This song is in the DT, but there are a couple of spelling errors (e.g., "lieus" instead of "lieux"), missing accent marks, etc., and I am unable to access any of the three tunes via the hyperlinks for them in the DT.First, can someone fix the tune links? I know one tune, which I learned from Bonnie Dobson back in the 1960s, but I'd like to hear the others.
Second, would any of you folks who are more fluent writers of French than I please correct any of my errors in spelling or accent marks. Then maybe at some point the version in the DT can be corrected, too, along with new MIDIs.
I have also included a bit more of the translated story. Again, you Quebec folks, please correct me if I did not translate the idiom properly. E.g., I was thinking the phrase "C'est l'aviron qui nous mene en haut" meant, literally, "It is the oar which we pull (guide) up," but upon re-reading it, it would seem to mean "It is the oar that leads us up high." (It's been a few years since I took or had much chance to speak French- much less, Quebec French.) I would really like to know how to translate the refrain idiomatically correctly.
C'Est L'Aviron Tradtional French-Canadian rowing song
(Third line of previous verse becomes first line of next. Second line is a "response" to the "call" of the first line.)C F C
1) M'en revenant / de la jolie Rochel-le* (x2)
C F C C F C F C G7
2) J'ai recontré / trois jolies demoisell-es.Refrain:
C G7
C'est l'aviron qui men-e, qui nous men-e
C G7 C
C'est l'aviron qui nous mene en haut.2) J'ai recontré / trois jolies demoisell-es. (x2)
3) J'ai point choisi, / mais j'ai pris la plus belle.Refrain
3) J'ai point choisi, / mais j'ai pris la plus bell-e. (x2)
4) J'l'y fis monter / derrier' moi, sur ma selle.
5) J'y fis cent lieux / sans parler avec ell-e.
6) Au bout d'cent lieux, / elle me d'mandit à boîr-e.
7) Je l'ai menee / auprès de la fontain-e.
8) Quand ell' fût la, / elle ne voulût point boîr-e.
9) Je l'ai menee / au logis de son pèr-e.
10) Quand elle fût la, / elle buvait à pleins ver-res.
11) Á la sante / de son père et sa mer-e.
12) Á la sante / de ses soeurs et ses frèr-es
13) Á la sante / de celui que son coeur aim-e.
* Final vowel sounds which would be silent in speech are often voiced in song for the sake of meter and rhyme. E.g., "demoiselles" would be "duh-mwah-zel" if spoken but is sung as "duh-mwa-zel-leh" here. Hence the hyphenation.
Nutshell translation: As I was returning to beautiful Rochelle, I met three pretty young ladies. It was hard to choose but I chose the most beautiful and put her behind me on my saddle. We went a hundred places without talking, then she asked for something to drink. I took her to a fountain but she didn't want to drink (the water). I took her to her father's house [where she toasted] to the health of her father, mother, sisters, brothers, and the one her heart loves.