My granddaughter, mentioned in my previous message, will be even more thrown when she is old enough to realise that Tabor, in her version of Petit Navire (collected in Guernsey) has the poor cabin boy eaten by his starving crewmates.

Usually, at any rate in all the versions I have seen, he is saved either by the British Navy or by the sudden appearance of enough fish to keep everyone happy. It is, after all, meant to be a children's song.

I'd be interested if Monique or others among Mudcat's regular French contributors knows how common it is for the song to proceed to cannibalism. My wife is French but swears she had never come across the unhappy ending before hearing June's version.

And here, in case anyone is interested, is a review I have just posted at Salut! Live-
http://www.salutlive.com/2011/06/june-tabor.html