“...The wind was favourable, and we had a large sail to assist us; so that we very soon had an opportunity of hearing a genuine Canadian boat-song. In it there was a vast deal more noise than music, nor of all the others that I heard these men sing during the voyage, did the melodies bear the slightest resemblance to any I had heard before. The refrein of one of these songs I happen to recollect, and it is as follows*:

        Sommes nous au mi – lieu du bois,
        Sommes nous au ri – vage – – e.

This, they roared out without mercy, in full chorus, and one at a time sang the song itself, which treated of the hardihood of the Voyageurs, the troubles and difficulties they encounter, not forgetting their skill and bravery in surmounting them.”
[Forest Scenes and Incidents, in the Wilds of North America, Head, 1829]

* Includes music.