The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #135728   Message #4231248
Posted By: Monique
06-Nov-25 - 10:33 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: La Filha Dou Ladre
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: La Filha Dou Ladre
It's an old thread but since Jan-Mari Carlotti from Montjòia passed away ~ 3 weeks ago (10/18), as a tribute here is some information about the song. Part of it was published in La confrérie du St Esprit, chronique marseillaise de l'an 1228, book IV, page 42.
It reads (here in normalized spelling):
Ieu siáu filha d'un ladrièr
Nach dins la ladraria
-Eh, qué maugrebiau lo ladrièr
Qu'a tan polida filha
De t'aver vist, bèu chivalièr
Me costarà la vida
=
I'm a leper's daughter
Born (the father) in the lepers' asylum
Hey, cursed be the leper
Who has such a pretty daughter
Having seen you, hansome knight
Will cost my life

The French translation given in the book translates "la ladraria" as "the leprosy condition". Indeed it could be either "leprosy condition" or "lepers' asylum".

At the bottom of page 43 it reads (translated by our "friend" Google):
"It is a song in dialogue, the subject of which is as follows: A knight encounters a sleeping girl in a wood. He dismounts; the young girl wakes with a start, and, struck by the young man's handsome appearance, she falls suddenly and intensely in love with him. The knight begs her for her love, but she sadly refuses him; finally, on the point of giving in, she rejects him one last time, tells him that she is the daughter of a leper, and goes to die far from him."
With this comment, "There is charm and naturalness in this song, but the style and versification are so careless that it cannot be attributed to a troubadour. It is the work of some peasant."