) it was "the meeting of young men and girls who go to dance on meadow where the marjoram blooms".
To sum it up, it seems that they were jolly good fellows!


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