Lyr Add: La Nourrice du Roi (Royal Nursemaid)

Subject: Lyr Add: LA NOURRICE DU ROI (Royal Nursemaid)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Mar 11 - 10:23 PM

Lyr. Add: LA NOURRICE DU ROI
The Royal Nursemaid. French Canadian.

Ah! c'était la nourrice,
la nourrice du roi,
Un jour s'est endormie,
l'enfant entre ses bras.

Dieu, aidez-moi!
Douce Vierge Marie,
Saint Nicolas!

2
Mais quand ell' s'y réveille,
en cendre ell' le trouva.
Poussa un si grand cri
que tout l'monde accoura.

Dieu, aidez-moi! ....

3
Qu' avez-vous donc, nourrice,
à fair' ce grand cri-là?
Oh! ce n'est rien, dit-elle,
j'en ai brulé un drap.
Dieu, aidez-moi!...
4
Elle enr'ouvre la porte,
à la rivièr' s'en va.
Dans son chemin rencontre
le grand saint Nicolas.
Dieu, aidez-moi!...
5
Où vas-tu donc, nourrice,
avec ces hardes-là?
Je vais à la rivière,
je vais laver mes draps.
Dieu, aidez-moi!...
6
Tu as menti, nourrice,
te noyer tu t'en vas.
Retourne à la maison,
l'enfant te tend les bras.
Dieu, aidez-moi!...
7
Dans les bras de la Vierge
tu le retrouveras.
Voilà les grands miracles
que fait saint Nicolas.

The Royal Nursemaid

It was the royal nursemaid
Who took a little nap.
And as she slept, she held
The young prince on her lap.

Lord, pity us!
O have nercy, sweet Mary!
Saint Nicolas!
2
When she woke from her slumber,
The prince was burned by flame.
In fright she cried aloud,
Till all men running came.
Lord, pity us!...
3
"Pray, tell, what ails you, nurse-maid?
Why do you cry and weep?"
"'Tis naught, 'tis naught," she said,
"I only burned a sheet."
4
And through the gateway,
She to the river ran,
And met upon the path
The great Saint Nicholas.
5
"Whither go you, nurse-maid?
With your clothes full of ash?"
"I go to the river,
With O my clothes there to wash."
6
"You tell a lie, nurse-maid,
You seek yourself to drown.
Go hence unto your home,
The babe holds out his arm."
7
There in the arms of Mary
You will find him unhurt.
Such wonders come to pass
Through great Saint Nicholas!"

Found among Acadians of Prince Edward Island. In France found in the central provinces, the east and southeast, all much the same.
A Provencal form closely resembles the Acadian.
A Catalan song contains a similar miracle, but attributed to the Virgin, not Saint Nicholas.
Barbeau mentions the black Virgin of Montserrat, which has drawn pilgrims since the Thirteenth Century.

With musical score, pp. 69-70. "Melody recorded by l'abbé Golland, at Mount Carmel, Prince Edward Island (In the Arsenault Collection, National Museum of Canada)".

Marius Barbeau, 1964, Folk-Songs of old Québec, National Museum of Canada, Bull. no. 75.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: La Nourrice du Roi (Royal Nursemaid)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Mar 11 - 10:25 PM

Forgot to close following the second Dieu, aidez-moi!..., but I think it is clear enough.